Avoidance Behavior in Adults with Developmental Coordination Disorder is Related to Quality of Life

Abstract

Although it is now widely accepted that developmental co-ordination disorder (DCD) persists into adolescence and adulthood, few studies have assessed the concept of Quality of Life (QOL) within the adult DCD population. This is despite a growing recognition that children and adolescents with DCD experience poorer QOL than their typically developed peers. The small body of literature which has examined QOL in adults with DCD has reported that they also report lower levels of QOL as a result of motor coordination deficits. Little research has investigated the factors that result in adults with DCD reporting lower QOL than their typically developed counterparts. The current study explored the relationships between QOL and motor coordination, and QOL and three individual subtypes of avoidance within an adult DCD sample. Eighty-five adults (27 males; 58 females) who reported a diagnosis of, or believe that they have DCD, completed an online questionnaire that consisted of three already established questionnaires in order to measure the concepts of QOL, motor coordination and avoidance, respectively. A hierarchal multiple regression revealed that all three types of avoidance behaviors were significant predictors of QOL scores, while levels of motor coordination did not significantly predict scores of QOL. These results highlight the need for clinicians to develop interventions to help reduce avoidance behavior and social impairment, in order to improve QOL within the DCD adult population.