Developmental delay in early childhood is associated with visual-constructive skills at school age in a Brazilian cohort

Luciane Da Rosa Piccolo,Claudio Simon Hutz,Olga Garcia Falceto,Jerusa Fumagalli Salles,Denise Ruschel Bandeira,Carmen Luiza Correa Fernandes,Joice Dickel Segabinazi,Clarissa Marceli Trentini

doi:10.1186/s41155-016-0048-2

Abstract

We investigated differences in IQ and visual-constructive skills in school-age children evaluated as developmentally delayed or typically developed in early childhood. Sixty-four participants from a Brazilian cohort were evaluated in IQ (Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence) and tasks of visual-spatial memory and visual-constructive skills through the Benton Visual Retention Test (BVRT) at school age. Neuropsychomotor development at 4 years of age was measured by Denver II. Developmentally delayed children showed lower IQs, lower scores, and more errors in copy and memory BVRT tasks when compared to typically developed children. Delay in neuropsychomotor development in early childhood may affect the subsequent cognitive development of children.

Highlights

The nature of child development is essentially cumulative, and the first years of life are the basis for further development (Ali, 2013; Allen & Kelly, 2015)
Children are referred to centers of treatment and diagnosis due to developmental delays, learning disabilities, or social interaction problems perceived by parents, teachers, or other professionals who follow the children into their routine
Significant differences between groups were observed in omissions, perseverations, and rotation for the Benton Visual Retention Test (BVRT) memory task: DD committed more of those types of errors

Summary

Introduction

The nature of child development is essentially cumulative, and the first years of life are the basis for further development (Ali, 2013; Allen & Kelly, 2015). Child development is dynamic and involves the maturation of interrelated systems: cognitive, physical, and social-emotional skills (Casey et al 2005). There are instruments to evaluate behavior and cognitive functioning in school-age children, including tasks with words and numbers, as at that age they are already able to Neuropsychomotor development is crucial, since children develop language and other complex mental processes by the relationships they establish with the environment and active exploration through the manipulation of objects, the repetition of actions, and body self-control (Iverson, 2010; Levey & Polirstok, 2011). Progress in child development can be observed by the expression of initial motor acts and behaviors expected for each age getting successively more complex, according to the gradual maturation of the nervous system (Casey et al, 2005). While children advance in independence and coordination, they become able to separately control each motor sequence and gradually coordinate these independent movements, making them more complex (Corso, 2007)

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