Analysis

The Developmental Profile of Social Communication (DPSC-21) is a psychometric ability test. It was developed by Vogindroukas in 2020 and is an assessment tool that focuses heavily on the social communication skills and abilities demonstrated by an individual.
The DPSC-21 is based on the Circle Model, which focuses on seven elements of social communication: socialization, communication, play, language, speech, and sociability.

Objective

The DPSC-21 was created with the purpose of identifying and detecting difficulties in different aspects of development, which can facilitate better communication between specialists and parents.
The final results enable clinicians to design individualized therapeutic programs by outlining each individual’s developmental profile, gathering information, and fostering collaboration between specialists and parents, with the goal of improving cooperation between the two sides.

Question Calibration

This Social Communication Profile applies to infants and very young children aged 0 to 42 months, and is therefore completed by parents, grandparents, caregivers, or others who have frequent and sustained contact with the child.
Participants are asked to consider whether each statement describes something they have observed in the child’s behavior. The questionnaire consists of 21 questions, presented in a 2-point Likert-type scale with the answers Yes and No.

Statistical Analysis

Scoring is straightforward. For each column, the number of selected answers is calculated and recorded at the end of the column. This number is then multiplied by the value indicated at the bottom of each column.
The overall score is obtained as the sum of the column results. The outcomes classify children into three categories:
Socio-emotional functionality
Acquired knowledge, where the child demonstrates the necessary skills
Emerging knowledge, which indicates that the child needs further practice, and if no progress is observed, additional evaluation may be required.

Validity and Reliability

The internal consistency of Socialization, Communication, Play, Language, Speech, and Sociability was satisfactory, with Cronbach’s alpha values of 0.802, 0.756, 0.828, 0.839, 0.676, and 0.847, respectively.
The overall scale demonstrated exceptionally high internal consistency, with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.954.
Furthermore, the questionnaire shows high content validity, as it was developed by a team of experts who evaluated the tool and proposed significant modifications to improve the initial version.

References

Vogindroukas, I. (2020). Personal Narrative Skills of Greek Children of Typical Development in the Age of 10 Years. Open Access Library Journal, 7(10), 1.
Adapted into Greek by: I. Vogindroukas.