Gross-motor Development Research Articles

Summer Camp Program for Children With Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder: Description and Preliminary Observations

Summer camp programming has a rich history of promoting childhood development. In the care of children with specific childhood psychiatric disorders, the incorporation of targeted cognitive-behavioral principles provides an opportunity to marry targeted evidence-based practices with broader development, in particular social, emotional, and fine- and gross-motor development. This union is synergistic, providing the practitioner with an opportunity to employ cognitive-behavioral practices in an environment that may overcome common barriers to effective interventions outside the scope of the targeted illness. In this paper, the authors describe the preliminary findings concerning a weeklong, 25-hour summer camp program targeting childhood obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). Nine children ages 9–12 years participated in this pilot program. Child and parent feedback alike suggested strong treatment acceptability and efficacy in targeting both core symptoms of OCD as well as associated developmental deficits. The camp’s implementation of exposure and response prevention enables an opportunity to report on the capability of employing these strategies in a summer camp setting. In conjunction with an evidence-based treatment program for childhood OCD, a summer camp program specifically targeted for children with OCD presents a valuable tool for improving child welfare and reducing functional impairments.

The impact of the "Developmental Resource Stimulation Programme" (DRSP) on children with Down syndrome

BACKGROUND: This study investigated the impact of an intensive early-intervention programme, the Developmental Resource Stimulation Programme (DRSP), on Down syndrome (DS) children younger than 42 months in the South African context. The DRSP is a unique, child-parent specific, one-on-one, integrated developmental programme for children with Down syndrome from birth to 42 months. AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of the DRSP on Down syndrome children younger than 42 months in the South African context. METHODOLOGY: A non-randomised control group pre-test-post-test design was followed. The Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, 3rd edition was used. Thirty children with the general characteristics of DS, specifically Trisomy 21, were included in the study. There were two groups, namely the intervention group (n = 16) and the control group (n = 14) which were studied over a period of six months. RESULTS: This study showed that a specifically designed programme, with participation of a parent, has a positive impact on the development of the child with Down syndrome. CONCLUSION: Contrary to the existing literature, there were positive changes in the fine-motor development and language of the intervention group overall and in the gross-motor development of children older than 9-months with Down syndrome. Key words: early intervention programme, Down syndrome, younger than three years, developmental domains, occupational therapy

Developmental age and motor function levels in children with cerebral palsy

We determined the developmental level of 107 children (mean age, 66.41 ± 32.92 mo) with cerebral palsy in an inpatient rehabilitation program and assessed both the difference between calendar age and developmental age and the effect of developmental level on motor function improvement. The Denver II test was used to reveal the difference between calendar age and developmental age, and we determined whether there was a statistically significant difference between the admission and discharge motor function measurements of the subjects. The effect of the Denver II developmental levels of language, fine-motor, personal-social, and gross-motor skillson motor function was investigated. Wefound a statisticallysignificant difference between thedevelopmental levelsandcalendar agesof thestudy subjects. Denver II testresultsrevealed astatisticallysignificant difference between the personal-social, gross-motor, and fine-motor levels of the subjects. We found no difference only between personal- social and language levels. Gross-motor development was the most delayed value by calendar age. Regardless of developmental level, there was a statistically significant difference between motor activity levels at admission and discharge as revealed by the Gross-motor Functional Classification System and the Gross-motor Function Measure. The developmental ages of the subjects were much lower than their calendar ages. We concluded that the Denver II language and fine-motor developmental level did not have an effect on functional gains but that the subjects with good personal-social and gross-motor function developmental levels exhibited relatively better motor function gains at the time of discharge.

Perfluorinated Compound Levels in Cord Blood and Neurodevelopment at 2 Years of Age

Epidemiologic data regarding the potential neurotoxicity of perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) are inconclusive. We investigated the associations between in utero exposure to perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctyl sulfonate (PFOS) and early childhood neurodevelopment. We recruited 239 mother-infant pairs in northern Taiwan from the Taiwan Birth Panel Study, which was established in 2004. We examined the association between PFCs in cord blood and children's neurodevelopment at 2 years of age, using the Comprehensive Developmental Inventory for Infants and Toddlers. This tool contains cognitive, language, motor, social, and self-help domains; test scores were further transformed into developmental quotients according to standardized norms. All multivariate regression models were adjusted for infant sex and gestational age, maternal education, family income, cord blood cotinine levels, postnatal environmental tobacco smoke exposure, and breastfeeding. Prenatal PFOS concentrations in both untransformed and natural log (Ln)-transformed values were associated with adverse performance on the whole test and the domains related to development. A dose-response relationship was observed when PFOS levels were categorized into four groups. This association was most obvious in relation to the gross-motor subdomain. Across the PFOS interquartile range, the quotients of the gross-motor subdomain decreased by 3.7 points (95% confidence interval [CI] = -6.0 to -1.5), with an increasing odds ratio of poor performance (2.4; 95% CI = 1.3 to 4.2). In contrast, measures of association between PFOA concentrations and test scores were close to null. Prenatal exposure to PFOS, but not PFOA, may affect children's development, especially gross-motor development at 2 years of age.

