Development of the Affordances in the Home Environment for Motor Development–Infant Scale

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To assess the opportunities present in the home environment for motor development of infants. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional population-based epidemiological study on 239 infants aged three to 18 months who were living in the municipality of Juiz de Fora, Southeastern Brazil, in 2010. The participants were selected by means of stratifi ed random sampling, in clustered multiple stages. To assess the quality and quantity of motor stimulus in the home environment, the "Affordances in the Home Environment for Motor Development-Infant Scale" instrument was used. Bivariate analysis was performed, with application of the chi-square test followed by multinomial logistic regression, in order to investigate associations between the opportunities present in the home and biological, behavioral, demographic and socioeconomic factors. RESULTS: The opportunities for environmental stimulation were relatively low. In the bivariate analysis, for the age group from three to nine months, associations with the following factors were found: birth order (p = 0.06), socioeconomic classifi cation (p = 0.08), monthly income (p = 0.06) and per capita income (p = 0.03). In the regression model, the socioeconomic classifi cation prevailed (OR = 7.46; p = 0.03). For the age group from 10 to 18 months, bivariate analysis showed that the following factors were associated: mother's marital status (p < 0.01), father living with the child (p = 0.08), head of the family (p = 0.04), number of people in the household (p = 0.05), mother's schooling level (p < 0.01), father's schooling level (p < 0.01), socioeconomic classifi cation (p < 0.01) and per capita income (p = 0.03). In the regression model, the mother's marital status (OR = 4.83; p = 0.02), mother's schooling level (OR = 0.29; p = 0.03) and father's schooling level (OR = 0.33; p = 0.04) remained associated with the opportunities for environmental stimulation. CONCLUSIONS: Stable partnership between the parents, higher maternal and paternal schooling levels and higher economic level were the factors associated with better opportunities for motor stimulation in the home.

O contexto ambiental e o desenvolvimento na primeira infância: estudos brasileiros

“…Most Brazilian studies investigate the influence either of the home environment 7,9,[11][12] , or the daycare 40,42,54 , separately. However, following an international trend, some recent Brazilian studies [38][39][45][46] already seek to study this issue considering the interrelationship between the environments experienced by the child as well as other relevant factors, given the multifaceted nature of child development .…”

“…As for the environmental quality and child development, Brazilian studies bring important contributions to the international publications scenario, especially in the motor development domain 9,12,[18][19][31][32][33][35][36][37][38][39]41 . According to Zaslow et al 53 , when conducting an international literature review, there are more studies on some areas of child development at the expense of others, such as the influence of the daycare environment.…”

“…The authors demonstrated that both, the indices and the items separately, had a positive effect on children's development especially, "having a book at home" and "having heard a story." Caçola et al 9 and Miquelote et al 12 evaluated the relationship between motor development and quality of the home environment, through Affordances in the Home Environment for Motor Developmemt (AHEDMD) 14 . The first authors found a modest correlation between the studied constructs, whereas the latter found a strong correlation between the fine motor performance and the AHEDMD subscales, daily activities and learning materials.…”

“…The influence of the quality of the home environment and child development is the subject of some Brazilian studies [7][8][9][10][11][12] . Andrade et al 7 , measuring cognitive development, and Lamy Filho et al 11 measuring global development, found that the higher the quality of the home environment, measured by the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) Inventory 13 , the better the performance of children in the surveyed areas.…”

Motor and Cognitive Development Predictors of Infants of Adolescents and Adults Mothers

“…Para a análise do ambiente domiciliar foi utilizado a versão adaptada para o português do questionário Affordances in the Home Enviroment for Motor Development -Infant Scale (AHEMD-IS), especificamente a escala de 3 a 18 meses 21,22 . O AHEMD-IS é um instrumento faz uma avaliação quantitativa e qualitativa do ambiente doméstico, abordando questões relacionadas à caracterização da criança e da família; o espaço físico da habitação (interno e externo); as atividades diárias da criança (tempo da criança em casa, tempo da criança acordada em casa); brinquedos e materiais existentes na habitação (quantidade e variedade) 23 .…”