Affordances in the home environment of children at risk of developmental delay

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to verify the adequacy of affordances in the home environment of children at risk of developmental delay and to identify factors associated with their frequency. Methods: The cross-sectional study included 97 families who responded to the Affordances in the Home Environment for Motor Development — Infant Scale (AHEMD-IS) for 3–18 months (n=63), or AHEMD – Self-Report (AHEMD-SR) for 18–42 months (n=34). The Mann-Whitney U test was used to identify the differences between the frequencies of affordances between the groups. Multiple linear regression was used to verify the association between the child’s sex, mother’s marital status, education, socioeconomic level, child and mother’s ages, house residents’ number, per capita income, and AHEMD scores (α=0.05). Results: The home affordances’ frequency in the AHEMD-IS ranged from less than adequate to excellent, while in the AHEMD-SR, the highest predominance was medium. The offer of stimuli in the AHEMD-IS was significantly higher. Higher socioeconomic level and house residents’ number were associated with greater affordances. Conclusions: The higher the socioeconomic level and house residents’ number, the greater the affordances in the homes of children at risk of delay. It is necessary to provide families with some alternatives to make their home environments richer in affordances that favor child development.

Association between Contextual Factors and Affordances in the Home Environment of Infants Exposed to Poverty

“…On the other hand, infants aged 6 to 9 months from families with a high socioeconomic status (SES) showed better performance in motor, cognitive, and language development due to the greater availability of opportunities for action [16]. Recently, studies found that the higher the SES and number of residents, the greater the affordances in the home environment of children from 8 months [17]. However, the authors assessed only the frequencies of affordances at home.…”