Home environment opportunities and motor development of infants in the first year

Abstract

Introduction: The home environment is a fundamental agent for infant development in the first year of life. Objective: To evaluate the opportunities for environmental stimulation and the motor development of infants at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months of age and determine the association between these opportunities and the parents’ schooling and economic levels, at each age studied. Method: This is a longitudinal study using the Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS) to assess motor development, the Affordances in the Home Environment for Motor Development - Infant Scale (AHEMD-IS) questionnaire to assess the stimulation opportunities at home and the Brazilian Association of Research Companies (ABEP) questionnaire to classify the economic level of the families. The association between opportunities for environmental stimulation and schooling and economic levels was determined by the chi-squared test. Results: thirty-seven infants participated, 54.1% of whom were boys. At 3 months of age, the opportunities for environmental stimulation were unsatisfactory, while at 6, 9, and 12 months, satisfactory opportunities predominated. Three infants scored below 10% on the AIMS at 3 months of age, indicating delayed motor development. There was a significant association between economic level and total AHEMD-IS score (p=0.031), and the toy dimension for gross (p=0.016) and fine (p=0.043) motor skills. Conclusion: The infants’ home environment did not provide sufficient opportunities for stimulation in the first months, but improved during the first year. Motor development was considered delayed for three infants, but was suitable in subsequent evaluations.