The effect of residence area and mother’s education on motor development of preschool‐aged children in Greece

Abstract

Development occurs according to the rhythm that is established by the genetic potential and the influence of environmental factors. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of the child’s residence area and maternal education on child’s motor development. Eight hundred children (384 boys and 416 girls, aged 37–72 months), randomly selected from daycare centres and kindergartens of rural and urban areas of Northern Greece, were tested on the two motor subscales (A, locomotor; and D, eye–hand coordination) of the Griffiths Test No II. With respect to their residence, 610 children lived in urban and 190 lived in rural areas. In terms of education, 530 mothers were formally educated and 270 were highly educated. The results of this study suggest that motor development of preschool‐aged children is associated with both factors examined. Children who lived in urban areas had better performance on fine motor abilities than children who lived in rural areas. In contrast, rural children had a higher developmental quotient than urban children on the locomotor scale. With regard to mother’s education, children of highly educated mothers had a higher mean developmental quotient on both scales. The findings reinforce the need for a safe and opportunity‐rich environment, which ensures that children reach their full developmental potential.

Keywords:

• Griffiths motor sub‐scales
• Motor development
• Gross motor skills
• Fine motor skills
• Preschool‐aged children
• Residence area
• Mother’s education
• Rural areas
• Urban areas