Nancy Getchell

Multi-limb coordination and rhythmic variability under varying sensory availability conditions in children with DCD

Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) have sensory processing deficits; how do these influence the interface between sensory input and motor performance? Previously, we found that children with DCD were less able to organize and maintain a gross motor coordination task in time to an auditory cue, particularly at higher frequencies [Whitall, J., Getchell, N., McMenamin, S., Horn, C., Wilms-Floet, A., & Clark, J. (2006). Perception-action coupling in children with and without DCD: Frequency locking between task relevant auditory signals and motor responses in a dual motor task. Child: Care, Health, and Development, 32, 679-692]. In the present study, we examine the same task (clapping in-phase to marching on a platform) under conditions involving the removal of vision and hearing. Eleven children with DCD (mean=7.21, SD=0.52 years), 7 typically developing (TD) children (mean=6.95+/-0.72 years), and 10 adults performed continuous clapping while marching under four conditions: with vision and hearing, without vision, without hearing, and without both. Results showed no significant condition effects for any measure taken. The DCD group was more variable in phasing their claps and footfalls than both the adult group and the TD group. There were also significant group effects for inter-clap interval coefficient of variation and inter-footfall interval coefficient of variation, with the DCD group being the most variable for both measures. Coherence analysis between limb combinations (e.g., left arm-right arm, right arm-left leg) revealed that the adults exhibited significantly greater coherence for each combination than both of the childrens groups. The TD group showed significantly greater coherence than the DCD group for every limb combination except foot-foot and left hand-right foot. Measures of approximate entropy indicated that adults differed from children both with and without DCD in the structure of the variability across a trial with adults showing more complexity. Children with DCD are able to accomplish a self-initiated gross-motor coordination task but with increased variability for most but not all measures compared to typically developing children. The availability of visual and/or auditory information does not play a significant role in stabilizing temporal coordination of this task, suggesting that these are not salient sources of information for this particular task.

The Relationship Between Motor Skill Proficiency and Body Mass Index in Preschool Children

Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between motor proficiency and body mass index (BMI) in preschool children. Thirty-eight children ages 4–6 years had their BMI calculated and were assessed using the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2 (MABC-2; Henderson, Sugden, & Barnett, 2007). These data were analyzed in two ways. The correlation between BMI and MABC-2 percentile ranks was calculated. Next, the groups were subdivided based on BMI status (high, M = 85.5; medium, M = 49.8; low, M = 10.8), and compared using t tests to determine if differences existed in MABC-2 percentile ranks. No significant relationship existed between MABC-2 and BMI percentile ranks (r = -.237). However, significant differences in MABC-2 percentile ranks existed between high and low (p = .042), and high and medium (p = .043) groups. These results suggest that preschool children classified as overweight or obese may have lower motor proficiency than their normal weight and under weight peers. This study indicates there is a direct relationship between motor proficiency and BMI in the preschool population.

The comparison of performances of preschool children on two motor assessments.

Understanding childrens motor performance on different assessments is important for researchers. The Test of Gross Motor Development–2 (TGMD–2) and the Movement Assessment Battery for Children–2 (MABC–2) are motor assessments that use either a process- or product-oriented scoring approach. However, no studies have examined how performances are related to these two types of assessment. This study compared the performance of preschool children on the TGMD–2 and the MABC–2. 32 children (M age = 4.2 yr., SD = 9) completed each test to assess whether each described motor performance similarly. Significant low to moderate Spearmans rank correlations (r2 range = .13–.40) were found between the subscales of the assessments. A related-samples Wilcoxon signed rank test was not significant between total performances on the TGMD–2 and MABC–2. From a practical standpoint, each assessment provides a similar overall description of motor competence in preschool children. However, each assessment results in scores that present different information about motor performance.

