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Development and validation of the AHEMD-SR (Affordances in the Home Environment for Motor Development-Self Report)
Abstract
A contemporary view of early childhood motor development considers environmental influences as critical factors in optimal growth and behavior, with the home being the primary agent. However, minimal research exists examining the relationship between motor development and the home. The present dissertation addresses this gap with the goal of creating an innovative parental self-report instrument for assessing the quality and quantity of factors (affordances and events) in the home that are conducive to enhancing motor development in children ages 18-to-42 months. In Study 1, following initial face validity determination, expert opinion feedback and selective pilot-testing, construct validity was examined using 381 Portuguese families. Factor analysis techniques were used to (1) compare competing factorial models according to previous theoretical assumptions, and to (2) analyze the fit of the preferred model. Of the five plausible models tested, the 5-factor solution provided the best fit to the data. Reliability was established through the scale reliability coefficient with a value of .85. Study 2 tests for the content validity of the instrument, examining the relationship between the inventory and level of motor development. Fifty-one (51) participants from the original sample were assessed for motor development using the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales II (PDMS2). Comparisons were made between the PDMS2 classifications of the AHEMD-SR quartile groups. Results supported the primary hypothesis, that is, less favorable motor development was associated with less availability of home affordances. Furthermore, the interaction of (factors) Inside Space and Variety of Stimulation was significantly related to both Gross and Total Motor Development scores. The findings of these two studies suggest that the AHEMD-SR is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing how well home environments afford movement and potentially promote motor development.
... O projecto AHEMD (Affordances in the Home Environment for Motor Development) foi desenvolvido a partir da colaboração entre os laboratórios de desenvolvimento motor do Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo e da Texas A&M University (EUA), com vista à elaboração de um instrumento adequado à idade das crianças e que permite uma avaliação simples, rápida, e eficaz das oportunidades (affordances) para o desenvolvimento motor na casa de família. Elaborado sob a forma de questionário a responder pelos pais ou familiares, a versão inicialmente testada (18 aos 42 meses) é constituída por uma parte inicial sobre a identificação da criança e família, e por 67 questões específicas sobre as affordances presentes na casa (Rodrigues, Saraiva & Gabbard, 2005;Rodrigues, 2005). ...
... Estes grupos característicos das oportunidades de estimulação motora proporcionadas à criança foram utilizados como identificadores das sub-escalas do instrumento. Para cada uma destas sub-escalas, bem como para o valor total do AHEMD, foram utilizados os respectivos resultados para a construção de uma tabela de classificação (ver Rodrigues, 2005). Uma das principais preocupações na construção deste instrumento, teve a ver com a possibilidade de ser utilizado indistintamente por famílias com crianças de ambos os sexos, dada a possibilidade real de este poder influenciar as decisões da família e os comportamentos das crianças. ...
... De forma a poder responder a estas preocupações, procurou-se aquando dos passos iniciais de construção do instrumento (revisão bibliográfica, consultas ao painel (Rodrigues, 2005) e que os conjuntos de affordances e os items, questões e exemplos fornecidos no texto do questionário fossem equilibrados e completos do ponto de vista da especificidade de género (por exemplo, são apresentadas figuras e equipamentos de bonecas típicas para meninas, bem como de figuras de acção usualmente mais destinadas a rapazes). ...
