Predictors of Haitian-American infant development at twelve months

• Published in: Child development Vol. 61; no. 2; pp. 410 - 415
• Main Authors: Widmayer, S.M, Peterson, L.M, Larner, M, Carnahan, S, Calderon, A, Wingerd, J, Marshall, R
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States University of Chicago Press 01.04.1990; University of Chicago Press for the Society for Research in Child Development, etc; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Babies; Birth Weight; Black people; Child Development; Child rearing; Child, Preschool; Cognitive development; Communities; Crowding - psychology; family relations; Female; Florida; Follow-Up Studies; Haiti - ethnology; Hispanic Americans - psychology; Homes; Humans; Infant; Infant Care; Infant development; Infant, Newborn; Infants; influences; minorities; Minority & ethnic groups; Mothers; Poverty; prediction; Pregnancy; Psychology, Child; Psychomotor development; Risk Factors; rural areas; Rural Population; Social classes; Social conditions & trends; Social Environment; Social research; urban areas; Urban Population; United States; Florida; Haiti
• ISSN: 0009-3920; 1467-8624
• DOI: 10.2307/1131102

Perinatal and early childhood influences on the development of 66 Haitian-American children were examined as part of an ongoing home visiting program. Although all participants were impoverished, approximately two-thirds lived in an urban setting with some access to social and health services, while one-third lived in a rural farmworkers' community where housing and services were sharply substandard. Measures used to examine the development of infants in these 2 settings included birthweight, household crowding, parental contributions to the child-rearing environment (the HOME), and developmental progress at 12 months on the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. Results showed that the urban sample was advanced on the Mental Development Index of the Bayley Scales. Regression analyses showed birthweight and the HOME score measuring child-rearing environment to be significant predictors of mental development, while psychomotor development was related to birthweight and household crowding. The results indicate that even within this disadvantaged Haitian entrant population, environmental differences exist that influence infant development in subtle but significant ways.