Correlation between Motor Coordination Skills and Emotional and Behavioral Difficulties in Children with and without Developmental Coordination Disorder.

Kyujin Lee,Yong Hwan Kim,Yongho Lee

doi:10.3390/ijerph17207362

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare whole factors of emotional and behavioral problems between children with and without developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and investigate the interrelationship between motor coordination skills and emotional and behavioral problems among the children. As a result of screening participants (288 children) based on DSM-5 standard, participants were classified as DCD and typically developing (TD) groups. A total of 60 children (mean age: 8.8 years ± 3.5 months; DCD group n = 30, TD group n = 30) were assessed using the Korean Behavior Assessment System for Children, Second Edition for emotional and behavioral problems. Children with DCD showed significantly poor scores in internalizing problems (p = 0.009), inattention/hyperactivity (p = 0.004), and emotional symptoms index (p = 0.001) among the criteria of emotional problems and in personal adjustment (p = 0.000) among the criteria of behavioral problems. The MABC-2 composite percentile score of participants showed a significant correlation with internalizing problem behavior (r = −0.382, p = 0.003), inattention / hyperactivity disorder (r = −0.409, p = 0.001), emotional symptoms index (r = −0.483, p = 0.000), and personal adjustment (r = 0.474, p < 0.01). Our results validated that children with DCD have more emotional and behavioral difficulties than TD children. Our results revealed that the motor coordination skills have correlated with emotional and behavioral difficulties among children.

Highlights

5%–6% of children with symptoms associated with difficulties in performing activities of daily living and the issue of acquiring motor skills due to a lack of coordination rather than a neurological deficit are diagnosed with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) [1,2,3]
The distribution of children with DCD who got over the subclinical score in internalizing problems (DCD 4 children 13.3%, typically developing (TD) 0 children 0%), inattention/hyperactivity (DCD 2 children 6.7%, TD 0 children 0%), and the emotional symptoms index (DCD 5 children 16.7%, TD 0 children 0%) higher than TD children
The distribution of children with DCD who got over the subclinical score in school problems (DCD 2 children 6.7%, TD 4 children 13.3%) is lower than

Summary

Introduction

Due to the lack fundamental motor skills, children with DCD have difficulty participating in play and sports activities, and accumulate negative experiences associated with such activities, eventually leading to the avoidance of such activities [4,5]. This avoidance can have negative effects on cardiovascular-related health outcomes [6], resulting in a higher incidence of being overweight or obese [7], having cardiovascular disease [8], and reduced health-related fitness compared to their peers [9]. Public Health 2020, 17, 7362; doi:10.3390/ijerph17207362 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph

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