Resumo O AHEMD, (Affordances in the Home Environment for Motor Development), fruto da colaboração entre os laboratórios de desenvolvimento motor do Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo e da Texas A&M University (EUA), é um instrumento adequado à idade das crianças e que permite uma avaliação simples, rápida, e eficaz das oportunidades (affordances) para o desenvolvimento motor na casa de família. A possibilidade do AHEMD poder ser utilizado indistintamente por famílias com crianças de ambos os sexos, é uma das preocupações e objectivos deste projecto. Neste artigo apresentamos um estudo piloto para testar formalmente se a sensibilidade estrutural do AHEMD e as suas propostas de classificações, resistem à prova da avaliação de casas habitadas por crianças de sexo diferente (199 de rapazes e 165 de raparigas). Os resultados encontrados permitem-nos inferir da invariância do modelo estrutural e de medida do AHEMD entre estes dois grupos, bem como obter sinais bastante positivos da sua sensibilidade (quanto ao género da criança) na avaliação das affordances motoras. Casas de rapazes e raparigas apresentam pequenas diferenças nos perfis médios das affordances motoras, provavelmente influenciadas pela esteoriotipia das decisões famiiares quanto ao género dos filhos, no entanto mantêm um tipo idêntico de organização dessas mesmas affordances na casa, o que potencia a utilização do AHEMD, independentemente do género da criança que nela habita. Palavras-chave AHEMD; diferenças sexo; avaliação; affordances; invariância A estimulação precoce e regular que o ambiente da casa familiar proporciona às crianças jovens tem provado vezes sem conta a sua importância na modelação do desenvolvimento motor infantil (e.g., Abbott et al., 2000; Cintas, 1988; Parks & Bradley, 1991). Neste contexto, a quantidade e qualidade das oportunidades
... Based on this model, we incorporated relevant factors for research. At the same time, when we looked up the relevant questionnaires, such as the Pre-PAQ (preschool-aged Children's Physical Activity Questionnaire) [16], the HOME questionnaire [17], and the AHEMD-SR (affordances in the home environment for motor development self-report) questionnaire [18], on children's health-related behaviors, we found that the survey indicators of these questionnaires were not only sociodemographic indicators and parental behaviors, but also investigated children's supportive family environment and community factors. However, these indicators were rarely mentioned in the current analysis of children's health-related behaviors. ...
... The questionnaire was self-designed concerning the Pre-PAQ [16], the HOME questionnaire [17], the AHEMD-SR questionnaire [18], and the previous national survey questions [30,31]. The China Institute of Sport Science launched two rounds of expert opinion consultation. ...
... Due to the lack of similar cross-sectional studies in this field in China, we referred to recent international studies with similar sampling and adopted the same standard in this study. According to a cross-sectional survey of 778 children in Finland conducted by Leppänen in 2019, 85% of Finnish children met the MVPA, 35% met the ST, 76% met the SLP, and 24% of the total sample met all three criteria [18]. In another study conducted by Cliff in 2017, of 248 Australian children that participated in the survey, 93.1% met MVPA, 17.3% met ST, 88.7% met SLP, and 14.9% met all three criteria [25]. ...
Purpose:
To investigate the compliance rates of health-related behaviors among Chinese preschool children, and to explore how supportive family environment, parental behavior, sociodemographic and community factors affect children's health-related behavior comprehensively.
Method:
Preschool children aged 3 to 6 years were chosen from 5760 villages (residential) committees from 471 counties (districts) of 31 provinces by use of a stratified random sampling procedure, with 10,967 preschool children aged 3-6 years old included. The survey was conducted from September 2020 to November 2020.
Results:
The proportion of Chinese preschool children who met the moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), screen time behavior (ST), and sleep behavior (SLP) guidelines were 62.3%, 52.8%, and 53.8%. Among the supportive family environment factors, parents' time with their children on weekends had the most significant impact on children's MVPA, ST, and SLP, with the odds ratio (OR) values of 2.18 (95%CI:1.97, 2.40), 0.69 (0.63, 0.76), and 1.62 (1.48, 1.79), respectively. Among the parental behavior factors, the mother's exercise frequency had a strong association with the children's MVPA and SLP, with OR values of 1.65 (1.50, 1.83) and 1.24 (1.13, 1.37), respectively; the mother's screen time was inversely associated with the children's ST with an OR value of 0.47 (0.44, 0.51).
Conclusions:
Different types of family environments were associated with the different levels of MVPA, ST and SLP among Chinese preschool children. In addition to the influence of parents' education and family income, parents could also improve their children's behaviors by providing a supportive family environment. The more of these factors presented in a family, the more likely it was for children to meet the guidelines. Therefore, for those families whose children's health-related behaviors needed to be improved, the parents should create supportive family environments, such as by playing less on mobile phone and spending more time with children.
