Trajectories and predictors of developmental skills in healthy twins up to 24 months of age

• Published in: Infant behavior & development 2013-12, Vol.36 (4), p.670-678
• Main Authors: Nan, Cassandra, Piek, Jan, Warner, Claire, Mellers, Diane, Krone, Ruth Elisabeth, Barrett, Timothy, Zeegers, Maurice P.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Child development; Developmental psychology; Developmental trajectories; Early development; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Longitudinal; Newborn. Infant; Perinatal factors; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Twins
• ISSN: 0163-6383; 1879-0453
• DOI: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2013.07.003

•Healthy infant twins have worse developmental skills compared with singleton norms.•Twins catch up to ‘normal’ development in the second year of life.•It might not be appropriate to compare twin and singleton development in infancy.•Older maternal age seems more influential on infant development than birth weight. Low birth weight and low 5-min Apgar scores have been associated with developmental delay, while older maternal age is a protective factor. Little is known about trajectories and predictors of developmental skills in infant twins, who are generally born with lower birth weights, lower Apgar scores and to older mothers. Developmental skills were assessed at 3, 6, 9, 12, 18 and 24 months using the Ages and Stages Questionnaires in 152 twins from the Birmingham Registry for Twin and Heritability Studies. Multilevel spline and linear regression models (adjusted for gestational age, gender, maternal age) were used to estimate developmental trajectories and the associations between birth weight, maternal age and Apgar scores on developmental skills. Twins performed worse than singletons on communication, gross motor, fine motor, problem solving and personal-social skills (p