ABSTRACT
Child development is a gradual and continuous process divided into stages for theoretical purposes. Intrinsic and extrinsic factors can positively or negatively influence the evolution of the infant. The objective was to evaluate the influence of maternal higher education and family income on the Motor Development (MD) of infants. It was a cross-sectional study that evaluated 106 children from the follow-up program of a reference maternity hospital in Amazonas. Two questionnaires were applied (anamnesis script and socioeconomic profile); and then Alberta Infant Motor Scale to assess the MD of those infants. For statistical analysis, descriptive data and Chi-square and Fisher’s exact tests were used, with p ≤ 0.05. The higher level of maternal education was related to the typicality of MD (71.4%, with p = 0.04), on the other hand, a lower family income, despite having presented a higher percentage in atypical children (51.9%), did not demonstrate a significant relationship with MD atypicality. It was observed that, in our sample, maternal schooling had a greater impact on adequate MD when compared to family income. This fact seems to be related to the higher level of maternal education, which implies better child care, in the face of general care and stimulation.
KEYWORDS
Child development; Maternal schooling; Socioeconomic factors