The Well-Being of Canada's Young Children - Government of Canada Report 2008

Annex A: Technical Notes for Indicators Presented

Breastfeeding: The NLSCY gathers information on the prevalence, and duration of, breastfeeding for children from birth to 3 years of age. Information on the prevalence of breastfeeding includes details of whether or not children are currently being breastfed, as well as details of whether children have ever been breastfed. Information on the duration of breastfeeding is gathered only for children that have been breastfed, but are no longer being breastfed.

Child Care: The reference period for child care questions in the NLSCY is the time of interview. This time frame is used since a child's age can have a significant impact on child care. In order to account for the availability of EI maternity/parental for the first year of life of a child, the indicator is being presented for children beginning at 1 year of age.

Emotional Problem-Anxiety, Hyperactivity and Physical Aggression-Conduct Problem measures are key behaviour scales examined in the NLSCY. For each behaviour, a set of questions is used and the answers combined into a scale to give a more valid representation of the different types of behaviour. The questions associated with the behaviour scales are asked of the PMK and do not represent professionally diagnosed problem behaviours.

To identify the presence of behavioural problems, thresholds (or cutoff points) were identified for each of the behaviours. These thresholds were established by taking the scale score that is closest to the 90th percentile for each of the individual scales, based on data from Cycle 3 (or the earliest possible available for children in all provinces). The data presented represent the proportion of the children who exhibit signs of problems for each of the individual behaviours.

• Emotional Problem-Anxiety: Respondents were asked about the frequency with which their child appears to be unhappy, depressed, worried, nervous or anxious. A child classified as having high anxiety was, in the parent's opinion, unhappy, fearful and tense.
• Hyperactivity is characterized by restlessness, fidgeting, lack of concentration and inability to wait for his or her turn.
• Physical Aggression-Conduct Problem: The PMK, usually the mother, was asked a series of questions about the frequency with which his/her child engages in physical aggression such as fighting, bullying or threatening people.

Family Functioning: The family functioning scale provides a global assessment of family functioning (including problem-solving, communication, roles, affective involvement, affective responsiveness and behaviour control) and indicates the quality of relationships between family members. This scale is administered to either the PMK or spouse/partner of the PMK. The scale does not reflect a clinical diagnosis.

To identify the presence of family dysfunction, thresholds (or cutoff points) were established by taking the scale score that is closest to the 90th percentile based on NLSCY Cycle 3 data for children in all provinces. The variable represents the proportion of children whose family exhibits higher levels of family dysfunction and those whose family does not.

Healthy Birth Weight: A healthy birth weight is classified to be between 2,500 and 4,000 grams. Newborns weighing less than 2,500 grams are considered to be low birth weight, and newborns weighing more than 4,000 grams are considered to be high birth weight.

Injury Hospitalization: The injury hospitalization rate represents the proportion of children less than one year of age, and between one to four years of age, who are hospitalized for treatment of unintentional injuries (or accidents), per 100 000 population. This indicator does not include newborns, and also does not include out patients and visits to the Emergency Department. The top causes for injury hospitalization are established by age, at the national level.

The Motor and Social Development (MSD) scale consists of a set of 15 questions in the NLSCY that measure dimensions of the motor, social and cognitive development of young children from birth through 3 years of age; the questions vary by age of the child. These questions are asked of the PMK.

The standardized score is being used for this indicator, in which the average score for the population is set at 100 with a standard deviation of 15. The standardized score takes account of the child's age and allows for comparisons of scores to be made across age groups. Based on the score:

• Delayed: children scoring from 0 to 84 on the scale (one standard deviation below the mean and lower)
• Average: children scoring between 85 and 115 on the scale (a range from one standard deviation below the mean to one standard deviation above the mean)
• Advanced: children scoring 116+ on the scale (one standard deviation above the mean and higher)

The purpose of the neighbourhood scales is to assess the extent of the presence/absence of certain neighbourhood characteristics. In particular, the neighbourhood cohesion scale can be used to measure the social unity of a neighbourhood (the extent to which the PMK feels that there is cohesion in the neighbourhood). Adult respondents were asked whether people in their neighbourhood are willing to help each other, deal with local problems, keep an eye open for possible trouble, and watch out for the safety of neighbourhood children, and whether they are people that their children can look up to. All questions about the neighbourhood were administered to the PMK or spouse/partner of the PMK.

To identify low levels of neighbourhood cohesion, thresholds (or cutoff points) were established by taking the scale score that is closest to the 10th percentile based on Cycle 3 data for children in all provinces. The variable represents the proportion of children whose neighbourhoods exhibit lower levels of cohesion (as reported by the PMK) and those whose neighbourhoods do not.

The neighbourhood safety scale can be used to measure the extent to which the PMK feels that there is a sense of safety in the neighbourhood. All questions about the neighbourhood were administered to the PMK or spouse/partner of the PMK.

To identify low levels of neighbourhood safety, thresholds (or cutoff points) were established by taking the scale score that is closest to the 10^th percentile based on Cycle 4 data (because the question was not asked in Cycle 3) for children in all provinces. The variable represents the proportion of children living in neighbourhoods with a lower sense of safety (as reported by the PMK) and those who do not.

