Secular trends in early child development: Decreasing motor development among four-year-olds in two Chinese provinces

Abstract

Integrative Statement

The United Nations Sustainable Developmental Goal Target 4.2.1 emphasizes the importance of developmentally on-track early child development (ECD), specifically in health, learning, and well-being. Few studies have identified secular trends in ECD in non-Western contexts. Detecting areas for improvement in population-level tracking of ECD would assist researchers, policy makers, and practitioners in developing targeted interventions. The current study explores secular trends in ECD domains and anthropomorphic data among four-year old children in the Shanghai and Guizhou provinces of China. Seven ECD domains were assessed (α = .81 - .93) across two waves (2013 and 2017) using the East Asia-Pacific Early Childhood Development Scale (EAP-ECDS): Cognitive Development; Language and Emergent Literacy; Social-emotional Development; Cultural Knowledge and Participation; Motor Development; Health, Hygiene, and Safety; and Approach to Learning. Children’s height and weight were also measured. Wave 1 included 230 children (Shanghai n = 248; Guizhou n = 101) and Wave 2 included 439 children (Shanghai n = 191; Guizhou n = 248). Across both waves of data, children in Shanghai had consistently higher ratings in all ECD domains than children in Guizhou, reflecting SES-based differences in the provinces (see Table 1). Linear regressions were conducted to investigate differences in domain scores and height and weight from 2013 to 2017 (see Table 2). For all analyses, we controlled for age and excluded values above three standard deviations from the mean. Due to parents reporting higher levels of educational attainment in Wave 1, we also controlled for parental education in domain scores. We found significant decreases in motor development in both provinces (Shanghai B = -5.855, p<.001; Guizhou B = -6.400, p<.001). There was also a significant increase in socio-emotional development, but only in Guizhou (B = 6.641, p<.001). There were no significant changes in other domains. We also found differences in height and weight based on province. There was a significant decrease in children’s height in Shanghai (B = -1.610, p<.01) and a significant decrease in children’s weight in Guizhou (B = -1.544, p<.001). Overall, results indicate that regardless of demographic factors, motor development decreased significantly among four-year old children in China over four years. Motor skill development is an important yet understudied area of ECD, particularly in non-Western samples. Prior work with American and British cohorts has found that fine motor skills are a strong and consistent predictor of later achievement (Grissmer et al., 2010). Further, declines in motor skills are evident in younger children over the years (Raczek, 2002). Increased screen time may be a contributing factor with long-term impact; a recent study found that screen time at four years of age predicted poorer motor proficiency three years later (Cadoret et al. 2018). Additional research is needed to determine how contextual factors, such as preschool curriculum, home learning styles, screen time, and cultural attention to academic achievement, contribute to the decrease in motor development among children. This study contributes to the literature by identifying a specific domain of ECD which may require appropriate and timely intervention.