Differences in early cognitive and receptive-expressive neurodevelopment by ancestry and underlying pathways in Brazil and Argentina

Abstract

We examine disparities in early child cognitive and receptive-expressive skills by ethnic ancestry among infants aged 3 to 24 months from Brazil and Argentina. We employ unique data on the neurodevelopment of children who were seeking routine well-child care at a set of pediatric clinics in these countries. The sample included children who had normal birth outcomes and no major health complications, allowing us to focus on variation in neurodevelopment among children without major physical health limitations. The physicians attending the pediatric clinics were trained in administering the Bayley Infant Neurodevelopmental Screener, a standardized instrument used to screen an infant’s risk of neurodevelopmental problems on various domains of abilities. We evaluate disparities in overall neurodevelopmental scores and risk for neurodevelopmental problems as well as in cognitive functioning and receptive-expressive neurodevelopment. We also examine the extent to which household demographic and socioeconomic characteristics and geographic location explain these disparities. We find large gaps in both cognitive and receptive-expressive neurodevelopment by ancestry. In Brazil, children of African ancestry have lower scores on both cognitive and receptive-expressive domains and on overall neurodevelopment than children of European ancestry. In Argentina, children of Native ancestry have lower scores on these outcomes than children of European ancestry. These gaps however are largely explained by differences in geographic location and household characteristics, highlighting the importance of policies that reduce socioeconomic and geographic disparities in social capital and economic development for eliminating ethnic disparities in infant neurodevelopment.

Association between the COVID-19 pandemic and childhood development aged 30 to 36 months in South Korea, based on the National health screening program for infants and children database

“…Moreover, we estimated the difference in the risk of neurodevelopmental delay based on the geographical location of residence during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to before the pandemic. The geographical location of residence is an important indicator of children’s neurodevelopment, encompassing factors such as their behaviors, access to well-childcare centers, treatment of neurodevelopmental dysfunction, and the diagnosis of neurodevelopment [ 17 , 40 ]. Further, we found that the negative impacts on fine motor function, cognition, communication, social interaction, and self-care were more pronounced among urban children.…”

New trends in instruments for child development screening in Brazil: a systematic review

“…It is important to highlight that six studies included only children under two years of age [11][12][13][14][15][16] . For the most part, the target populations were children with normal development 11,12,15,[17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28] or children at-risk for delays 14,16,[29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36] . Two studies included children with confirmed disability diagnoses, such as cerebral palsy 37 and microcephaly 13 .…”

Influence of the level of maternal education on the long-term neurodevelopmental outcome of Saudi infants with birth weight of 1000-1500 grams at the age of 21-24 months

“…A wide range of health professionals have administered this screening tool. Previously, several studies have used BINS for neurodevelopmental screening among preterm and young children [30][31][32][33]. In this regard, the subjects were Saudi infants with a corrected age of 21-24 months, who were born with a birth weight of 1000-1500 grams.…”