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Motor outcomes in children exposed to early psychosocial deprivation

April R Levin1, Charles H Zeanah2, Nathan A Fox3

  • 1Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; Laboratories of Cognitive Neuroscience, Boston Children's Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.

The Journal of Pediatrics
|October 29, 2013
PubMed

Insights

Early psychosocial deprivation negatively impacts children's motor development, and foster care intervention did not resolve these deficits. Cognitive ability (IQ) significantly mediated these motor skill differences in institutionalized children.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Pediatric Neurodevelopment
  • Child Psychiatry

Background:

  • Early life psychosocial deprivation in institutionalized children can impair development.
  • Understanding the long-term effects of institutional care on motor skills is crucial.
  • The Bucharest Early Intervention Project (BEIP) investigated interventions for institutionalized children.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine the impact of early psychosocial deprivation on motor development.
  • To assess the effectiveness of foster care intervention in improving motor skills.
  • To examine the relationship between motor and cognitive outcomes in formerly institutionalized children.

Main Methods:

  • Randomized controlled trial (RCT) within the Bucharest Early Intervention Project.
  • Comparison of institutionalized children (care as usual vs. foster care) with never-institutionalized controls.
  • Assessment of motor proficiency using the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency, Second Edition, Short Form (BOT2-SF) at age 8.

Main Results:

  • Never-institutionalized children demonstrated significantly better motor proficiency than those with a history of institutionalization (P < .001).
  • No significant difference in motor skills was observed between children receiving care as usual and those in foster care.
  • Regression analyses indicated that IQ largely mediated the differences in motor proficiency scores between groups.

Conclusions:

  • Early psychosocial deprivation has a lasting negative effect on motor development, which foster care placement did not fully ameliorate.
  • The observed motor deficits are predominantly mediated by intellectual quotient (IQ).
  • Monitoring and addressing motor delays are essential for institutionalized children, especially those with lower IQ.
Abstract

Keywords:
BEIPBOT2-SFBruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency, Second Edition, Short FormBucharest Early Intervention ProjectWISC-IVWechsler Intelligence Scale for Children–Fourth Edition

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