A four year developmental survey of Jamaican children: preliminary report - abstract

ABSTRACT

A continuing assessment of 300 children born by consecutive deliveries between March 7 and May 7, 1967, in the University Hospital, Kingston. Jamaica, is being carried out by the Department of Paediatrics of the University of the West Indies. Children who were one year of age in March 1968, in addition, to a physical examination, were given a developmental assessment. An attempt was also made to assess the structure of the home from which these children came and to determine if possible the effect environment had on the development of these children. Of these a random sample of 66 children were selected for the initial survey. The racial composition of the group was predominantly African, 62, mixed African and Indian or Chinese 3, Indian 1. The marital composition of the group was - single 46 percent, married 31 percent common-law union 24 percent. The general social structure of the group was lower class or lower middle class. Very few of the children had any gross physical abnormalities and the general physical examination did not suggest a gross nutritional defect. The assessment in the first year was based on the Gesell scales. In the second year on the Gesell with a few items added from the Binet. The assessment of the child was carried out in a very flexible manner. Special allowances were made where it was felt that the answer, while not acceptable in the standard test, was reasonable for the Jamaican culture. Many questions had to be rephrased in order that they could be understood by children. It was felt that some modifications were necessary in order to obtain a reasonable evaluation of the development of the children. Had this not been done, motivation or cultural factors would have further lowered the results of the assessment. Children whose assessment was difficult or where the examiner felt the assessment was inaccurate were brought back on another day for a reassessment. The assessment of the environment of these children included the physical structure of the home, the parental structure, the educational level of the adults, degree of involvement of the adults with the child and the amount of time spent with the child. The following were the average ratings in development quotations of the children at the various age levels Gross Motor - 1-year 112, 2-year 112, 3-year 107, Fine Motor - 1-year 106, 2-year 108, 3-year 97, Adoptive - 1-year 102, 2-year 104, 3-year 92, Language - 1-year 106, 2-year 100, 3-year 91, Personal-Social - 1-year 102, 2-year 100, and 3-year 110. In the third year a comparison was made between the children living in those homes which provided the best overall environment. The children in the best homes had an adaptive rating of 98 and a language rating of 97 compared to the children living in the poorest homes who had an adaptive rating of 87 and a language rating of 83 (AU)