Abstract
This study aimed to verify whether the presence of siblings and the type of delivery had an influence on the motor skills development of children in the first 48 months of life. We developed a quantitative study with a sample of 405 children of both genders, divided according to the studied variables: children with siblings, children without siblings, children born via eutocic delivery, and children born via dystocic delivery. The instrument used in the study was the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales-2. Overall, the results indicated that children who had siblings had, on average, better outcomes regarding all motor skills (global and fine). Furthermore, those born via eutocic delivery, on average, had better outcomes regarding all motor skills (global and fine) when compared to children born via dystocic delivery. Thus, the presence of siblings in the family context and the type of delivery positively influenced motor development, especially after 24 months of age, showing that the presence of siblings providing cooperative activities through play and challenges improved cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development. Furthermore, a eutocic delivery, in addition to providing a better recovery from labor and the immediate affective bond between mother and child, also led to better results in terms of global and fine motor skills.
Highlights
Motor development is the process of changes in motor behavior, which involves the maturation of the central nervous system and the interaction with the environment and the stimuli offered to the individual during their development [1]
Using a qualitative analysis, we found that there were no significant differences, the group that was born via eutocic delivery presented, on average, better results regarding all motor skills, postural skills (η2 = 0.006; effect size: trivial), locomotion skills (η2 = 0.017; effect size: low), object manipulation skills (η2 = 0.010; effect size: low), fine manipulation skills (η2 = 0.011; effect size: low), visuo-motor integration skills (p = 0.287; η2 = 0.010; effect size: trivial), global motricity (η2 = 0.006; effect size: trivial), and fine motricity (η2 = 0.020; effect size: low)
As for the variables studied, they were shown to influence the development of motor skills in the groups of children with siblings and those born via eutocic delivery, where on average, children in these groups obtained better results regarding different motor skills and in different age groups
Summary
Motor development is the process of changes in motor behavior, which involves the maturation of the central nervous system and the interaction with the environment and the stimuli offered to the individual during their development [1]. The authors add that the two-way relationship between the individual and the environment is of marked importance and the transformations occur in a gradual and orderly manner. Understanding, evaluating, and distinguishing motor development has been one of the main goals of many researchers investigating this area of knowledge. The attention given to the impact of a large set of variables regarding motor development rather than commonly studying motor development in. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 3864; doi:10.3390/ijerph17113864 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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