Transitions To and From Asymmetrical Gait Patterns

Asymmetrical gait patterns such as the gallop provide insight into the complexity of human locomotion. The nature of spontaneous (e.g., walk-run), quasi-spontaneous (e.g., gallop-walk), and intentional (e.g., walk-gallop) transitions was analyzed in 2 ways in the present study. In Analysis 1, the authors used step-wise regression to associate 10 physical characteristics with gait transitions. Transition predictability was moderate; thigh length best predicted 3 of 6 transitions. In Analysis 2, the dynamic characteristics of transitions (order parameters, phase shifts, multistability, and critical fluctuations) were described; those characteristics existed for all transition types. The results of the analyses suggest that intentional transitions are less biomechanically predictable than are spontaneous transitions and that transitions between gait pairs (e.g., walk-gallop and gallop-walk), regardless of velocity direction, have more in common than do transitions requiring specific intention.

Comparing children with and without dyslexia on the Movement Assessment Battery for Children and the Test of Gross Motor Development.

Dyslexia is the most commonly occurring learning disability in the United States, characterized by difficulties with word recognition, spelling, and decoding. A growing body of literature suggests that deficits in motor skill performance exist in the dyslexic population. This study compared the performance of children with and without dyslexia on different subtests of the Test of Gross Motor Development and Movement Assessment Battery for Children and assessed whether there were developmental changes in the scores of the dyslexic group. Participants included 26 dyslexic children (19 boys and 7 girls; 9.5 yr. old, SD = 1.7) and 23 age- and sex-matched typically developing (17 boys and 6 girls; 9.9 yr. old, SD = 1.3) children as a control group. Mann-Whitney U tests indicated that the dyslexic group performed significantly lower than the control group only on the Total Balance subtest of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children. Additionally, the young dyslexic group performed significantly better on the Total Balance subtest, compared to the older dyslexic group. These results suggest that cerebellar dysfunction may account for differences in performance.

Assessing locomotor skills development in childhood using wearable inertial sensor devices: the running paradigm

Objective quantitative evaluation of motor skill development is of increasing importance to carefully drive physical exercise programs in childhood. Running is a fundamental motor skill humans adopt to accomplish locomotion, which is linked to physical activity levels, although the assessment is traditionally carried out using qualitative evaluation tests. The present study aimed at investigating the feasibility of using inertial sensors to quantify developmental differences in the running pattern of young children. Qualitative and quantitative assessment tools were adopted to identify a skill-sensitive set of biomechanical parameters for running and to further our understanding of the factors that determine progression to skilled running performance. Running performances of 54 children between the ages of 2 and 12 years were submitted to both qualitative and quantitative analysis, the former using sequences of developmental level, the latter estimating temporal and kinematic parameters from inertial sensor measurements. Discriminant analysis with running developmental level as dependent variable allowed to identify a set of temporal and kinematic parameters, within those obtained with the sensor, that best classified children into the qualitative developmental levels (accuracy higher than 67%). Multivariate analysis of variance with the quantitative parameters as dependent variables allowed to identify whether and which specific parameters or parameter subsets were differentially sensitive to specific transitions between contiguous developmental levels. The findings showed that different sets of temporal and kinematic parameters are able to tap all steps of the transitional process in running skill described through qualitative observation and can be prospectively used for applied diagnostic and sport training purposes.

Combining Theory and Practice in the Gymnasium “Constraints” within an Ecological Perspective

Abstract Understanding how a variety of constraints influence movement will allow movement educators to plan lessons that have a greater chance for success.

The Relationship between Motor Skill Proficiency and Body Mass Index in Children with and without Dyslexia: A Pilot Study.

