title: Developmental pathways in infants from 4 to 24 months.
abstract: There has been limited epidemiological research describing population-based samples regarding developmental pathways throughout infancy, and the research that exists has revealed substantial diversity. Identifying predictors for developmental pathways can inform early intervention services.
  
  
  
  The Ages and Stages Questionnaire was used to measure communication, gross motor, fine motor, problem-solving and personal-social skills longitudinally in a large, population-based sample of 1555 infants recruited from well-baby clinics in five municipalities in southeast Norway. We conducted latent class analyses to identify common pathways within the five developmental areas.
  
  
  
  Our results indicated that most classes of infants showed generally positive and stable normative developmental pathways. However, for communication and gross motor areas, more heterogeneity was found. For gross motor development, a class of 10% followed a U-shaped curve. A class of 8% had a declining communication pathway and did not reach the level of the high stable communication class at 24 months. Low gestational age, low Apgar score, male sex, maternal depression symptoms, non-Scandinavian maternal ethnicity and high maternal education significantly predict less beneficial communication pathways.
  
  
  
  The results suggest that infants with low gestational age, low Apgar score, male sex and a mother with depression symptoms or non-Scandinavian ethnicity may be at risk of developing less beneficial developmental pathways, especially within the communication area. Targeting these infants for surveillance and support might be protective against delayed development in several areas during a critical window of development.
authors.affiliation: National Network for Infant Mental Health in Norway, Center for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Eastern and Southern Norway, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: L
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-0491-290X
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Valla
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Center for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Birkeland
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health and Society, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hofoss
authors.affiliation: National Network for Infant Mental Health in Norway, Center for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Eastern and Southern Norway, Oslo, Norway.|Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Slinning
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001034:Apgar Score; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019052:Depression, Postpartum / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D018479:Early Intervention, Educational; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D018730:Infant Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D007804:Language Development; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D009048:Motor Skills; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D017678:Sex Distribution; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Ages and Stages Questionnaires; infants; pathways; predictors