Is severity of motor coordination difficulties related to co-morbidity in children at risk for developmental coordination disorder?
Motor severity predicts a clear ladder of extra academic, attention, and daily-living problems.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers tested the children who scored below the 15th centile on a motor test.
They split the kids into severe, moderate, and no-motor-problem groups.
Then they checked each child for problems in handwriting, reading, attention, daily living, and social skills.
What they found
The worse the motor score, the more extra problems showed up.
Severe group had higher odds in five of seven areas.
Moderate group still beat controls in most domains, just less so.
How this fits with other research
Kopp et al. (2010) saw the same daily-living drag in girls with ASD or ADHD, so the pattern is not just for boys.
Dionne et al. (2024) zoomed in on math and found DCD kids 0.59 SD behind — matching the academic part of the gradient.
Omer et al. (2021) added anxiety and depression to the list, showing executive-function trouble partly explains the link.
Engel-Yeger (2020) followed adults and4 and found the quality-of-life hit lasts for decades.
Why it matters
If a child scores below the 15th centile on any motor screen, do not stop there. Check handwriting, reading, attention, daily living, and social skills right away. Early catch means early help across the board.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Add a quick handwriting sample and a teacher attention checklist to every motor screen below the 15th centile.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
Aim of the study was to investigate whether 7-9 year old children with severe motor difficulties are more at risk of additional difficulties in activities in daily living, academic skills, attention and social skills than children with moderate motor difficulties. Children (N=6959) from a population based cohort, the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), were divided into three groups based on their scores on the ALSPAC Coordination Test at age 7: control children (scores above 15th centile; N=5719 [82.1%]); children with moderate (between 5th and 15th centile; N=951 [13.7%]); and children with severe motor difficulties (below 5th centile N=289 [4.2%]). Children with neurological disorders or an IQ<70 were excluded. Logistic regression was used to compare children with moderate and severe motor coordination difficulties with each other and with control children regarding their risk of co-morbidity defined as significant (<10th centile) difficulties with activities of daily living (ADL); academic skills (reading, spelling and handwriting); attention; social skills (social cognition and nonverbal skills). Children with severe motor difficulties demonstrated a higher risk of difficulties in ADL, handwriting, attention, reading, and social cognition than children with moderate motor difficulties, who in turn had a higher risk of difficulties than control children in five out of seven domains. Screening and intervention of co-morbid problems is recommended for children with both moderate and severe motor difficulties.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2013 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2013.06.028