Obesity among children has rapidly become a national health issue in the United States. Obesity has been linked to serious health consequences, such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and depression in individuals of all ages (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2007). In recent years, more children are being classified as overweight or obese, putting them at risk for these conditions. The CDC estimates that the prevalence of obesity in children ages 2–5 years is 13.9%; in preadolescence, it increases to 18.8%, and by adolescence 17.4% of individuals are obese (CDC, 2007). Childhood obesity has proven to be a strong predictor of adolescent and adult obesity (Nader et al., 2006). Many contributing factors may be associated with the increase in childhood obesity. One that has begun to receive theoretical and empirical attention is motor skill competence (Stodden & Goodway, 2007; Stodden et al., 2008). According to this model, a lack of motor skill competency leads to less participation in physical activity, lower physical fitness levels, and ultimately increased likelihood of becoming overweight. The lower physical activity and fitness levels then have a negative impact on motor skill competency. Existing evidence suggests that children with low motor proficiency participate less in physical activity, which may, over time, lead to lower fitness levels and increases in adipose tissue (Wrotniak, Epstein, Dorn, Jones, & Kondilis, 2006). Alternatively, it has been suggested that children with high motor skill competency are more active and less likely to become obese (Stodden & Goodway, 2007; Stodden et al., 2008). This reciprocal model of motor skill competence and physical activity has implications for children who have difficulty with motor coordination; the model suggests they may be more likely to become overweight or obese due to a lack of motor proficiency. This may be intuitively obvious in the case of physical disabilities; however, children whose disability diagnosis falls outside the physical or motor realm may be at risk as well. Children with dyslexia are potentially at risk. According to recent U.S. statistics, 70–80% of the 2.8 million public school students who receive learning disabilities services have reading disabilities associated with dyslexia (U.S. Department of Education, 2002). One key characteristic of dyslexia is an inability to adequately develop reading and spelling skills when intellectual ability is otherwise developing typically (Stoodley, Fawcett, Nicolson, & Stein, 2005). Motor proficiency is not a diagnostic criterion of dyslexia; however, research has shown that children with dyslexia have demonstrated problems with fine and gross motor coordination as well as balance (Fawcett & Nicolson, 1995; Getchell, Mackenzie, & Marmon, 2010; Getchell, Pabreja, Neeld, & Carrio, 2007; Merriman & Barnett, 1995; Powell & Bishop, 1992: Waber et al., 2000). For this population, the spiraling effect of motor skill competency, physical activity, and physical fitness may pose a particular risk, because practitioners focus on academic rather than movement-related interventions. Few studies have attempted to directly link the level of motor skill proficiency and childhood obesity in typically developing childhood populations (Okely, Booth, & Chey, The Relationship Between Motor Skill Proficiency and Body Mass Index in Children With and Without Dyslexia: A Pilot Study

Using Grasping Tasks to Evaluate Hand Force Coordination in Children With Hemiplegic Cerebral Palsy

UNLABELLED Mackenzie SJ, Getchell N, Modlesky CM, Miller F, Jaric S. Using grasping tasks to evaluate hand force coordination in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy. OBJECTIVE To assess force coordination in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy (CP) using a device that allows for testing both unimanual and bimanual manipulation tasks performed under static and dynamic conditions. DESIGN Nonequivalent groups design. SETTING University research laboratory for motor control. PARTICIPANTS Six children with hemiplegic CP (age, mean +/- SD, 11.6+/-1.8 y) and 6 typically developing controls (11.6+/-1.6 y). INTERVENTIONS Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Children performed simple lifting and force-matching static ramp tasks by way of both unimanual and bimanual pulling using a device that measures grip force (force acting perpendicularly at the digits-device contact area) and load force (tangential force). Main outcome measures were grip/load force ratios (grip force scaling) and correlation coefficients (force coupling). RESULTS CP subjects showed significantly higher grip/load force ratios (P<.05) and slightly lower correlation coefficients than the control group, with more pronounced differences for most tasks when using their involved hand. For subjects with CP, switching from unimanual to bimanual conditions did not bring changes in scaling or coupling for the involved hand (P>.05). CONCLUSIONS Compared with healthy children, the impaired hand function in the hemiplegic CP pediatric population could be reflected in excessive grip force that is also decoupled from ongoing changes in load force. Therefore, the bimanual grip load device used in this study could provide a sensitive measure of grip force coordination in CP, although nonmotor deficits should be taken into account when asking children to perform more complex tasks.

Object-control skills in Hispanic preschool children enrolled in Head Start.

Fundamental movement skills are considered a building block for movement competence. However, little is known about the influence of culture and ethnicity on the development of fundamental motor skills. A total of 111 Hispanic preschool children enrolled in a Head Start program, ages 38 to 52 months, was assessed on object-control skills using Ulrichs Test of Gross Motor Development–2. About 83% of the participants scored poor (standard score ≤5) and 17% of children scored very poor on the performance scale (standard score ≤3) using the descriptions in the manual. In addition, both boys and girls evidenced similar deficiencies. This information has implications for exploring and implementing age-appropriate object-control skills for children with low socioeconomic status, such as these Hispanic Head Start preschoolers.