Mom Didn’t Go to School, Dad Is Out of Work: Associations between Maternal Educational Attainment, Family Socioeconomic Status, and Infant Development

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to assess the neuropsychomotor development (NPMD) of 6- to 18-month-old infants and identify factors that may pose a risk to their development. They underwent NPMD assessments, while the parents/guardians were interviewed through the other instruments. Altogether, 64 infants participated in this research. The results revealed infants with questionable NPMD: 29.7% verified with AIMS and 32.8%, with Denver II. There were significant associations between NPMD and maternal low educational attainment ( P = .032); family low socioeconomic status and NPMD ( P = .026), verified with AIMS and Denver II ( P = .037); stimulation opportunities at home and maternal low educational attainment ( P = .00026), socioeconomic status ( P = .035), and NPMD, verified with AIMS ( P = .02) and Denver II ( P = .009). The following were identified as risk factors for NPMD: maternal low educational attainment (the lower her attainment, the more likely for the NPMD to be questionable) and family socioeconomic status (infants from disadvantaged homes tend to have questionable NPMD). Stimulation opportunities at home were also significantly associated with NPMD—that is, insufficient stimulations at home may lead to questionable NPMD.