Abstract
Objectives. This replication study examined the construct validity of the Miller Assessment for Preschoolers (MAP) for clinical use with children with developmental delays.
Methods. The MAP was administered to 132 children with known or suspected developmental delays who had been referred to one of four child development center programs in British Columbia, Canada. On the basis of physician or team diagnosis, participants were assigned either to one of four groups identified in an earlier pilot—study-speech-language problems, motor output problems, speech-language and motor output problems, developmental delay-neurological diagnosis (Daniels & Bressler, 1990)—or to a no-diagnosis group or a prenatal drug exposure (neonatal abstinence) group. The MAP total score, five index scores and nine behavior during testing observations for this sample were examined with analysis of variance procedures.
Results. Significant between-group differences were identified with the total score and the five index scores, but not on the behavior during testing variables. The MAP score patterns that emerged for this sample were similar to those of a previous pilot study for comparable diagnostic groups.
Conclusions. The findings support the validity of using the MAP for children with moderate to severe developmental delays. Discrete as well as more generalized developmental delay problems were differentiated by MAP score patterns.