The Effects of Prenatal Use of Folic Acid and Other Dietary Supplements on Early Child Development

Our objective was to evaluate in an exploratory framework the effects of prenatal use of folic acid and other dietary supplements on child development at around 3 years of life. Data from the 1988 National Maternal Infant Health Survey and the 1991 follow-up supplement is used. Performance indicators are formed based on 16 developmental assessment items completed by the mother to measure overall as well as domain specific (language, personal-social, gross-motor and fine-motor) development. Pooled as well as separate analyses by child race are performed. Multinomial and binary outcome logistic regression is used and several maternal and household characteristics are included as covariates. Folic acid use was associated with improved gross-motor development with a more pronounced effect among African-American children, but there was marginally significant poorer performance for the personal-social domain. Zinc and calcium use were associated with increased risks on the overall development scale and two other developmental domains. The negative effects of Zinc on overall development were only observed among white children. On the contrary, vitamin A was associated with decreased risks on the overall development scale only among white children. Study results suggest that while prenatal folic acid supplementation may improve development at 3 years of age, further research is needed in this regard. The results also emphasize the importance of further research into the use of prenatal calcium and zinc supplementation in a US population.

Motor development of Japanese twins in childhood as reported by mothers

Twins tend to lag behind singletons in their motor development, though the causes of this appear to be complicated and are not yet fully understood. The present study was performed to clarify the factors associated with the motor development of twins. The twins in the first group consisted of school applicants, including 1131 twin pairs, and the second group consisted of children of members of several maternal associations, and included 951 pairs. All data were gathered by questionnaire survey, and six gross-motor development milestones were analyzed in individuals or pairs. Relative to general population norms in Japan, twins tended to be delayed in reaching several motor development milestones. Stepwise regression analysis showed that of all the variables measured, gestational age was the most influential on all six milestones. Birthweight was also influential on most milestones. Other factors affecting motor development milestones were parity for 'sitting without support,' 'pulling up to a standing position,' and 'walking without support,' and zygosity for 'walking without support.' In these cases, longer gestational age, heavier birthweighf, primiparity, and dizygosity showed a tendency toward earlier attainment of development. Motor development within pairs was more similar in monozygotic pairs compared with dizygotic pairs regarding each item, suggesting genetic contributions. The results of the present study showed specific and nonspecific factors that affect motor development of twins. These findings should prove useful in understanding the motor development of twin children and help clinicians to refine maternal and child health care for multiple-birth children.

Onset of acquired autoimmune hypothyroidism in infancy: a presentation of delayed gross-motor development and rhabdomyolysis

We report the case of a 23-month-old girl who presented with poor growth and delayed attainment of gross-motor milestones. Elevated creatine phosphokinase (CPK) indicated rhabdomyolysis, ultimately attributed to severe, acquired autoimmune hypothyroidism. Growth data and bone-age suggest the onset of hypothyroidism occurred at or before 12 months of age. Acquired hypothyroidism is rare before age 3 years, and rhabdomyolysis due to hypothyroidism has not previously been reported as a cause of delayed gross-motor development in toddlerhood. Despite the early onset of hypothyroidism, cognitive function appeared to be unaffected. Adequate thyroid hormone replacement quickly normalized the CPK in our patient, and gross motor development rapidly improved. Although rare, rhabdomyolysis secondary to hypothyroidism should be in the differential diagnosis of delayed gross-motor development in infancy and toddlerhood.

Influence of labyrinthine hypoactivity on gross motor development of infants.

Annals of the New York Academy of SciencesVolume 374, Issue 1 p. 412-420 INFLUENCE OF LABYRINTHINE HYPOACTIVITY ON GROSS MOTOR DEVELOPMENT OF INFANTS Kimitaka Kaga, Kimitaka Kaga Department of Otolaryngology Teikyo University School of Medicine Tokyo 173, JapanSearch for more papers by this authorJun-Ichi Suzuki, Jun-Ichi Suzuki Department of Otolaryngology Teikyo University School of Medicine Tokyo 173, JapanSearch for more papers by this authorRoger R. Marsh, Roger R. Marsh Department of Otolaryngology Teikyo University School of Medicine Tokyo 173, Japan Present affiliation: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa. 19104.Search for more papers by this authorYoshisato Tanaka, Yoshisato Tanaka Department of Otolaryngology Teikyo University School of Medicine Tokyo 173, JapanSearch for more papers by this author Kimitaka Kaga, Kimitaka Kaga Department of Otolaryngology Teikyo University School of Medicine Tokyo 173, JapanSearch for more papers by this authorJun-Ichi Suzuki, Jun-Ichi Suzuki Department of Otolaryngology Teikyo University School of Medicine Tokyo 173, JapanSearch for more papers by this authorRoger R. Marsh, Roger R. Marsh Department of Otolaryngology Teikyo University School of Medicine Tokyo 173, Japan Present affiliation: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa. 19104.Search for more papers by this authorYoshisato Tanaka, Yoshisato Tanaka Department of Otolaryngology Teikyo University School of Medicine Tokyo 173, JapanSearch for more papers by this author First published: November 1981 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-6632.1981.tb30887.xCitations: 63 AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume374, Issue1Vestibular and Oculomotor Physiology: International Meeting of the Barany SocietyNovember 1981Pages 412-420 RelatedInformation