Table 2 Demographic information of the participating children and their parents
Characteristic | English (n = 1767) Age group | ||
|---|---|---|---|
3–3.99 years old (n = 499) | 4–4.99 years old (n = 648) | 5–5.99 years old (n = 620) | |
Child’s mean age (SD) | 3.53 (0.29) | 4.51 (0.29) | 5.46 (0.28) |
Child’s gender | |||
Boy (%) | 254 (50.8) | 328 (50.6) | 331 (53.4) |
Girl (%) | 245 (49.1) | 320 (49.4) | 289 (46.6) |
Medical condition | |||
No (%) | 479 (95.9) | 618 (95.4) | 697 (96.3) |
Yes (%) | 20 (4.1) | 30 (4.6) | 23 (3.7) |
If yes, what is/are the condition(s)? | |||
Physical illness (eczema, asthma, etc.) | 13 | 21 | 14 |
Speech delay | 2 | 3 | 1 |
Autism Spectrum Disorder | 4 | 3 | 6 |
ADHD | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Developmental delay | 1 | 3 | 0 |
Ethnicity | |||
Malay (%) | 143 (29.7) | 162 (25.0) | 179 (28.9) |
Chinese (%) | 296 (59.3) | 385 (59.4) | 327 (52.7) |
Indian (%) | 43 (8.6) | 81 (12.5) | 87 (14.0) |
Others (%) | 17 (3.4) | 20 (3.1) | 27 (4.4) |
Language used most often to communicate with child at home | |||
Malay (%) | 11 (2.2) | 25 (3.8) | 14 (2.3) |
English (%) | 452 (90.5) | 591 (91.2) | 559 (90.2) |
Chinese (%) | 31 (6.2) | 25 (3.9) | 38 (6.1) |
Tamil (%) | 5 (1.0) | 7 (1.1) | 9 (1.4) |
Religion | |||
Muslim (%) | 146 (29.3) | 167 (25.8) | 189 (30.5) |
Buddhist (%) | 244 (8.9) | 302 (46.6) | 252 (40.6) |
Christian (%) | 49 (9.8) | 79 (12.2) | 67 (10.8) |
Hindu | 35 (7.0) | 70 (10.8) | 70 (11.3) |
Others (%) | 25 (5.0) | 30 (4.6) | 42 (6.9) |
Parent’s highest educational level | |||
Secondary education (%) | 37 (7.5) | 62 (9.6) | 68 (11.0) |
Certificate/Diploma (%) | 111 (22.2) | 111 (17.1) | 117 (18.9) |
Bachelor’s Degree (%) | 280 (56.1) | 366 (56.5) | 320 (51.6) |
Postgraduate Degree | 110 (14.2) | 109 (16.8) | 115 (18.5) |
Measurement invariance across groups (n = 1724) | |||
3–3.99 years old (n = 958) | 4–4.99 years old (n = 1260) | 5–5.99 years old (n = 1273) | |
Language versions | |||
Malay (n = 1724) | 459 (47.9) | 612 (48.6) | 653 (51.3) |
English (n = 1767) | 499 (52.1) | 648 (51.4) | 620 (48.7) |
Gender | |||
Boy | 484 (50.5) | 623 (49.4) | 632 (49.6) |
Girl | 474 (49.5) | 637 (50.6) | 641 (50.4) |
Family monthly household income | |||
RM4000 and below ($1319.56 USD) | 239 (24.0) | 405 (32.1) | 555 (43.3) |
RM6000–RM9999 ($1759.34 USD) | 434 (45.3) | 481 (38.2) | 383 (30.1) |
RM10000 ($2200 USD) and above | 241 (25.2) | 309 (24.5) | 282 (22.0) |
Not reported | 44 (4.6) | 65 (0.2) | 62 (4.7) |