Level of maternal education and performance of Black, South African infants on the 1996 Griffiths Mental Development Scales

Objective: The study compared the performance on the Griffiths Mental Development Scales of Black; South African infants with mothers who had twelve or more years of education and who were professionally employed with infants of mothers with fewer than twelve years of education and who were employed in non-professional jobs. Method: The sample consisted of 40 infants (aged 13-16 months); to whom the Griffiths Mental Development Scales was administered. Results: The infants with professional mothers performed significantly better than their counterparts with non-professional mothers on the General Quotient; as well as on the Locomotor Scale. While maternal level of education did not appear to distinguish between infants in terms of social; fine motor; language; hearing; processing speed or practical reasoning; it did discriminate in terms of gross-motor functioning. Conclusion: It is suggested that; as the infant develops; the skills assessed by the Griffiths Scales; which are initially differentiated; become increasingly interrelated. Consequently; poor gross-motor skills; which may be more likely in infants from a low socio-economic status; may have far-reaching implications. Thus; it is important to consider maternal level of education and the socio-economic status background of the infant; as this may influence overall performance on the Scales

Use of the 1996 Griffiths Mental Development Scales for Infants: a Pilot Study with a Black; South African Sample

Objectives: Over the last few years; researchers have made a significant effort to address the need for more reliable and valid assessment measures for South Africa. The objective of this study was to acquire empirical data regarding the use and application of the Griffiths Mental Development Scales with Black South African infants. Methods: Specifically; the study aimed to make a preliminary cross-cultural comparison of the performance of Black South African infants and the British normative sample of the Griffiths Scales (Huntley 1996). The South African sample consisted of 40 infants aged between 13 and 16 months; with approximately equal numbers of boys and girls. Results: The finding was that the South African sample performed significantly better than the British norm group on the Eye-Hand Co-ordination Scale (Scale D) and the Performance Scale (Scale E); while the norm group scored significantly higher on the Personal-Social Scale (Scale B). Conclusion: The implications of these results are discussed in the paper