... Embora a interpretação do termo affordances possa ser algo diversa, aquela a que nos referimos é de uma natureza mais geral. Affordances são oportunidades que conferem ao indivíduo potenciais desafios para a acção, e consequentemente para o desenvolvimento de uma habilidade ou de parte do sistema biológico (Heft, 1997;Stoffregen, 2000 Num segundo momento procedeu-se à avaliação do constructo, testando a relação entre o nível de desenvolvimento motor de 51 crianças e os resultados obtidos no AHEMD (Rodrigues, 2005). Para avaliação dos níveis de desempenho motor foram usadas as escalas de Peabody Developmental Motor Scales 2 (Folio & Fewell, 2000), ...
As crianças apresentam variações individuais nos seus níveis de desenvolvi-mento que não podem ser explicadas apenas pelas influências genéticas e de ritmo maturacional. Na possível explicação deste fenómeno as influências ambientais, e mais especificamente o ambiente vivenciado na casa (habitação familiar) tem vindo a ter cada vez maior protagonismo. Durante o último meio século a comunidade cientí-fica empenhou-se activamente na tentativa de mapear as relações entre a casa e Resumo Nos últimos 40 anos a investigação em desenvolvimento humano tem devo-tado um enorme esforço na tentativa de decifrar as relações entre o ambien-te familiar e aspectos selectivos do percurso de desenvolvimento da criança. Entre as influências ambientais que são vistas como factores determinantes para este percurso, poucos duvidarão de que a casa de família cumpre um papel relevante como primeiro agente proporcionador de contextos para apren-dizagem e desenvolvimento nas primeiras idades. Apesar de alguns dos mais notáveis instrumentos utilizados nesta área possuírem na sua estrutura itens associados com o desempenho ou estimulação motora (veja-se o caso do HOME Inventory de Caldwell e Bradley, 1984), continuava a faltar uma medi-da válida que possibilitasse avaliar a casa familiar na sua relação própria com o desenvolvimento motor infantil. O projecto AHEMD, (Affordances in the Home Environment for Motor Development), fruto da colaboração entre os laboratórios de desenvolvimento motor do Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo e da Texas A&M University (EUA), aparece com o objectivo explí-cito de preencher essa lacuna.
... The usefulness of PDMS-2 as an assessment tool is evident in several studies, which characterized the motor profile of special or clinical populations, such as cerebral palsy, autism, Down syndrome and Hurler syndrome [7][8][9][10][11]. Nevertheless, PDMS-2 has been widely used to analyze the effects of biological (prematurity and malnutrition) and environmental (socioeconomic status, parents' educational qualifications, quality of the domestic environment, routines established by the family) on child development [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]. ...
The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of Peabody Developmental Motor Scales II (PDMS-2-Folio and Fewell, 2000) using a Portuguese sample. The validation of the Portuguese version of the PDMS-2 was applied according to the manual, for 392 children, from two institutions, from 12 to 48 months, with an analysis of the internal consistency (α Cronbach), of test–retest reliability (ICC) and construct validity (confirmatory factor analysis). The results of the confirmatory factorial analysis (χ2 = 55.614; df = 4; p = 0.06; χ2/df =13.904; SRMR (Standardized Root Mean Square Residual) = 0.065; CFI (Comparative Fit Index) = 0.99, TLI = 0.99, RMSEA (Root Mean Square Error of Approximation) = 0.068) of two factors (Gross Motor and Fine Motor) as the original version but correlated. Most of the subtests had good internal consistency (α = 0.85) and good test–retest stability (ICC = 0.98 to 0.99). The results indicated that the Portuguese version of the PDMS-2 is adequate and valid for assessing global and fine motor skills in children aged 12 to 48 months, and can be used as a reference tool by health and education professionals to assess motor skills and, thus, allowing to detect maladjustments, deficiencies or precocity, so that children can later receive appropriate intervention.
