Use of the Griffiths Mental Development Scales in an agro-industrial province in the Philippines

• Published in: Child : care, health & development Vol. 36; no. 3; pp. 354 - 360
• Main Authors: Reyes, A., Pacifico, R., Benitez, B., Villanueva-Uy, E., Lam, H., Ostrea Jr, E. M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.05.2010
• Subjects: behaviour; Child Development; Child, Preschool; Children; Children & youth; Cognitive Development; Comparative analysis; Cross-Cultural Comparison; Cultural differences; Developing Countries; developmental delay; Developmental Disabilities - diagnosis; Ethnicity; Female; Humans; Infant; Interpersonal Competence; LDCs; Male; Neuropsychological Tests; paediatrics; Pediatrics; Philippines; Philippino; Provinces; Psychomotor Performance; Reproducibility of Results; Traditions; United Kingdom; Philippines
• ISSN: 0305-1862; 1365-2214
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2214.2010.01080.x

Background  There is a need to assess neurobehavioral performance of children in developing countries using standardized developmental tools. Methods  The Griffiths Mental Development Scales was evaluated in the Philippines by comparing the performance of 742 Filipino children longitudinally at 6, 12 and 24 months old to those of their British counterparts. Results  The mean general and subquotient scores of Filipino children were all within average for age. Comparison with British children showed that except for performance subscales, Filipino children had significantly higher developmental subquotients at 6 months old. As the Filipino infants grew older, their developmental subquotients in all subscales were significantly lower, except for personal and social skills at 24 months old. The genetic predisposition as evidenced by modest maternal scores on the Wechsler Intelligence Scales and lack of familiarity with test materials are factors that may influence the developmental patterns of Filipino children. Conclusion  Although the performance of the Filipino children in the Griffiths test were within average with age, their performance on developmental subquotients at later ages of 12 and 24 months were significantly lower than British children and may have been influenced by differences in ethnicity, cultural traditions and limited environmental resources.