A Systematic Review of Neurodevelopmental Assessments in Infancy and Early Childhood: Developing a Conceptual Framework, Repository of Measures, and Clinical Recommendations

Abstract

The first 6 years of life are when 90% of brain development occurs, setting the foundation for lifelong neurodevelopment. The field of infant and early childhood neurodevelopment has made marginal advancements since introduced in 1988. There remains a gap in knowledge around early neurodevelopmental domains and trajectories given that there are few established assessment procedures for infants and young children and controversies around reserving assessments until school age. Throughout this systematic review, we (1) identified neurodevelopmental assessment measures employed in the literature by domain and age of assessment, (2) compiled a repository of 608 domain-specific neurodevelopmental assessment measures, and (3) established a preliminary conceptual framework for cross-domain neurodevelopmental assessments across infancy and early childhood. This review adhered to PRISMA guidelines and spanned three databases (PsycINFO, MEDLINE, PubMed). Articles were reviewed for (1) infancy and early childhood (0–6 years), (2) neurodevelopmental measures, and (3) English language. This systematic review spanned 795 articles from 1978 to 2020 with international representation. Advancements in assessment methods (e.g. measures, domains, frameworks) are essential for the evaluation of early neurodevelopmental profiles to inform early interventions, thus harnessing the neuroplasticity and dynamic development notable during early childhood. We hope this work catalyzes future research and clinical guidelines around early assessments methods.