... Este instrumento consiste num questionário que permite avaliar o ambiente familiar, assumindo-se que este contém oportunidades "que conferem ao indivíduo potenciais desafios para a ação, e consequentemente para o desenvolvimento de uma habilidade ou de parte do sistema biológico" (Rodrigues, 2005) -affordances -que proporcionam estimulações motoras positivas para as crianças que nela vivem. Ou seja, neste projeto assume-se que a estimulação ambiental tem um papel crítico nas fases mais precoces do desenvolvimento humano, em que o desenvolvimento motor ocorre, nomeadamente em contextos ricos de suporte e estimulação. ...
In today's society, children also play, but they play differently. The appearance of new technologies, the lack of free space to play, the decrease in autonomy and mobility are some of the factors that have been leading to a decrease in the time of free playing in the lives of children (Neto & Lopes, 2008). As part of a broader investigation, carried out within the scope of the Supervised Professional Practice of the Master in Pre-School Education at the Lisbon Higher School of Education, on the risky play at preschool age and specifically on their potential for the integral development of the child, the present study aims to (a) identify the behaviors of children in situations of risky play and (b) identify the supervisory behaviors of adults in situations of risky play. To respond to the outlined objectives, a qualitative or interpretive case study was undertaken, using various data collection techniques - direct participant observation and indirect observation, namely, interviews and focus groups supported by audiovisual resources, which made it possible to give a voice to those directly involved in the action (children, education professionals and families). The data collected reveal the existence of a natural propensity for this group of children to play outdoors and to engage in risky play. It was also observed in the group a difference in behaviors between sexes regarding this type of play. In general, boys had more risky behaviors and more adhered to risky play than girls, who were more likely to point, comment and look. The presence of supervisory comments was also visible, both from children and adults, which intensify children's fear and end up preventing their action.
... Even though MC is an extremely important topic in the study of children, a better understanding of the underlying processes that influence its development is still needed. The study of environmental influences on children's MC has been addressed in some previous studies [24], but the availability of affordances for motor development has mostly been investigated for young children [17,25]. Given the nature of motor affordances, the construct validity of the AMBS must be validated by estimating its association with the expected output of motor affordances (i.e., motor competence). ...
During growth, children are influenced by an extensive network, in which more favorable contexts provide better affordance landscapes, and consequently have a better potential to foster child development. We aimed to examine the affordances provided to children using the Affordances for Motor Behavior of Schoolchildren (AMBS) tool, estimating its association with children's motor competence, as assessed by the Motor Competence Assessment (MCA) battery. Seventy-two Brazilian children were evaluated using the MCA instrument. Their parents/guardians completed the AMBS. The correlations between the two instruments (sub-scales and total scores) were investigated. ANOVAs were used to compare the motor competence performance of children with Low, Average, and High AMBS scores. Positive associations were found between AMBS and MCA, although weak to moderate in nature. In addition, children whose environments were richer in motor affordances (higher AMBS scores) showed significantly higher levels on the MCA. This study provides evidence that AMBS is a valid tool for assessing motor affordances for schoolchildren, and that those affordances are related to children's motor competence.
... The usefulness of PDMS-2 as an assessment tool is evident in several studies, which characterized the motor pro le of special or clinical populations, such as: cerebral palsy, autism, Down syndrome and Hurler syndrome [7][8][9][10][11]. Nevertheless, PDMS-2 has been widely used to analyze the effects of biological (prematurity and malnutrition) and environmental (socioeconomic status, parents' educational quali cations, quality of the domestic environment, routines established by the family) on child development [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]. ...
Background: The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of Peabody Developmental Motor Scales II (PDMS-2 - Folio & Fewell, 2000) using a Portuguese sample.
Methods: The validation of the Portuguese version of the PDMS-2 was applied according to the manual, for 392 children, from two institutions, from 12 to 48 months, with an analysis of the internal consistency (α Cronbach), of Temporal Stability (ICC) and Construct validity (confirmatory factor analysis).
Results: The results of the confirmatory factorial analysis (χ² = 55.614; df=4; p=.06; χ²/df =13.904; SRMR=.065; CFI=.99, TLI=.99, RMSEA=.068) of two factors (Gross Motor and Fine Motor) as the original version. Most of the subtests had good internal consistency (α = .85) and good test-retest stability (ICC = .98 to .99).
