Verbande tussen bewegingstimulasie en neuro-motoriese ontwikkeling by 3 tot 9 maande oue babas... / Marili Scharrighuisen

• Main Author: Scharrighuisen, Cornelia Maria
• Language: other
• Published: North-West University 2013
• Subjects: Infant; Stimulation; Development; Stimulation programme; Intervention; Motor milestones
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10394/8431

Literature (Beck, 1986:96; Beaver & Brewster, 2002:132; Piaget et al., 2009:1) indicates that the first two years of a baby’s life is a critical period for development. This period is seen as windows of opportunity for development. There is still controversy in the literature regarding if baby stimulation helps babies to reach their neuro-motor development milestones faster, and which type of stimulation is the most advantageous, namely group stimulation or individual stimulation. The first objective of this study was to determine the effect of different methods of stimulation on the motor development of babies between the ages of 3 – 9 months, and secondly to determine what the effect of stimulation administered by a primary caregiver have on the motor development of babies between the ages of 3 – 9 months. A pretest-posttest design was used based on an available random sample where the effect of motor stimulation in different stimulation groups was tested. For objective 1 the babies (N=42) was divided into three different groups and exposed to informal stimulation (n=14), group stimulation as part of a day care program (n=15) and individual stimulation (n=13) administered by a primary caregiver. A nonstandardised checklist was designed by the researcher, refined in a pilot study and completed by the facilitators of the group and individual stimulation programs in which the content of the motor stimulation program was described. During the pretesting phase the babies were tested by the researcher in order to determine their motor milestone developmental status by means of the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales-2-measuring instrument (PDMS-2). This measuring instrument consists of five sub-scales that are converted to a gross motor, fine motor and total motor quotient. After applying the stimulation programs for 12 weeks on a daily basis in the group stimulation and the formal individual stimulation programs, the same aspects of the babies’ motor development was tested again by the PDMS-2. The results showed that after 3 – 9 months old babies were exposed to formal stimulation programs and the data was adjusted for age in months, gender, other activities and pretest results, they did not reach their neuro-motor developmental milestones faster than the babies that were exposed to informal stimulation. The results also show that babies that received individual stimulation administered by a primary caregiver did not reach their milestones faster than babies that only received informal stimulation. However, it seems that individual stimulation administered by a primary caregiver is more beneficial than group stimulation. For objective 2 the subjects (N=27) was divided into two groups and were exposed to informal stimulation (n=14) and individual stimulation (n=13) administered by a primary caregiver. A co-variance of analysis was used and effect sizes were determined for the differences that occurred. The results showed that 3 – 9 months old babies that were exposed to a formal stimulation program did not reach their neuro-motor development milestones faster than babies that were exposed to informal stimulation, because the informal stimulation groups achieved significant (d > 0.2) higher scores for the gross motor (d > 0.24), fine motor (d > 0.27) and total motor quotient (d > 0.33). Individual stimulation showed nonsignificant higher mean values for the reflex (ẋ = 10.30), locomotion (ẋ = 9.16) and visual-motor integration sub-scales (ẋ = 9.45), while informal stimulation showed higher mean values for static balance (ẋ = 11.46) and grasping skills (ẋ = 10.21). The conclusion can be made that simulation whether informal, formal or in a group is beneficial to babies, but the baby must be ready for the specific stimulation. The success of informal stimulation depends on the parents’ knowledge and educational levels. Consequently the same results will not necessarily be achieved by parents that are from a less wealthy environment and that have fewer opportunities to obtain knowledge about the optimal stimulation of babies. === Thesis (M.A. (Kinderkinetics))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011