The role of older siblings in infant motor development.
Previous research has suggested that infant motor skills may be affected by older siblings but has not considered whether this is due to specific characteristics of the older sibling or of the quality of the sibling relationship. The current study used a longitudinal diary method to record infant motor milestones from 23 infants with older siblings along with parent reports and standardized assessments of motor skills. Parent reports of the older siblings' motor skills and the sibling relationship were also collected until the infants were 18months old. The motor skills, age, and sex of the older siblings were not significantly related to any measure of infant motor development. A significant correlation was revealed between perceived agonism between siblings and infant fine motor skills at 18months, suggesting the importance of considering reciprocal effects of motor development on sibling relationships. Overall, the suggestion that older siblings may provide a good model of motor skills for infants is not supported by the current data. In the future, it will be important to assess the dynamic interactions between different factors in predicting infant motor development, allowing early identification of motor difficulties, which could affect other areas of cognitive development and health.
School of Psychology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey GU2 7HX, UK. Electronic address: h.leonard@surrey.ac.uk.
Hayley C
HC
Leonard
Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, London SE14 6NW, UK.
Elisabeth L
EL
Hill
D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007100:Imitative Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D007223:Infant; D007858:Learning; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology*; D012801:Sibling Relations; D035781:Siblings
Fine motor skill; Gross motor skill; Imitation; Infant; Longitudinal; Motor development; Siblings