Conclusions: These results indicate that the Portuguese version of the PDMS-2 is an accurate and valid instrument to evaluate the gross and fine motor skills of children aged 12 to 48 months, can be used as a reference instrument by health and education professionals, as an indicator and support for the assessment of motor skills, thus having a assessment instrument that allows to detect maladjustments, deficiencies or precociousness, so that the child can later receive the appropriate intervention
... O instrumento utilizado para avaliar o nível de oportunidades para o desenvolvimento motor das crianças foi o questionário Affordances in the Home Enviroment for Motor Development -AHEMD -18-42 meses. 13 Trata-se de um questionário com a parte inicial destinada à identificação das características da criança e família, e 67 perguntas relacionadas ao ambiente familiar, sendo dividido em cinco subescalas: espaço exterior, espaço interior, variedade de estimulação, material de motricidade fina e material de motricidade grossa. ...
Existe um consenso na literatura científica sobre a forte influência dos estímulos ambientais no desenvolvimento motor das crianças. O presente trabalho tem como objetivo analisar as oportunidades para o desenvolvimento motor em ambientes domésticos de diferentes níveis socioeconômicos no Estado do Ceará, Brasil. Os dados apresentados no estudo foram colhidos a partir das respostas ao questionário Affordances in the Home Enviroment for Motor Development - AHEMD - 18-42 meses quando se entrevistaram 128 tutores responsáveis por crianças com idade entre 18 e 42 meses. Os resultados do estudo são bastante preocupantes, pois mostram uma prevalência da inadequação das estruturas arquitetônicas das residências favorecedoras do desenvolvimento motor e a inexistência de materiais suficientes ao desenvolvimento da motricidade grossa e fina de crianças. Nota-se a necessidade, segundo os dados apresentados, de que seja avaliado o desenvolvimento motor das crianças para verificar se há uma associação entre as affordances e o desenvolvimento motor, e que haja uma aproximação das áreas de engenharia civil, arquitetura e educação física na busca de soluções para este problema. O estudo sugere, ainda, o surgimento de uma nova área de atuação para os profissionais que lidam com o movimento humano no sentido de prestarem consultorias para aquisição de brinquedos que auxiliem no desenvolvimento da motricidade grossa e fina.
Environments where children move about provide affordances that play a significant role in their development. This research presents the Affordances for Motor Behavior of Schoolchildren (AMBS) assessment tool, which aims to assess the interdependent systems, such as home, school, and sports activities, that can influence 6 to 10-year-old children's motor development, motor learning, and motor competence. After establishing face validity, 259 south Brazilian families completed the questionnaire. We assessed construct validity on the whole sample with Confirmatory Factor Analysis. The model testing showed a very good fit, and the structural model presented significative loading coefficients from the identified variables to the theoretically specified latent variables (factors). Significant correlation values were found between factors: Home and Materials (r = 0.77), Home and School (r = 0.41), and Materials and School (r = 0.56). Our results suggest that the AMBS can assess the opportunities for action provided to children by their home, the materials in it, and their school.
An ecological model of motor behavior presented by Davis and Burton (12) suggests that the qualitative and quantitative aspects of motor behavior for all persons emerge from three sets of constraints: performer, environmental, and task. The involvement and performance of movement activities by children with physical impairments may be optimized by carefully manipulating one or more of these three types of constraints, and by recognizing and accepting that the optimal movement patterns used by these children with unique performer constraints may differ from those exhibited by other children.
The ecological approach developed by the late James J. Gibson (1966, 1979) has been described as a revolutionary psychology (Heft, 1988a; Mace, 1977; Neisser, 1976, 1990; Reed, 1988, 1996; Reed & Jones, 1979; Turvey, 1977). It is a radical departure from the way perceiving, and knowing more generally, have been traditionally conceptualized in psychology and philosophy. At the heart of Gibson’s ecological approach is an original analysis of the environment, which in turn leads to a novel view of person—environment relations with significant implications for psychology and epistemology. Because of the distinctive nature of these conceptualizations of the environment and person—environment relations, Gibson’s ecological approach has been promoted as having particular significance for environment—behavior (EB) studies and environmental design (Heft, 1981, 1988a; Kaminski, 1989; Krampen, 1991; Landwehr, 1988; Lang, 1987).
