The Bailey-III Social Emotional scale is a test that assesses the developmental functioning of infants and toddlers. The test examines factors of development based on cognitive, language, motor, social-emotional, and adaptive behavior. The study conducted by Dr. Laura Pendergast, Linda Ruan, and Brittney Williams is an exploratory factor analysis of the Bayley III social emotional scale across the following eight low-and middle-income international sites: Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Nepal, Peru, Pakistan, South Africa and Tanzania. 

 

The preliminary research was conducted in Haydom, Tanzania. The participants included 1,827 mother-infant pairs. The research began from the infants' birth until they reached six months of age. Findings provided preliminary support for the validity and reliability of the Social Emotional scores across diverse populations among the 6-month-old infants. This five-year, ongoing project began prior to Linda and Brittney's education at Temple. 

 

Dr. Laura Pendergast's innovative research influenced Brittney's decision to attend Temple, "One of the reasons I chose Temple was because my advisor's (Dr. Laura Pendergast's) research interests were similar to mine." Linda also discusses her appreciation of this project, "This experience was an eye-opener. It was special to work beyond the statistics and actually get the opportunity to meet the mother-infant pairs and doctors".

 

Both Linda and Brittney have expressed gratitude for this opportunity to work and travel with Dr. Laura Pendergast. This project is now in the analyzing stage and is projected to continue over the next couple of years.