Characteristics and Prevalence of Gravitational Insecurity in Children with Sensory Processing Dysfunction.
Roughly 1 in 6 kids with SPD show parent-reported gravity fears, so screen every client.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Parents of children with sensory processing disorder (SPD) filled out a survey.
They answered questions about fear of movement, climbing, or feet leaving the ground.
The team counted how many kids showed signs of gravitational insecurity.
What they found
About 1 in every 6 children with SPD had these gravity fears.
Boys, girls, age, and other diagnoses did not change the number.
The rate stayed near 15–21 % across the board.
How this fits with other research
Mannion et al. (2024) also used parent surveys. They found every child with Down syndrome had sleep and behavior issues.
Both papers show parent reports can quickly map extra problems in kids with developmental disorders.
Yuan et al. (2021) surveyed weight in Chinese students with ID. Like Mulder et al. (2020), they showed one clear rate: nearly one-third were overweight.
Together, the studies say surveys give fast snapshots of co-occurring issues, whether the issue is gravity fear, sleep trouble, or extra weight.
Why it matters
If you treat a child with SPD, expect gravity fear in about 1 of every 6 clients.
No need to wait for age or gender to screen—just ask parents about climbing, swings, or fear of stairs.
A quick checklist at intake can flag these kids early so you add graded movement to their plan.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Children with sensory processing challenges often demonstrate a specific vestibular dysfunction characterized by an irrational fear of movement experiences referred to as gravitational insecurity. PROCEDURES/OUTCOMES: This descriptive, exploratory study of existing de-identified data examined characteristics and prevalence of symptoms indicative of gravitational insecurity and the relationship among gravitational insecurity, gender, age, and other types of sensory-motor problems in 689 children, aged 4-12 years, with Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) and related parent-reported co-morbid diagnoses of Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder, Anxiety Disorder, Learning Disabilities and Autism Spectrum Disorder. Gravitational insecurity was identified by the sum of eight items on a parent-report clinical questionnaire of sensory processing and motor skills in children. RESULTS/CONCLUSIONS: The number and patterns of gravitational insecurity symptoms were not significantly different across age, gender or comorbid diagnoses. Prevalence of symptoms of gravitational insecurity in a clinical population of children with SPD was 15 - 21%. Cluster analysis found two groups with and without gravitational insecurity. In the gravitational insecurity group all eight items examined occurred "sometimes/often" and four or more symptoms were reported by individuals in this group. IMPLICATIONS: Gravitational insecurity is an important vestibular-based dysfunction to identify and treat in children with SPD. Future studies should examine the relationship between these symptoms and objective measures of gravitational insecurity.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2020 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2020.103640