Is maternal education related to infant motor development?
OBJECTIVE
Because results of previous studies were inconclusive, our purpose was to examine the relationship between maternal education and infant neuromotor development in infants who are healthy and born at term.


METHODS
Secondary analysis of normative data derived through administration of the Harris Infant Neuromotor Test (HINT) to 412 Canadian infants was conducted. Infants were recruited from community-based infant programs, childcare facilities, and homes in five Canadian provinces. Inclusion criteria included: term birth (38-42 weeks), birth weight > or =2500 g, and no history of major prenatal, perinatal, or postnatal medical complications or maternal complications. Infants encompassed Canadian ethnic diversity as well as equal gender distribution at each of 10 monthly age intervals.


RESULTS
The analysis demonstrated that maternal education was only minimally associated with infant neuromotor development as measured by HINT total scores.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results confirmed other researchers' findings of no association between maternal education and infant motor development.
Ravenscroft
Eleanor F
EF
School of Nursing, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Harris
Susan R
SR
D000328:Adult; D002170:Canada; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012016:Reference Values