Impact of extrinsic factors on fine motor performance of children attending day care

OBJECTIVE To assess the impact of extrinsic factors on fine motor performance of children aged two years old. METHODS 73 children attending public and 21 private day care centers were assessed. Day care environment was evaluated using the Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale - Revised Edition (ITERS-R), fine motor performance was assessed through the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development - III (BSITD-III), socioeconomic data, maternal education and time of start at the day care were collected through interviews. Spearman's correlation coefficient was calculated to assess the association between the studied variables. RESULTS The time at the day care was positively correlated with the children's performance in some fine motor tasks of the BSITD-III, showing that the activities developed in day care centers were important for the refinement of specific motor skills, while the overall fine motor performance by the scale was associated with maternal education and the ITERS-R scale sub-item "language and understanding". CONCLUSIONS Extrinsic factors such as higher maternal education and quality of day care centers are associated with fine motor performance in children attending day care.