Age-related differences in movement patterns used by toddlers to rise from a supine position to erect stance

Mercer County Special Services School District, Project Child Early Intervention, Trenton, NJ 08690, USA.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Rising from the floor to a standing position is an important milestone in the development of children. The purposes of this study were (1) to describe the movement patterns (MPs) toddlers use when rising to a standing position, (2) to determine whether toddlers' MPs differ with age, and (3) to investigate whether MPs that are proposed to occur earliest in the development of this task predominate in toddlers. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Sixty children aged 15 to 47 months were videotaped performing at least six trials of rising. Data were reduced by classifying movements of the upper extremity (UE), axial region (AX), and lower extremity (LE) into categorical descriptions of the action of these body regions. The incidence of each UE, AX, and LE movement pattern was determined for each 10-month age interval and compared across age groups. RESULTS: Two previously unidentified MPs were described for LE action. The youngest children demonstrated the highest incidence of MPs that have been predicted by other researchers to occur early in development. CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION: In general, toddlers' UE and AX movements were described using previously developed MP categories. Age differences were found among toddlers in the performance of the rising task. Movement patterns of the UE and AX that have been thought to occur earliest in the developmental sequence for this task predominated in this young group.

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