Item response theory model for the home toy inventory assessment in infants

HUA Jing; CHI Xia; SONG Jun; RUI Hongxin; ZHOU Jianyong; LIN Feng

doi:10.11852/zgetbjzz2025-0183

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Chinese Journal of Child Health Care ›› 2025, Vol. 33 ›› Issue (12) : 1303-1309. DOI: 10.11852/zgetbjzz2025-0183

Original Articles

Item response theory model for the home toy inventory assessment in infants

HUA Jing^1,2,3, CHI Xia^2,3, SONG Jun^1,2,3, RUI Hongxin^1,2,3, ZHOU Jianyong^2,3, LIN Feng^1,4

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Abstract

Objective To apply item response theory (IRT) to develop a tool for assessing home toy inventory, so as to provide a quantitative basis for guiding families in the scientific arrangement of infants′ physical activity toys. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted using a convenience sample of infants aged 18 - 42 months and their parents recruited between January and October 2023 from the Department of Child Health Care of Nanjing Women and Children′s Healthcare Hospital. Items from the toy dimension (including gross and fine motor toys) of the Affordances in the Home Environment for Motor Development-Self Report (AHEMD-SR) were selected. IRT modeling was performed using R software to calculate person ability, goodness of fit, item difficulty, and intervention benefit, alongside reliability and validity analysis. Results The sample included 250 infants and their parents. Mokken scale analysis screened 23 items for Rasch model construction. The resulting model demonstrated good fit (M₂ statistic＝377.917, df＝252, P＞0.05), high reliability (latent class reliability coefficient＝0.898) and good validity (r＝0.60, P<0.01). Among these, 22 items showed significant intervention benefit (P＜0.05).The person-item map indicated good matching between item difficulty and individual ability, presenting a normal distribution. Conclusions The Home Toy Inventory Assessment, constructed based on IRT, fits well with the Rasch model and can effectively evaluate home toy support related to children′s motor development. The person-item map serves as a decision-making tool to assist parents in developing individualized home intervention plans tailored to their capability levels.

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item response theory / motor development / toys / home environment / children

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HUA Jing, CHI Xia, SONG Jun, RUI Hongxin, ZHOU Jianyong, LIN Feng. Item response theory model for the home toy inventory assessment in infants[J]. Chinese Journal of Child Health Care. 2025, 33(12): 1303-1309 https://doi.org/10.11852/zgetbjzz2025-0183

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