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Developmental trajectories from birth to school age in healthy term-born children

Elise Roze1, Lisethe Meijer, Koenraad N J A Van Braeckel

  • 1Division of Neonatology, University Medical Center Groningen, Beatrix Children's Hospital, Hanzeplein 1, 9713 GZ Groningen, Netherlands. e.roze@bkk.umcg.nl

Pediatrics
|October 6, 2010
PubMed

Insights

Motor development stability is low in healthy children from birth to school age. Early motor scores offer little predictive value for later cognitive functions like attention and memory.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric neurology
  • Developmental psychology
  • Neuroscience

Background:

  • Motor development is crucial for overall child development.
  • Understanding the stability of motor skills and their link to cognition is essential for early identification of potential issues.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assess the stability of motor development scores from birth through school age in healthy infants.
  • To investigate the association between early motor development and later cognitive functions, including attention and memory.

Main Methods:

  • A longitudinal prospective cohort study involving 77 healthy, term infants.
  • Motor development assessed using standardized neurologic examinations and assessments at multiple time points (neonatal, early infancy, toddler, school age).
  • Cognitive functions (attention, memory, intelligence) evaluated at toddler and school age using established psychometric tests.

Main Results:

  • Motor development scores showed low stability across different developmental stages.
  • Maternal socioeconomic status and verbal intelligence were significant predictors of sustained attention and verbal memory.
  • Early motor test scores provided minimal additional predictive value for school-age motor and cognitive outcomes.

Conclusions:

  • Motor development in healthy children is not highly stable from birth to school age.
  • Maternal socioeconomic status and verbal intelligence are more significant factors for complex cognitive functions than early motor test performance.
Abstract

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