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Gross motor trajectories of pre-term and full-term infants under different parental educational approaches
Anilsa Suraia Pedro Gaspar Francisco1, Maylli Daiani Graciosa1, Sheila Cristina da Silva Pacheco1
1Postgraduate Program in Physical Therapy, Department of Physical Therapy, Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil.
Insights
Parental guidance on infant motor development, whether verbal or with a supplementary folder, yielded similar gross motor outcomes for both full-term and preterm infants. This suggests educational approaches do not significantly alter early motor trajectories.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Pediatrics
- Motor Development
- Infant Health
Background:
- Parental education programs aim to enhance gross motor development in infants.
- Understanding the impact of different guidance methods on motor trajectories is crucial.
- Preterm infants may have different developmental pathways compared to full-term infants.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore and compare motor trajectories in Brazilian preterm and full-term infants (3-12 months).
- To evaluate the effect of parental educational programs (verbal guidance vs. verbal + folder) on infant motor development.
- To assess differences in motor skills, home environment affordances, and parental practices between groups.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study involving 48 infants (full-term and preterm) and their parents.
- Three groups: verbal guidance only, verbal + folder guidance for full-term infants, and verbal + folder guidance for preterm infants.
- Utilized Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS), Affordances in Home Environment for Motor Development-Infant Scale (AHEMD-IS), and questionnaires at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months.
Main Results:
- All groups demonstrated significant longitudinal improvements in AIMS total scores, subscales, and AHEMD-IS subitems.
- Significant differences were observed in time spent in prone, supine, sitting, and standing positions across all groups.
- No significant differences in motor trajectory, home opportunities, or parental positioning practices were found between full-term and preterm infants, or across different guidance groups.
Conclusions:
- Parental educational interventions, regardless of format (verbal vs. verbal + folder), did not lead to differential motor development outcomes.
- Motor trajectories, home environmental affordances, and parental practices were comparable between full-term and preterm infants.
- The findings suggest that early gross motor development is robust and not significantly influenced by the studied educational approaches in this cohort.
Abstract:
This study aimed to explore motor trajectories of Brazilian pre-term and full-term infants from 3 to 12 months old whose parents participated in an educational program and had received guidance on gross motor development. Forty-eight Brazilian infants aged 3 months old were divided into Group 1 (full-term infants and their parents who received only verbal guidance, n = 14), Group 2 (full-term infants with parents who received an educative folder in addition to the same verbal guidance, n = 23), and Group 3 (preterm infants with parents who received the same verbal guidance and educative folder, n = 11). The folder had similar information to the verbal guidance; nonetheless, it helped to teach parents and allowed later consultation at home. We applied Alberta Infant Motor Scale, Affordances in Home Environment for Motor Development-Infant Scale, and a questionnaire about infants' information at 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-months old. In longitudinal comparison, all groups showed a significant difference for AIMS variables on total score and subscales; all subitems of AHEMD-IS; and time spent in prone, supine, sitting, and standing positions. In general, no differences were found between groups. Motor trajectory, home opportunities, and parental positioning practices were similar between full-term and preterm infants with different guidance approaches.
