The relationships of biomedical and psychosocial risk factors to infant development at six months of age in Thailand

Abstract

This study represents an initial research project in the area of early infant development and developmental disabilities in Thailand. The study examined the relations of biomedical risk factors to infant development at 6 months of age. The study involved a sample of 40 male and 40 female Thai infants residing in the Bangkok metropolitan area. Medical complications of infants during neonatal period were identified as biomedical risk factors, and socioeconomic status (a combination of maternal education and household income) as psychosocial risk factors. The applicability of the Infant Mullen Scale of Early Learning (Infant MSEL) as an assessment instrument for Thai infant development was also investigated. Results from this study supported a transactional model of infant development. The results demonstrated that at the age of 6 months, biomedical risk factors were more important than psychosocial risk factors in affecting neurobehavior development. However, the complexity of socioeconomic status was shown to be related to other important psychosocial factors (maternal perception of her infant, maternal perception of husband support and social support, infant's stimulating environment. and mother's behavior in reacting to her infant) that may influence neurobehavior development of Thai infants later in life.