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Manual exploratory behaviors in six-month-old infants at environmental and biological risk
Liz Araújo Rohr1, Thais Invenção Cabral2, Meyene Duque Weber1
1Department of Physical Therapy, Federal University of São Carlos, São Carlos, SP, Brazil.
Insights
Infant exploratory behaviors differ based on risk factors and object type. Low socioeconomic status (SES) infants show distinct behaviors, with object properties influencing actions like fingering, banging, and squeezing.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Infant Behavior Studies
- Neuromotor Development
Background:
- Exploratory behaviors are crucial for skill development in infants.
- Biological and environmental risk factors can negatively impact neuromotor development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess and differentiate exploratory behaviors in infants facing environmental or biological risks versus those without risks.
- To understand how risk factors influence infant exploratory actions.
Main Methods:
- Studied 64 six-month-old infants divided into three groups: healthy full-term, low socioeconomic status (SES) full-term, and very preterm infants.
- Assessed nine specific exploratory behaviors (fingering, mouthing, waving, etc.) using both malleable and rigid objects.
Main Results:
- Significant differences in behaviors like fingering and transferring were observed between risk groups (low SES and preterm) and the healthy group.
- Object properties influenced behaviors: rigid objects favored fingering and banging, while malleable objects favored squeezing.
- Total exploratory behaviors differed significantly between the healthy and low SES groups for both object types.
Conclusions:
- Risk factors and object characteristics significantly influence infant exploratory behaviors, particularly in infants from low SES backgrounds.
- Specific behaviors are associated with object properties, highlighting the interplay between environment and infant actions.
Background:
Exploratory behaviors are essential and may improve different skill development. Different risk factors may negatively impact neuromotor development, such as biological risk and environmental risk.
Objective:
Assess and discriminate exploratory behaviors of infants at environmental or biological risk and infants at non-risk.
Methods:
Sixty-four six-month-old infants were divided into three independent groups: Group 1 (G1), 28 healthy full-term infants; Group 2 (G2), 21 full-term infants of low socioeconomic status (SES); Group 3 (G3), 15 very preterm infants. Nine exploratory behaviors were assessed: fingering, mouthing, waving, tapping, banging, transferring, rotating, alternating, and squeezing.
Results:
For the malleable object, fingering (p = 0.005) and transferring (p = 0.046) behaviors were different between G2 and G3 whereas waving behavior (p = 0.041) differed between G1 and G3 and transferring (p = 0.003) between G1 and G2. For the rigid object, waving was different between G1 and G3 (p = 0.018) whereas transferring behavior differed between G2 and G3 (p = 0.019). Total number of behaviors was significantly different between G1 and G2 for malleable (p = 0.019) and rigid objects (p = 0.009). Intragroup analysis revealed differences between malleable and rigid objects for transferring (p = 0.013), squeezing (p < 0.0001), fingering (p < 0.0001), and banging (p = 0.013) behaviors in infants from G1. Fingering and squeezing (p < 0.0001) were different between malleable and rigid objects in G2 (p = 0.009 and p < 0.0001) and G3 (p = 0.004 and p < 0.0001).
Conclusion:
Risk factors and object properties influence exploratory behaviors, mainly in low SES infants. Fingering and banging behaviors are favored by rigid objects, while squeezing is favored by malleable objects.
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