Infant posture and caregiver-provided cognitive opportunities in typically developing infants and infants with motor delay

Kari S Kretch; Natalie A Koziol; Emily C Marcinowski; Audrey E Kane; Ketaki Inamdar; Elena Donoso Brown; James A Bovaird; Regina T Harbourne; Lin-Ya Hsu; Michele A Lobo; Stacey C Dusing

doi:10.1002/dev.22233

Infant posture and caregiver-provided cognitive opportunities in typically developing infants and infants with motor delay

Dev Psychobiol. 2022 Jan;64(1):e22233. doi: 10.1002/dev.22233.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Division of Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
² Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families and Schools, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA.
³ Department of Kinesiology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA.
⁴ Department of Occupational Therapy, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA.
⁵ Department of Physical Therapy, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA.
⁶ Department of Occupational Therapy, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
⁷ Department of Educational Psychology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA.
⁸ Department of Physical Therapy, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
⁹ Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Physical Therapy, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, USA.

PMID: 35050510
DOI: 10.1002/dev.22233

Abstract

Infants' developing motor skills-including mastery of new postures such as sitting and standing-affect opportunities for learning that facilitate cognitive development. But how infant posture affects caregiver behavior is largely unexplored. Moreover, we know little about effects of posture on learning opportunities in infants with motor delay. This study asked how infants with typical development and infants with significant motor delay use various postures during play, and whether posture is related in real time to caregiver-provided cognitive learning opportunities. Infants were videotaped five times over the course of a year in a free play session with a caregiver, starting when they demonstrated initial sitting skills. Posture and cognitive opportunities were coded moment-by-moment to assess duration and temporal overlap. We found that infants with typical development and infants with motor delay displayed similar use of postures initially, but infants with typical development demonstrated more mature postures over time. We also found that for both groups of infants, caregivers were most likely to provide cognitive opportunities when infants were sitting independently, and least likely when infants were supine. Our findings highlight the importance of upright sitting in typical and atypical infant development and suggest potential areas of intervention for infants with motor delay.

Keywords: cognition; developmental disabilities; infant development; learning; motor delay; motor skills.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Caregivers*
Child
Child Development
Cognition
Humans
Infant
Motor Skills
Posture*