Associations of biological factors and affordances in the home with infant motor development

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Raquel Saccani1, Nadia C Valentini, Keila Rg Pereira

  • 1Department of Physical Education, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Pediatrics International : Official Journal of the Japan Pediatric Society
|January 3, 2013
PubMed

Insights

The home environment significantly impacts infant motor development, comparable to biological factors. Assessing home affordances can help identify and support at-risk infants.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatrics
  • Environmental Health
  • Developmental Psychology

Background:

  • Limited research exists on environmental context's role in infant development compared to biological factors.
  • Infant health research predominantly focuses on biological determinants.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between the home environment and infant motor development.
  • To explore the influence of environmental context on infant development outcomes.

Main Methods:

  • Cross-sectional study of 561 infants (newborn to 18 months).
  • Utilized the Affordances in the Home Environment for Motor Development-Infant Scale and Alberta Infant Motor Scale.
  • Analyzed data using correlation and regression, including selected bio/medical factors.

Main Results:

  • Home environmental factors demonstrated associations with infant motor development comparable to high-risk biological factors.
  • The home environment emerged as a significant correlate of motor development.

Conclusions:

  • The home environment partially explains variations in infant development.
  • Home environment assessments for affordances may offer a pathway to support at-risk infants.
Abstract

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