Studia Kinanthropologica 2016, 17(3):289-295

The level of fundamental motor skills in preschool children - possible gender differences

J. Kokštejn
Univerzita Karlova v Praze, Fakulta tělesné výchovy a sportu, Katedra sportovních her

The aim of this study was to assess the level of fundamental motor skills (PD) with respect to sex differences in preschool children. A total sample of 510 preschool children participated in this cross-sectional study. The Movement Assessment Battery for Children - second edition (MABC-2) test was used for the assessment of FMS level using the total test score (CTS) and subtests score (MZ - manual dexterity, MCH - aiming and catching, R - balance).

Results: 3- and 4-year-old girls performed significantly better than boys in CTS (p < 0.05) as well as in MZ and R subtests. We found no sex differences in CTS in 5- and 6-year-old children. However, 6-year-old boys performed significantly better in MCH subtest in comparison with girls (p < 0.01). Moreover, CTS score of 6-years-old girls was highly below the population mean according to MABC-2 test manual. According to our results the speed of FMS development differs between boys and girls during the whole preschool period. Revealed gender differences should be taken into consideration in preparation of motor programmes for development of fundamental PD. Special focus should be paid to improving motor skills, respectively to motor areas, where we found low level of PD.

Keywords: motor development; preschool age; gender differences

Published: September 30, 2016  Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago Chicago Notes IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
Kokštejn J. The level of fundamental motor skills in preschool children - possible gender differences. Studia Kinanthropologica. 2016;17(3):289-295.
Share...
Download citation
  • BibTeX (.bib)
  • Bookends (.ris)
  • EasyBib (.ris)
  • EndNote (.enw)
  • EndNote 8 (.xml)
  • ISI WoS (.isi)
  • Medlars (.medlars)
  • Mendeley (.ris)
  • MODS (.xml)
  • Papers (.ris)
  • RefWorks (.txt)
  • RefManager (.ris)
  • RIS (.ris)
  • MS Word (.xml)
  • Zotero (.ris)
    • Open full article

