Comparison of early neonatal behavior in two Israeli ethnic groups

A review of the literature on differences between Israeli children born to parents of North African and of European descent revealed only a few studies concerning child development. Two trends emerged: a) these developmental differences seemed to resolve gradually over time; and b) there appeared to be an early general developmental precocity in the infants of North African descent, while in later childhood, European children generally performed better in all developmental areas. The present study compared the early behavior of 40 second-generation Israeli neonates from these two ethnic groups. The results indicated a few statistically significant behavioral differences between the groups, all in favor of the North African group. The auditory habituation item was dependent on maternal education, a result which may be attributed to genetic and/or intrauterine environmental factors fostering the development of a protective mechanism in a potentially over-stimulatory future environment. The small-scale differences between the neonates of the two ethnic groups may represent the already documented tendency and gradual resolution of interethnic variations and the early North African precocity during infancy.