Relationships between Motor Skills and Academic Achievement in School-Aged Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review.

Abstract

This review systematically summarizes the studies of the relationship between primary-to-secondary school students' motor skills and academic achievement, and analyzes the relationship between gross and fine motor skills and performance in different subjects. Five electronic databases, Web Of Science, PubMed, PsycINFO, SPORTDiscus, and Academic Search Premier, were searched in March 2023. Semi-quantitative assessment methods were used to analyze the results of the included studies. Seventy-eight articles were included in this systematic review. The semi-quantitative assessment results showed that gross (+, 65.0/62.5%) and fine motor skills (+, 83.3/80%) were positively correlated with overall performance and language performance, with ≥60% of the associations in the same direction. For different subjects, fine motor skills were positively correlated with students' mathematics (+, 75.0%), reading (+, 72.7%), writing (+, 66.7%), and spelling (+, 60.0%) scores. However, the association between gross motor skills and students' mathematics achievement (?, 52.8%), reading (?, 53.8%), and spelling (?, 50.0%) is uncertain, with <60% of the associations in the same direction. It is wise to direct our gaze toward the evolution of motor skills among students, especially primary school students. Different motor skill intervention modes should be selected in a targeted manner according to different subject achievements.