As part of the Millennium Cohort Study, carried out by the Institute of Education at the University of London, 15,000 children born between 2000 and 2001 were tracked for the first five years of their lives.
It was found that failure to reach key milestones at nine months, such as crawling and holding objects with fingers, is associated with learning and behaviour problems at age five.
Professor Ingrid Schoon, one of the researchers, said screening tests need to be followed by more thorough evaluations if it appears a child might have a developmental delay.
"Developmental evaluations are in-depth assessments of a child's skills and should be administered by a trained professional," she said.
"They are used to create a profile of a child's strengths and weaknesses in all developmental areas.
"The results of such evaluations help to determine if the child is in need of early intervention services."
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