Development and evaluation of the psychometric properties of the Adolescent Motor Competence Questionnaire (AMCQ) for Adolescents.
A 26-item teen self-rating gives a quick, reliable snapshot of motor competence and can guide referral decisions.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Newbigin et al. (2016) built a 26-question checklist that teens fill out themselves. The questions ask how hard everyday motor tasks feel, like buttoning a shirt or kicking a ball.
The team gave the new tool to a small group of Australian adolescents. They checked if answers stayed the same two weeks later and if scores matched an expert movement test.
What they found
The teen ratings hung together well and repeated testing gave almost the same numbers. Scores also lined up in the middle range with the expert test, showing the checklist measures what it claims.
Authors say the AMCQ is ready for bigger trials but already looks like a quick screener for motor problems in middle and high school.
How this fits with other research
Sun et al. (2010) did the same kind of work with younger kids. Their 17-item preschool scale also showed good validity, proving the questionnaire idea works across age bands.
Parmar et al. (2014) tried a parent questionnaire for preschoolers and found it missed most children who needed help. The AMCQ avoids that trap by letting teens speak for themselves, a shift that may explain its better marks.
Weiss et al. (2021) later mixed social and motor items for children with autism. Both studies kept the same check-test-against-gold-standard recipe, showing the method keeps working when you tweak the target skill.
Why it matters
You now have a short, teen-friendly tool that can flag motor difficulties without pricey kits or mats. Slip the 26 items into intake packets or IEP reviews to spot who needs a full OT-PT look. Track answers over time to see if your skill-building plans are working.
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Join Free →Print the AMCQ and hand it to your next 12-year-old client while you prep session materials; use the total score to decide if an OT consult is warranted.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: There are no valid and reliable self-report measures designed to identify level of motor competence and suspected motor difficulties among 12-18year old adolescents. AIM: This paper reports the development and evaluation of a self-report questionnaire (Adolescent Motor Competence Questionnaire; AMCQ) to address this need. METHOD: The project proceeded in 3 phases; (A) item development, (B) content evaluation, and (C) examination of reliability and validity of the final questionnaire. Each phase was informed by criteria A and B in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), comments from a sample of 10 adolescents aged between 12 and 18 years with a range of movement skills, key informants and international experts. A convenience sample of 38 adolescents completed the final version of the AMCQ. The McCarron Assessment of Neuromuscular Development (MAND) was used to investigate concurrent validity. RESULTS: The final version of the AMCQ comprised 26 items scored using a 4 point Likert scale with a maximum score of 104. Analyses revealed the questionnaire has an acceptable internal consistency (0.902) and 7day test-retest reliability (0.956). A moderate positive correlation between the AMCQ and the MAND of 0.491 (p<0.002) provides some evidence of concurrent validity. CONCLUSION: The development of the AMCQ was exploratory in nature and has the potential to be a reliable and valid tool for measuring motor competence in Australian adolescents.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2016 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2016.08.005