    References

    1. Barnett, L. M., Morgan, P. J., Van Beurden, E., & Beard, J. R. (2008). Perceived sports competence mediates the relationship between childhood motor skill proficiency and adolescent physical activity and fitness: A longitudinal assessment. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 5, 40. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    2. Barnett, L. M., Van Beurden, E., Morgan, P. J., Brooks, L. O., & Beard, J. R. (2009). Childhood motor skill proficiency as a predictor of adolescent physical activity. Journal of Adolescent Health, 44 (3), 25-259. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    3. Barnett, L. M., Ridgers, N. D., & Salmon, J. (2015). Associations between young children's perceived and actual ball skill competence and physical activity. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 18 (2), 167-171. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    4. Cliff, D. P., Okely, A. D., Smith, L., & Mckeen, K. (2009). Relationships between fundamental movement skills and objectively measured physical activity in pre-school children. Pediatric Exercise Science, 21, 436-449. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    5. Denckla, M. B. (1974). Development of motor co-ordination in normal children. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 16, 729-741. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    6. Field, A. (2013). Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS statistics. London: Sage Publications Ltd.
    7. Fisher, A., Reilly, J. J., Kelly, L. A., Montgomery, C., Williamson, A., Paton, J. Y., & Grant, S. (2005). Fundamental movement skills and habitual physical activity in young children. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 37 (4), 684-688. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    8. Gallahue, D. L., & Donnelly, F. C. (2003). Developmental physical education for all children. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
    9. Gallahue, D. L., Ozmun, J. C., & Goodway, J. D. (2011). Understanding Motor Development: Infants, Children, Adolescents, Adults. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
    10. Hanlon, H., Thatcher, R., & Cline, M. (1999). Gender differences in the development of EEG coherence in normal children. Developmental Neuropsychology, 16, 479-506. Go to original source...
    11. Hardy, L. L., King, L., Farrell, L., Macniven, R., & Howlett, S. (2010). Fundamental movement skills among Australian preschool children. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 13 (5), 503-508. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    12. Henderson, S. E., Sugden, D. A., & Barnett, A. L. (2007). Movement assessment battery for children-2: Movement ABC-2: Examiner's manual. London: Pearson Assessment. Go to original source...
    13. Henderson, S. E., Sugden, D. A., & Barnett, A. L. (2014). MABC-2 - test of motor skills for children. Praha: Hogrefe-Testcentrum.
    14. Legear, M., Greyling, L., Sloan, E., Bell, R. I., Williams, B. L., Naylor, P. J., & Temple, V. A. (2012). A window of opportunity? Motor skills and perceptions of competence of children in Kindergarten. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 9 (1), 29-33. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    15. Logan, S. W., Robinson, L. E., & Getchell, N. (2011). The comparison of performances of preschool children on two motor assessments. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 113, 715-723. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    16. Malina, R. M., Bouchard, C., & Bar-Or, O. (2004). Growth, maturation, and physical activity. 360 Champaign III, US: Human Kinetics. Go to original source...
    17. Meyers-Levy, J., & Loken, B. (2015). Revisiting gender differences: What we know and what lies ahead. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 25 (1), 129-149. Go to original source...
    18. Okely, A. D., Booth, M. L., & Patterson, J. W. (2001). Relationship of physical activity to fundamental movement skills among adolescents. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 33 (11), 1899-1904. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    19. Piek, J., Hands, B., & Licari, M. (2012). Assessment of motor functioning in the preschool period. Neuropsychology Review, 22 (4), 402-413. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    20. Rámcový Vzdělávací Program pro Předškolní Vzdělávání 2004 (RVP PV). (2006). Praha: Výzkumný ústav pedagogický v Praze, ÚIV, TAURIS.
    21. Rosenbaum, P., Missiuna, C., & Johnson, K. (2004). Longitudinal Assessment of Motor Development in Epidemiologic Research for the National Children's Study. Report for the NCS by Battelle Memorial Institute.
    22. Sigmundsson, H., & Rostoft, M. S. (2003). Motor development: exploring the motor competence of 4-year-old Norwegian children. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 47 (4), 451-459. Go to original source...
    23. Spessato, B. C., Gabbard, C., Valentini, N., & Rudisill, M. (2013). Gender differences in Brazilian children's fundamental movement skill performance. Early Child Development and Care, 183, 916-923. Go to original source...
    24. Stodden, D. F., Goodway, J. D., Langendorfer, S. J., Roberton, M. A., Rudisill, M. E., Garcia, C., & Garcia, L. E. (2008). A developmental perspective on the role of motor skill competence in physical activity: An emergent relationship. Quest, 60 (2), 290-306. Go to original source...
    25. Strong, W. B., Malina, R. M., Blimkie, C. J. R., Daniels, S. R., Dishman, R. K., Gutin, B., et al. (2005). Evidence based physical aktivity for school-age youth. Journal of Pediatrians, 146, 732-737. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    26. Sugden, D., & Wade, M. (2013). Typical and atypical motor development. London: Mac Keith Press.
    27. Temple, V. A., Crane, J. R., Brown, A., Williams, B. L., & Bell, R. I. (2014). Recreational activities and motor skills of children in kindergarten. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 1-13. Go to original source...
    28. Thomas, J., & French, K. (1985). Gender differences across age in motor performance: a meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 98, 260-282. Go to original source...
    29. Ulrich, D. A. (2000). TGMD-2: test of gross motor development: Examiner's manual. Austin: Pro-Ed.
    30. Waelvelde, H., Peersman, W., Lenoir, M., Smits Engelsman, B., & Henderson, S. (2008). The Movement Assessment Battery for Children: Similarities and differences between 4- and 5-year-old children from Flanders and the United States. Pediatric Physical Therapy, 20, 30-38. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...
    31. Williams, H. G., Pfeiffer, K. A., O'neill, J. R., Dowda, M., Mciver, K. L., Brown, W. H., & Pate, R. R. (2008). Motor skill performance and physical activity in preschool children. Obesity, 16 (6), 1421-1426. Go to original source... Go to PubMed...

    This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is properly cited. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.


    Return to the content