Instability of gross motor development during the first year in orphaned infants: a longitudinal observation study

Effects of Play in an Upright Position on Intra-Individual Variability of Gross Motor and Language Development in Institutionalized Infants

“…After participating in the play program for a 3-month period, healthy orphaned infants in this study were able to show wider intra-individual variability of gross motor developmental percentiles. The wide intra-individual variability was in line with previous longitudinal studies indicating that developing infants typically exhibit variability in terms of gross motor percentile from 3 to 13 months [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 33 , 41 ], while intra-individual variability of gross motor development in the control group was quite stable, similar to previous studies on orphaned infants who displayed narrow intra-individual variability [ 19 , 20 ]. The mean value of intra-individual variability within 12 months in the study of Prommin et al was 55.4 percentile, while the mean intra-individual variability within 3 months of the current study was 34.3 percentile ( Table 3 ).…”

“…As mentioned, a previous prospective cohort study in 49 infants from Southern Brazil found that variability in motor and cognitive development was strongly associated with environmental risk factors [ 18 ]. Our previous studies of gross motor development of infants residing in an orphanage environment found that institutionalized infants displayed less intra-individual variability in gross motor development [ 19 , 20 ]. These studies suggest that the environment of child-rearing has great potential to influence infant development and should be an essential target of intervention studies programs [ 18 ].…”

Early motor copying behaviours: analysis of their functions and relationship with language

“…Six participants were firstborn children, and three were secondborn. Longitudinal studies with very young children in natural contexts have certain limitations regarding the sample size (e.g., Capobianco et al, 2017;Kokkinaki & Pratikaki, 2014;Mathew & Manjula, 2016;Murillo, Ortega, Otones, Rujas, & Casla, 2018;Prommin, Bennett, Keeratisiroj, & Siritaratiwat, 2020). However, the density of the data obtained and the analysis conducted allow the extraction of suggestive conclusions from relatively small sample.…”