title: Physically developed and exploratory young infants contribute to their own long-term academic achievement.
abstract: A developmental cascade defines a longitudinal relation in which one psychological characteristic uniquely affects another psychological characteristic later in time, separately from other intrapersonal and extrapersonal factors. Here, we report results of a large-scale (N = 374), normative, prospective, 14-year longitudinal, multivariate, multisource, controlled study of a developmental cascade from infant motor-exploratory competence at 5 months to adolescent academic achievement at 14 years, through conceptually related and age-appropriate measures of psychometric intelligence at 4 and 10 years and academic achievement at 10 years. This developmental cascade applied equally to girls and boys and was independent of children's behavioral adjustment and social competence; mothers' supportive caregiving, verbal intelligence, education, and parenting knowledge; and the material home environment. Infants who were more motorically mature and who explored more actively at 5 months of age achieved higher academic levels as 14-year-olds.
authors: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
authors: Marc H
authors: MH
authors: Bornstein
authors: Chun-Shin
authors: CS
authors: Hahn
authors: Joan T D
authors: JT
authors: Suwalsky
mesh_terms: D000124:Achievement; D000293:Adolescent; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005106:Exploratory Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007360:Intelligence; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016487:Parenting; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012923:Social Class; D012931:Social Environment
keywords: academic achievement; adolescent development; cognitive development; infant development
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