School of Health & Kinesiology, University of Nebraska at Omaha, 6001 Dodge Street, Omaha, NE, 68182, United States.
Department of Physical Therapy, Creighton University, 2500 California Plaza, Omaha, NE, 68178, United States.
Infant Behav Dev. 2020 May;59:101440. doi: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2020.101440. Epub 2020 Mar 30.
This study explored how parents' promotion of play may impact gender differences in motor development of six-nine month old infants. Twenty-nine infants between six-nine months of age and their primary caregivers took part in assessments of anthropometry, motor development, video observations of play and a qualitative interview. Results revealed females had significantly higher scores for fine motor skills and significantly higher incidence of touching toys in an individual play scenario compared to males. Males had a higher intensity level of play during both play scenarios. Qualitative explorations found that parents perceived other adults such as surrounding family and friends to promote gender differences but not themselves; however, parents' verbal interactions with infants did appear to differ by gender. Parents of males more frequently made statements to promote gross motor skills while parents of females more frequently made statements to promote fine motor skills. While biological influences are suggested to play a role on gender differences of motor development early in life, environmental explanations related to socialization, gender-differentiated expectations and experiences amplify these differences to a greater degree than may have been previously considered during this time period.
本研究探讨了父母对游戏的促进作用如何影响 6-9 个月大婴儿运动发展的性别差异。29 名 6-9 个月大的婴儿及其主要照顾者参与了人体测量学、运动发展、游戏视频观察和定性访谈的评估。结果表明，与男性相比，女性在精细运动技能方面的得分明显更高，在单独游戏场景中触摸玩具的发生率也明显更高。在两种游戏场景中，男性的游戏强度水平都更高。定性探索发现，父母认为周围的其他成年人，如家庭成员和朋友，会促进性别差异，但他们自己不会；然而，父母与婴儿的言语互动确实存在性别差异。男孩的父母更频繁地发表言论来促进大运动技能，而女孩的父母更频繁地发表言论来促进精细运动技能。虽然生物因素被认为在生命早期的运动发展性别差异中发挥作用，但与社会化、性别差异化期望和经验相关的环境解释在这一时期比以前可能考虑的程度更大地放大了这些差异。
