Effect of Short-Term Training on Reaching Behavior in Infants: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to test the effect of short-term training on reaching behavior in infants at the onset of reaching. The study was a single-blind, parallel group design, randomized controlled clinical trial. Thirty healthy infants were randomly assigned to a social control group (n = 15) or a reaching training group (n = 15). Infants began the study up to 3 days after the onset of reaching and were assessed three times across 2 days: pretraining (before training), posttraining 1 (after 1 session of training), and posttraining 2 (after 3 sessions of training). The reaching training group received 3 sessions of training by a physical therapist while the control group received a similar amount of time sitting in the therapist's lap. The data were analyzed using repeated-measures analyses of variance, and independent-samples tests with Bonferroni adjustments. Short-term training resulted in increased frequency of object contacts, shorter and smoother reaches, and improved hand positioning. The few short training sessions likely provided opportunities for infants to explore and learn to select movements from their existing movement repertoire. These results demonstrate that adaptive changes in infants' novel behaviors can emerge rapidly, and highlight the need for increased understanding of how to most effectively time early interventions.

Keywords:

• training
• physical therapy
• motor skills
• infant development

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors thank the parents and infants for participating in the study and the support of researchers from the Center of Studies in Neuropediatrics and Motricity (Núcleo de Estudos em Neuropediatria e Motricidade—NENEM), Federal University of São Carlos, Brazil, with data collection and data analysis. We thank the University of Delaware and the Department of Physical Therapy (Newark, DE, USA) for supporting Andréa Baraldi Cunha in the institution during the preparation of this manuscript. They also thank Dr. Daniele de Almeida Soares, professor at the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, for all supporting provided in this study.

Funding

Andréa Baraldi Cunha and the study were supported by Sao Paulo Foundation for Research Support (FAPESP).