Evaluation of the validity of the MAND in assessing motor impairment in young children.

Abstract

The identification of children with motor impairment is critical so that remedial intervention can be offered. This study examined the concurrent validity of the McCarron Assessment of Neuromuscular Development (MAND; McCarron, 1997), using the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (MABC; Henderson & Sugden, 1992) as the criterion measure. One hundred eighteen children, 58 girls and 60 boys, 4, 5, and 6 years of age, formed the sample. Children were tested on both the MAND and MABC, which were then compared on their level of agreement in identifying children as having motor impairment. Inconsistent support for the MAND's discrimination accuracy was evidenced, and differences were found between the MAND and the MABC in the constructs defined for their development. With significant differences evident between the MAND and MABC, the MAND's cross-loadings on the MABC were plotted against the canonical loadings on the MABC. A considerable degree of independence was found between the MAND and MABC in the classification of children with and without motor impairment. The MABC appeared to have broader variation, and hence greater versatility, than the MAND.