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Performance of Australian children on the Miller assessment for preschoolers compared with USA norms
Author(s) -
Hickey Annabel,
Froude Elspeth H.,
Williams Annette,
Hart Tanya,
Summers Janet
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
australian occupational therapy journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.595
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1440-1630
pISSN - 0045-0766
DOI - 10.1046/j.1440-1630.2000.00210.x
Subject(s) - miller , psychology , developmental psychology , gerontology , medicine , biology , ecology
The aim of this study was to compare the performance of Australian children on the Miller assessment for preschoolers (MAP), to that of USA norms. The MAP (with Australian language changes) was administered to a sample of 218 Australian children across the six age groups of the test. Chi‐squared analysis, comparing scores of the Australian sample with the USA norms, detected significant differences between the two groups on all variables except the Verbal Index. Australian children obtained higher scores for Foundations, Non‐verbal and Complex Tasks indices and higher Total Scores, and lower scores on the Coordination Index, in comparison to USA children. The findings indicate that, except for the Verbal Index, MAP scores may not accurately reflect developmental performance of Australian children. An Australian standardization or modification of the test is therefore needed. Until changes are made, caution should be adopted when interpreting MAP scores. Clinicians may also find the Australian language changes helpful in making the test more relevant to Australian children.