Number Knowledge: Children who exhibit this intuitive knowledge tend to fare better in school mathematics. Four developmental levels have been established for children's understanding of numbers — predimensional (level 0), unidimensional (level 1), bidimensional (level 2) and integrated bidimensional (level 3). Knowledge at each level of the test is a prerequisite, or provides the conceptual building block, for knowledge at the next level of the test.

As the NLSCY captures responses from children 4–5 years of age, only the predimensional and unidimensional levels are considered for this developmental stage. The predimensional level assesses children's ability to count by rote and to quantify small sets, using concrete objects, and is important for the next level where children deal with changes in quantity without objects than can be touched or seen. The unidimensional level assesses children's knowledge of the number sequence and ability to handle simple arithmetic problems. To solve the items, children must rely on a “mental counting line” in their heads.

The test is administered orally by the assessor, and the child must respond verbally. The child may not use paper and pencil to figure out answers.

The standardized score is being used for this indicator. Based on the score:

• Delayed: children scoring from 0-85 on the scale (one standard deviation below the mean and lower)
• Average: children scoring between 86-116 on the scale (a range from one standard deviation below the mean to one standard deviation above the mean)
• Advanced: children scoring 117+ on the scale (one standard deviation above the mean and higher)

Parental Depression: The depression scale in the NLSCY represents a condensed version of the Depression Rating Scale (CES-D). This scale measures the occurrence and severity of symptoms associated with depression in the public at large and does not represent the occurrence of clinically diagnosed depression. This scale is administered to the PMK.

To identify the presence of parental depression, thresholds (or cutoff points) were established by taking the scale score that is closest to the 90th percentile based on Cycle 3 data for children in all provinces. The variable represents the proportion of children whose PMK exhibits higher levels of depressive symptoms and those who's PMK does not. Higher PMK depressive symptoms correspond to a score of 11 or higher on the parental depression scale.

Personal-Social Score is one of a number of behaviour scales examined in the Ages and Stages questionnaire. The Ages and Stages questionnaire is designed to identify children who show potential development problems. The scale for personal-social behaviour comprises several questions capturing different age-relevant aspects of this behaviour, such as how the baby interacts with him/herself, with strangers, with the parent and with objects such as toys. The questions associated with the behaviour scales are asked of the PMK and do not represent professionally diagnosed problem behaviours.

Positive Parenting: Positive interaction is a parenting style that is captured in the NLSCY. The purpose of the parenting scales is to measure certain parental behaviours. High scores indicate positive interaction with the child. The questions assessing parenting styles were administered to the PMK or spouse/partner of the PMK.

Following Cycle 3 (1998/99), the 10^th percentile cut-off was established for each indicator. This was calculated by first establishing the cut-off for each age group individually and then all children exhibiting the signs of the behaviour were grouped together. Upon examination, it was determined that the cut-off for the scale for positive parenting was not calculated in a manner consistent with the other scales. The positive parenting indicator is comprised of two positive interaction scales - one for children from birth to one year of age and the other for children from 2-5 years of age. Unfortunately previous data for the positive parenting indicator was not calculated in this way but rather the two scales were combined and then the cut-off was established. To ensure consistency with all the other indicators, the manner in which this indicator was developed has been adjusted so that the cut-off is determined for each age group individually and then combined. This correction has been done to the data for all cycles of the NLSCY reported on to-date.

Reading by an Adult: This indicator refers to the exposure of the child to reading activities with a parent or another adult. Therefore, this indicator should not be interpreted to refer specifically to parent-child interactions.

The Revised Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT-R) is designed to measure receptive or hearing vocabulary in either English or French. The test is administered by the interviewer directly to children 4 to 5 years of age. The PPVT-R is only administered to children who's PMK provided consent for the test to be administered to their child.

The standardized score is being used for this indicator, in which the average score for the population is set at 100 with a standard deviation of 15. This standardization was done by 2-month age groups. The standardized score takes account of the child's age and allows for comparisons of scores to be made across age groups. Based on the standardized score:

• Delayed: children scoring from 0 to 84 on the scale (one standard deviation below the mean and lower)
• Average: children scoring between 85 and 115 on the scale (a range from one standard deviation below the mean to one standard deviation above the mean)
• Advanced: children scoring 116+ on the scale (one standard deviation above the mean and higher)

“Who Am I?” is designed to assess the ability to conceptualize and to reconstruct a geometrical shape (copying skill), and the ability to use symbolic representations (writing task) such as numbers, letters and words. Because “Who Am I?” assesses nonverbal language, it can be used to assess children whose knowledge of English or French is limited. These children could be allowed to complete tasks in their mother tongue as well as in English and French.

The assessment consists of an appealing booklet in which the child completes the tasks as the assessor turns the pages and gives instructions.

The standardized score is being used for this indicator. Based on the score:

• Delayed: children scoring from 0-85 on the scale (one standard deviation below the mean and lower)
• Average: children scoring between 86-117 on the scale (a range from one standard deviation below the mean to one standard deviation above the mean)
• Advanced: children scoring 118+ on the scale (one standard deviation above the mean and higher)