Performance of 6-Month-Old Asian American Infants on the Movement Assessment of Infants

The purpose of this study was to examine the performance of Asian American infants on the Movement Assessment of Infants (MAI). The sample consisted of 30 full-term 6-month-old Asian American infants. These infants tended to have slightly slower integration of some primitive reflexes and to acquire automatic reactions and volitional motor skills at a slightly different rate than the predominantly Caucasian group of infants in a previous study. When the Washington and Deitz 6-Month Profile was used with the Asian American infants, 40% of them were identified as having risk scores higher than any of the infants in the Washington and Deitz study. This occurred even though the Asian American infants were full term, with unremarkable birth histories and, according to parent report, had no developmental concerns identified by either a parent or a health care provider. This finding suggests that clinicians should be cautious when using the MAI 6-Month Profile to assess Asian American infants.