Normas preliminares del Test de Desarrollo Psicomotor (TEPSI) para niños argentinos de 3 y 4 años

Abstract

espanolEl presente estudio tiene como objetivos elaborar normas locales del Test de Desarrollo Psicomotor (TEPSI) para ninos argentinos y contrastar el nivel de desarrollo psicomotor y su velocidad de crecimiento entre la muestra argentina y la chilena de estandarizacion del instrumento. Se evaluaron 205 ninos, entre 3 y 5 anos de edad, que concurrian a jardines maternales publicos de la provincia de Mendoza. Se estimo la consistencia interna del test, se calcularon las correlaciones item-subtest, se empleo un ANOVA a priori, se calcularon las puntaciones T por grupo etario y se estimo la d de Cohen para valorar la magnitud de las diferencias entre las muestras contrastadas. El TEPSI evidencio adecuadas propiedades psicometricas y presento alta sensibilidad para valorar las diferencias de edad en el desarrollo psicomotor de los infantes. Se registro un desempeno psicomotor superior de los preescolares argentinos en comparacion con sus pares chilenos y se observaron diferentes ritmos evolutivos entre ambos grupos. Estos resultados senalan la importancia de construir normas locales actualizadas del TEPSI que contemplen las caracteristicas socioculturales de cada pais, en miras a obtener una evaluacion precisa y confiable del desarrollo psicomotor infantil. EnglishThe goals of this study are to develop local standards for the TEPSI Psychomotor Development Test for Argentine children and to contrast the level of psychomotor development and its growth rate between the Argentine and Chilean samples used for standardization of the instrument. Two hundred and five children aged 3 to 5 years attending public daycare centers in the province of Mendoza were evaluated. The internal consistency of the test was addressed and item-subtest correlations were calculated. Additionally, an analysis of variance (ANOVA) with a priori contrast was used, T-scores per age group were calculated, and Cohen’s d was estimated to assess the magnitude of the differences found between the contrasted samples. The TEPSI displayed adequate psychometric properties as well as high sensitivity to assess age differences in children’s psychomotor development. Argentine pre-school children showed better psychomotor performance when compared to their Chilean peers, in a context where both groups displayed different developmental rates. These results highlight the importance of developing updated TEPSI local standards that consider the socio-cultural features of each country, with a view to obtaining an accurate and reliable assessment of children’s psychomotor development.