NÍVEL SOCIOECONÔMICO E AFFORDANCES DO AMBIENTE DOMICILIAR: IMPLICAÇÕES PARA O DESEMPENHO MOTOR INFANTIL

Abstract

This study aimed to analyze the impact of the socio economic level on motor performance mediated by the home environment affordances among kids with the age of 42 months. Subjects were 86 kids (39 girls and 47 boys) enrolled in 24 Childhood Education Center of the city of Maringá-PR. The instruments used were the Classification of the Brazilian Association of Research Companies\ABEP, the Affordances for Home Environment Motor Development (AHEMD-SR) and the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2\MABC-2. For data analysis, Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Mann-Whitney and Structural Equation Analysis were conducted (p<0,05). The results showed that children from upper middle class have more affordances compared to children from lower middle class; however, there was no significant difference in motor performance between the groups. The higher socioeconomic status does not have a direct impact on the motor performance, however, when mediated by household affordances (fine motor materials and internal space stimulation) it shows a positive, although weak effect on kids' motor performance. It was concluded that high family socioeconomic status is not enough to support a home environment that provides the enhancement of infant motor performance; in addition, the affordances in the domestic environment does not seem to stimulate adequately the kids' motor performance.