Changes in thinking and learning relate to physical changes in the brain. The repeating patterns of these changes suggest common growth cycles in behavior and in the brain-a cyclical property that explains the remarkable human capacity for plasticity.
Infants acquire independent mobility amidst a flux of body growth. Changes in body dimensions and variations in the ground change the physical constraints on keeping balance. The study examined whether toddlers can adapt to changes in their body dimensions and variations in the terrain by loading them with lead weights and observing how they navigated safe and risky slopes. Experiment 1 verified the reliability of a new psychophysical procedure for testing infants' responses in 2 experimental conditions. In Experiment 2, this procedure was used to compare infants' responses on slopes in feather-weight and lead-weight conditions. The lead weights impaired infants' ability to walk down slopes. Babies adapted to altered body dimensions by treating the same degree of slope as safe in the feather-weight condition but as risky in the lead-weight condition. Exploratory activity on the starting platform predicted adaptive responses on risky slopes.
A classic in the field, this third edition will continue to be the book of choice for advanced undergraduate and graduate-level courses in theories of human development in departments of psychology and human development.
This volume has been substantially revised with an eye toward supporting applied developmental science and the developmental systems perspectives. Since the publication of the second edition, developmental systems theories have taken center stage in contemporary developmental science and have provided compelling alternatives to reductionist theoretical accounts having either a nature or nurture emphasis. As a consequence, a developmental systems orientation frames the presentation in this edition.
This new edition has been expanded substantially in comparison to the second edition. Special features include:
A separate chapter focuses on the historical roots of concepts and theories of human development, on philosophical models of development, and on developmental contextualism.
Two new chapters surrounding the discussion of developmental contextualism--one on developmental systems theories wherein several exemplars of such models are discussed and a corresponding chapter wherein key instances of such theories--life span, life course, bioecological, and action theoretical ones--are presented.
A new chapter on cognition and development is included, contrasting systems' approaches to cognitive development with neo-nativist perspectives.
A more differentiated treatment of nature-oriented theories of development is provided. There are separate chapters on behavior genetics, the controversy surrounding the study of the heritability of intelligence, work on the instinctual theory of Konrad Lorenz, and a new chapter on sociobiology.
A new chapter concentrates on applied developmental science.
The purpose of this paper is to examine the evidence-based research supporting the role of the home environment in relation to infant motor development by reviewing the literature investigating deprivation, parental expectations, and the qualities of the home environment associated with poverty. Methodological issues associated with the misinterpretation of data, the presence of confounding variables, and the use of inadequate measurement tools will be discussed. If aspects of the home environment contributing to infant motor development are clarified, important theoretical, research, and clinical implications arise for physical and occupational therapists working in early intervention programs.
Contents: Preface Frequently Used Symbols and Notation List of Figures and Tables CHAPTER 1: Linear Regression and Classical Path Analysis Overview and Key Points. Linear Ordinary Least Squares Regression. Classical Path Analysis. Summary. Exercises. Recommended Readings. CHAPTER 2: Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Overview and Key Points. Specification and Identification of a CFA Model. Data-Model Fit. Model Modification. Validity and Reliability from a CFA Perspective. Summary. Exercises. Recommended Readings. CHAPTER 3: General Structural Equation Modeling. Overview and Key Points. Specification and Identification of a General Structural Equation Model. The Direct, Indirect, and Total Structural Effect Components. Parameter Estimation. The Structural Equation Modeling Process: An Illustrated Review and Summary. Conclusion. Exercises. Recommended Readings. APPENDIX A: The Simplis Command Language. APPENDIX B: Location, Dispersion and Association. APPENDIX C: Matrix Algebra APPENDIX D: Descriptive Statistics for the SES Analysis. APPENDIX E: Descriptive Statistics for the HBI Analysis. References. Index.