Wang M V, Lekhal R, Aarø L E, Schjølberg S
Division of Mental Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
Child Care Health Dev. 2014 Jan;40(1):77-84. doi: 10.1111/cch.12003. Epub 2012 Sep 13.
Communicative and motor development is frequently found to be associated. In the current study we investigate to what extent communication and motor skills at 1½ years predict skills in the same domains at 3 years of age.
This study is based on the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) conducted by the Norwegian Institute of Public Heath. Data stem from 62,944 children and their mothers. Mothers completed questionnaires on their child's communication and motor skills at ages 1½ and 3. Associations between communication and motor skills were estimated in a cross-lagged model with latent variables.
Early communication skills were correlated with early motor skills (0.72). Stability was high (0.81) across time points for motor skills and somewhat lower (0.40) for communication skills. Early motor skills predicted later communication skills (0.38) whereas early communication skills negatively predicted later motor skills (-0.14).
Our findings provide support for the hypothesis that these two difficulties are not symptoms of separate disorders, but might rather be different manifestations of a common underlying neurodevelopmental weakness. However, there also seem to be specific developmental pathways for each domain. Besides theoretical interest, more knowledge about the relationship between these early skills might shed light upon early intervention strategies and preventive efforts commonly used with children with problems in these areas. Our findings suggest that the relationship between language and motor skills is not likely to be simple and directional but rather to be complex and multifaceted.
人们经常发现沟通和运动发育之间存在关联。在本研究中，我们调查了1.5岁时的沟通和运动技能在多大程度上能够预测3岁时相同领域的技能。
本研究基于挪威公共卫生研究所开展的挪威母婴队列研究（MoBa）。数据来源于62944名儿童及其母亲。母亲们填写了关于孩子在1.5岁和3岁时的沟通和运动技能的问卷。在一个具有潜在变量的交叉滞后模型中估计沟通和运动技能之间的关联。
早期沟通技能与早期运动技能相关（0.72）。运动技能在各时间点的稳定性较高（0.81），而沟通技能的稳定性略低（0.40）。早期运动技能可预测后期沟通技能（0.38），而早期沟通技能对后期运动技能有负向预测作用（-0.14）。
我们的研究结果支持了这一假设，即这两种困难并非单独疾病的症状，而可能是一种共同潜在神经发育弱点的不同表现。然而，每个领域似乎也有特定的发育途径。除了理论意义外，更多关于这些早期技能之间关系的知识可能有助于阐明针对这些领域有问题的儿童常用的早期干预策略和预防措施。我们的研究结果表明，语言和运动技能之间的关系不太可能是简单的单向关系，而更可能是复杂且多方面的。
