Projects and Research

• Research projects
• Project countries

Between 2007 and 2010, ICDI conducted a study with financial support of Plan Netherlands with a view to developing a  ‘rough-and-ready’, user-friendly instrument that could be used to measure psycho-social wellbeing of five-year-old children around the world.

The result of the research project has been the development of the UPSI-5 questionnaire, a list with 29 statements relating to the psychosocial well-being of five-year-old boys and girls.  The 29 questions that make up UPSI-5 were selected from the original ‘long list’ of 94 items that ICDI had developed drawing on literature around psychosocial wellbeing and existing tests and indicators.  The long list was tested with educators in six countries: Bulgaria, India, Japan, the Netherlands, Nicaragua and South Africa. Following statistical analysis of the test results, a selection was made of the questions that appeared universally valid.

The 29 statements can be easily scored by ticking ‘agree’ or ‘disagree’ either in a green or a red box. When for instance, 10% of a representative sample of young children score more than five (5) 'in the red', then there is reason to be concerned about the psychosocial well being of 10% of the broader population of five-year old children in the setting from which the sample has been drawn. This can serve as an indication that programmatic intervention may be called for to address the issues underlying the low psychosocial wellbeing of five-year old girls and boys in that setting (n.b. what the underlying causes for the low psychosocial wellbeing are would require additional research; the UPSI-5 does not provide this information). The original finding of 10% low psychosocial wellbeing could then serve as the baseline indicator. 

Currently, there are no internationally agreed upon standards as to what might be considered minimum or maximum percentages of (five-year old) children in a given setting or region that could be defined as psychosocially 'healthy' or 'unhealthy'. This arguably important issue is one ICDI intends to explore with its partners around the world in the years to come.

The UPSI-5 questionnaire is freely available. It is important to note however, that it was designed to be administered by professionals such as educators and/or social workers, and that the UPSI-5 is not an instrument to be used for individual diagnosis. The UPSI-5 is first and foremost a user friendly global screening tool, and as such has real meaning when applied to large populations of children. It was designed with a view to establishing an arguably, much needed counterpart to the strictly physical indicator of the health of young boys and girls, the Under-Five Mortality Rate or, for their nutritional status, such ‘crude’ devices as the Mid-Upper Arm Circumference tape.

Update December 2011: Currently ICDI is receiving a small grant from Liberty Foundation to further develop the lay out of UPSI-5, create a digital version and develop a printed version.

The central objective of this three-year project is to strengthen the interface between theory and practice by informing and interacting with policy makers, professionals, children and youth workers on the new and emerging ideas and debates on childhood and youth and suggesting pointers for policy formulation and practice. 'Newly Emerging Needs' or NENs is a label that is used to describe a loosely connected group of new challenges, problems and opportunities confronting children. The specific objectives are to:

1. Explore the key new and emerging needs and challenges affecting children and their families;

2. Identify the factors which constrain the capacity of researchers, policy-makers, field practitioners, communities and young people themselves to identify, anticipate and cope with them;

3. Explore the implications of these developments for practice in the field through fieldwork in selected countries;

4. Synthesise this information in a state-of-the-art publication that will act as a guide to new and emerging ideas and debates on childhood and youth in the various scientific disciplines and international policy discourse, as well as new ideas emerging from practitioners in the field;

and 5. Disseminate the information through a series of international workshops involving donors, researchers, policy makers and practitioners.