Abstract
This study was designed to analyze the association between motor skills and school performance in elementary school children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Two groups of children were evaluated. The experimental group contained 55 students of both sexes, age 7 to 10, who had been clinically diagnosed with ADHD; the control group consisted of 55 children with typical motor development. The results showed no association between motor skills and school performance in the experimental group, although there was a statistically significant difference between manual dexterity and writing performance in the control group. Although we found no relationship between motor skills and school performance in children with ADHD, we believe that having specialized professionals monitor these children may be beneficial. Early diagnosis of impaired motor skills and poor school performance may lead to better developmental opportunities and a better quality of life.
Highlights
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurobiological condition characterized by inattention, motor hyperactivity, and impulsivity and associated with emotional, perceptual, and motor disorders
Our main objective was to analyze the association between motor and school performance in children with and without ADHD who are enrolled in public elementary schools in Maringá, Paraná, Brazil
We found that a greater percentage of children in the experimental group exhibited motor performance at or below the 15th percentile (n = 18, 32.7%), compared with those in the control group (n = 9, 16.4%)
Summary
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurobiological condition characterized by inattention, motor hyperactivity, and impulsivity and associated with emotional, perceptual, and motor disorders. Several authors have emphasized the relationship between motor and cognitive development in children, noting that welldeveloped motor skills are fundamental for satisfactory school performance, such as reading, arithmetic, and writing[8,9]. This relationship is logical, as the cerebellum and frontal lobe function together to produce coordination and cognition. Hartman, Mombarg, Scherder, and Visscher[10] found a positive correlation between learning difficulties, ADHD, and autism in children age 7 to 12 years. Using the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (MABC-2), they found associations between balance and arithmetic abilities as well as between aiming, catching, and reading
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