7 Behavioral Areas Screened by ASQ:SE-2

Since items on the Ages & Stages Questionnaires®: Social-Emotional, Second Edition are not organized or scored by category, the intent behind each item may not always be obvious. However, the items can be categorized in one or more behavioral areas, which serve as a conceptual framework or map for ASQ:SE-2™ items.

Understanding these behavioral areas can be helpful to users as you score questionnaires and discuss results with families. Here are the seven areas and some sample questionnaire items that fall into each:

Self-regulation

ASQ:SE-2 effectively screens 7 social-emotional areas: self-regulation, compliance, adaptive functioning, autonomy, affect, social communication, and interaction.

This area covers the child's ability or willingness to calm down, settle down, or adjust to different physiological or environmental conditions or to stimulation. For example, does the child:

• Have trouble falling asleep at naptime or night?
• Move easily from one activity to another?
• Destroy or damage things on purpose?
• Stay awake for an hour or more at a time, during the day?

Items that address compliance look at how well the child follows directions and rules. For example, does the child:

• Have any eating problems, like vomiting or eating non-food items?

Autonomy

This area screens a child's ability to self-initiate or respond to others without guidance. For example, does the child:

• Seem too worried or fearful?
• Cling to you more than you would expect?

Affect

Does the child demonstrate his or her own feelings and show empathy for others? For example, does the child:

• Like to be picked up and held? Hugged or cuddled?
• Show concern for other people's feelings?

Social-Communication

This behavioral area focuses on whether the child expresses his or her interests, needs, feelings, and affective or internal states by interacting with others verbally or nonverbally. For example, does the child:

• Look at you and seem to listen when you talk?
• Laugh or smile at you and family members?

Items address whether the child responds to or initiates social responses with parents, other adults, and peers. For example, does the child:

Interaction

• Stay upset for more than an hour when you leave?
• Let you know when he or she is hungry, tired, sick, or hurt?
• Play with objects while pretending? Pretends objects are something else?

Want a quick summary?

Download the infographic!
View this resource at: Areas of ASQSE2

More Information

Visit chapter 3 of the ASQ:SE-2 User’s Guide (ASQSE2UG) to read more about the seven behavioral areas and map each questionnaire item to the behavior area it measures.

For quick reference, download our new infographic: The 7 Behavioral Areas of ASQ:SE-2 (Download Infographic).

This article is reprinted from our FREE ASQ e-newsletter.