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Do Motor Difficulties in Infancy Predict 7-year-olds' Behavioural Health? Findings from the Avon Longitudinal Study
Emma Butler1, Mary Clarke2, Michelle Spirtos3
1Department of Population Health, Royal College of Surgeons Ireland, Dublin, Ireland.
Insights
Fine-motor skills in infancy are linked to better child behavioral health at age 7. Improved fine-motor abilities in toddlers predict fewer behavioral health issues later in childhood.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Child Health
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Early childhood motor skills are crucial for development.
- Predictors of child behavioral health are essential for early intervention.
- Understanding the link between infant motor development and later behavior is key.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if fine- and gross-motor skills in infancy predict child behavioral health at 7 years of age.
- To determine the predictive value of early motor development on later behavioral outcomes.
- To explore the relationship between infant motor proficiency and 7-year-old behavioral health.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal cohort study of 6,709 English children.
- Analysis of fine- and gross-motor skills at 18 months using Denver developmental Z-scores.
- Assessment of behavioral health at 7 years via the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire.
Main Results:
- A significant dose-response relationship was found between fine-motor skills at 18 months and behavioral health at 7 years.
- Higher fine-motor skills in infancy were associated with decreased odds of clinical behavioral health symptoms at age 7.
- Gross-motor skills at 18 months did not predict behavioral health at 7 years.
Conclusions:
- Fine-motor skills in infancy are a significant predictor of behavioral health at 7 years of age.
- Infants with fine-motor difficulties show higher rates of behavioral health symptoms later.
- Combined analysis of motor skills, gestational age, and sociodemographic risk offers a more comprehensive prediction of behavioral health.
Objective:
To examine whether fine- and gross-motor skills in infancy predict child behavioral health at 7 years of age.
Study Design:
Longitudinal cohort data from 6,709 English children were analyzed using regression techniques to investigate whether fine- and gross-motor skills at 18 months, measured by Denver developmental categorized age-adjusted Z-scores, predicted behavioral health at 7 years of age, measured by the total-score on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire.
Results:
A dose-response relationship exists between fine-motor skills at 18 months and behavioral health at 7 years of age. In fully-adjusted models, (cumulative sociodemographic risk, sex, history of maternal psychological difficulties, gross-motor skills, and gestational age), the odds of experiencing clinical levels of behavioral health symptoms at 7 years of age decreased as fine-motor skills increased. Odds ratios were 0.5 (95% CI 0.2-1.3) for children with below, 0.3 (95% CI 0.1-0.8) for slightly-below, 0.2 (95% CI 0.1-0.4) for average and, 0.1 (95% CI 0.1-0.4) for above-average fine-motor skills compared to children with well-below fine-motor skills. Children with well-below, below, and slightly-below-average fine-motor skills reported almost 6-times, 3-times and double higher rates of clinical behavioural health symptoms at 7-years compared to children with average or above fine-motor-skills. Gross-motor skills were not prognostic of later behavioural health.
Conclusions:
Infants with any level of fine-motor difficulties had higher rates of parent-reported behavioural health symptoms at 7-years. Fine-motor but not gross-motor skills in infancy are predictive of poor behavioural health at 7-years. Examining how numerous factors such as motor skills, gestational-age and sociodemographic risk combine to predict risk of poor behavioural health may be more useful than considering any individual predictor in isolation.
