Authors:
Shirley Zeitlin, G. Gordon Williamson, and Margery Szczepanski

Publisher:
Scholastic Testing Service, Inc.
www.ststesting.com
1-800-642-6787

Initial Material Cost:
ECI Manual and 20 forms: $51

Representativeness of Norming Sample:
None described.

Languages:
English

Type of Assessment:
Observation

Age Range and Administration Interval:
Children whose developmental age is between 4 and 36 months

Personnel, Training, Administration, and Scoring Requirements:
Nonprofessionals who are knowledgeable in infant development may administer and score the inventory. If observers are not familiar with the child, they should observe the child at least 3 times in different situations. Interpretation should be done by a professional with a background in early development and behavioral sciences. Administration time varies depending on the observer’s familiarity with the child.

Summary
Initial Material Cost: 1 (> $100)
Reliability: Interrater: 3 (.65 or higher)
Validity: 1 (content validity only reported)
Norming Sample Characteristics: 1 (none described)
Ease of Administration and Scoring: 3 (may be administered by a nonprofessional but scored by a highly trained individual).

Description: The Early Coping Inventory (ECI) is an observation instrument used for assessing the coping-related behavior of children whose chronological or developmental age is between 4 and 36 months. The ECI’s 48 items are divided into 3 coping clusters: Sensorimotor Organization, Reactive Behavior, and Self-Initiated Behavior. Each item is rated on a five-point scale ranging from ineffective coping (1) to consistently effective coping across situations (5).

Uses of Information: Analysis of a child’s scores on the instrument provides information about level of coping, style, and specific strengths and weaknesses. The findings can then be used to create educational and therapeutic interventions. In addition, the ECI can be used to involve parents in its use as a means of increasing knowledge of the child and communication with staff. The ECI can also be used to support staff development and training to increase observation skills, expand their domain of concern, facilitate teamwork, and measure child progress. The manual provides a chapter on how the ECI can be used for these purposes.

Reliability: 1 (1)Reliability was established with a group of observers who completed the ECI after viewing videotapes of four young children twice, with a 6-week interval between viewing. (1) Interrater reliability (using Guildford’s formula): At the first viewing, the reliability coefficients for the three coping clusters and the adaptive behavioral index ranged from .80 (sensorimotor organization) to .94 (self-initiative behavior) and at the second viewing from .87 (sensorimotor organization) to .93 (self-initiative behavior). The authors also tested for the level of agreement between the observers’ scores with the scores of an expert panel for each of the ECI items. The “concordance index” showed that the agreements in the item scores within each coping cluster ranged from a mean of 41 percent (reactive behavior) to a mean of 52 percent (sensorimotor organization). (2) Test-retest reliability (six-week interval): Friedman’s analysis of variance test was used to test for significant differences between ECI testretest scores for each child on the coping clusters and the adaptive behavioral index. The authors reported no statistical significant shift in scoring on 11 of the 16 tests.

Validity: (1) Content validity: Item content and definitions of coping constructs were primarily derived from a review of the early childhood, coping-related literature. A panel of six judges then reviewed the selected items for fidelity to the coping constructs. The EIC was then administered to three different samples and the responses were factor analyzed. The results of the factor analysis provided the basis for creating the three coping clusters.

Method of Scoring: Raw score totals are calculated for sensorimotor organization, reactive behavior, and self-initiated behavior by summing the items ratings scale numeric values. A table is used to convert the raw scores into Effectiveness scores, which can be plotted on the Coping Profile and used to compare the child’s level of effectiveness in the three categories. Another table converts the sum of the effectiveness scores into an Adaptive Behavior Index score. A list of six to eight of the Most and Least Adaptive Coping Behaviors is also compiled to aid intervention planning.

Interpretability: Higher scores indicate the use of more effective coping behaviors in adapting to stresses in every day living. The Adaptive Behavior Index indicates the child’s general level of effectiveness in using adaptive behaviors to cope and whether or not intervention is needed. The Coping Profile, which graphically displays the effectiveness scores, shows strengths and vulnerabilities in coping behavior. The authors recommend taking advantage of areas of strengths when planning intervention activities to increase competence in the weaker areas. In the same way, the list of the Most and Least Adaptive Coping Behaviors can also be used to develop the intervention plan. The manual provides a table that contains a descriptive interpretation for the Effectiveness and Adaptive Behavior Index numeric scores and several case studies to illustrate how to interpret the results.

Training Support: Two examples are provided to illustrate use of the rating scale and three case studies are given on how to interpret the results. Appendix D of the manual also contains case studies on how to develop intervention plans.

Adaptations/Special Instructions for Individuals with Disabilities: Instructions are given in the manual on how to rate a child with a disability.

Report Preparation Support: None.

References:

Zeitlin, Shirley, G. Gordon Williamson, and Margery Szczepanski. Early Coping Inventory: A Measure of Adaptive Behavior. Bensenville, Illinois: Scholastic Testing Service, 1988.