Validation of MEISR(Measure of Engagement, Independence, and Social Relationships) for Korean Infants and Toddlers

Objective: The Measure of Engagement, Independence, and Social Relationships (MEISR) is a tool designed to assess the engagement, independence, and social interactions of infants and toddlers during daily activities. This study aimed to develop Korean version of MEISR (K-MEISR) and evaluate its reliability and validity. Methods: Korean version of MEISR was developed through the translation and modification of items of the MEISR following a pilot study (N = 44). Two studies were conducted with parents of infants and toddlers up to 36 months old using online (N = 124) and offline (N = 134) versions. Data were analyzed using SPSS 27.0 and AMOS 25.0. Item difficulty and discrimination, as well as passing rates were calculated; and internal consistency, correlations among the routine and total scales, factor analyses, and correlations with K-DST ratings were analyzed to determine the reliability and validity of K-MEISR. Results: Analyses of item difficulty and passing rates identified characteristics of items for determining the item order for K-MEISR. High correlations between the total of each routine and the total of all items were found in both the online (r = .896~.992) and the offline (r = .874~.988) versions. Reliabilities of all total scale items were high for both the online (r = .998) and the offline (r = .997) versions. Reliabilities of routine items were also high, ranging from .913 to .985 for the online and .914 to .985 for the offline version. Correlations between K-DST and K-MEISR were high for both the online (r = .981) and offline (r = .959), showing high concurrent validity. Conclusions: The items of the total scale, and routines and functional domains showed high internal consistency and high correlations with K-DST, revealing the concurrent validity of K-MEISR. Recommendations for further research and clinical use of the assessment tool are discussed.