Assessing Child Postural Variability: Development, Feasibility, and Reliability of a Video Coding System. (15th October 2020) - Abbruzzese, Laurel Daniels
Abstract: Aims: Postural variability is central to children's locomotion, motor control, and environmental exploration, and lacks standardized methods for systematic assessment. The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate the feasibility and interrater reliability of Child Posture Variability Coding (CPVC), a method of quantifying postural variability in young children. Method: Videos of parent-child play interactions obtained from a longitudinal study investigating language acquisition in typically developing (TD) children and children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) were used to develop 33 codes for children's voluntary changes in static and dynamic postures. Interrater reliability was calculated for three raters who independently coded 10 randomly selected videos of children aged 23 to 48 months (TD: n = 5, median = 35, IQR = 12.5; ASD: n = 5, median = 35, IQR = 6.75). Results: Overall, CPVC demonstrated excellent interrater reliability (Krippendorff's α > 0.90). Among all codes developed, five codes (i.e., sit–half, sit–other, crawl, cruise, and supported walk) were not observed by any coders in the sample, but were kept in the coding scheme to reflect normal developmental milestones. Conclusions: CPVC is a reliable, feasible method of quantifying postural variability in young children with and without neurodevelopmental disorders in naturalistic contexts.