Motor coordination and mental health in extremely low birth weight survivors during the first four decades of life.
Motor coordination problems in childhood forecast adult anxiety and inattention, but the risk is milder for adults who arrived as extremely low birth weight babies.
01Research in Context
What this study did
L et al. tracked adults who were born at extremely low birth weight.
They asked whether childhood motor coordination problems predicted later anxiety, depression, and inattention.
The team compared these adults to peers born at normal weight.
What they found
Clumsy kids grew into anxious or inattentive adults, but the link was weaker for the ELBW group.
Normal-birth-weight adults showed the stronger motor-to-mental-health connection.
How this fits with other research
Missiuna et al. (2014) saw the same pattern in school-age kids: motor disorder plus ADHD hikes anxiety and depression.
Blanco-Martínez et al. (2025) add that kids with ADHD already score medium-level lower on motor tests, so the motor-mental path starts early.
Gentier et al. (2013) and Wagner et al. (2011) flip the weight story: they show obese youths move worse, while L et al. show tiny babies move worse yet escape the worst mental fallout.
Together the papers say motor skills matter for mental health, but birth history and current weight tweak the size of the risk.
Why it matters
When you see a client with childhood coordination issues, screen for anxiety, depression, and ADHD even if the case file says "preemie." The risk is still there, just smaller than for term-born clients. Add balance or fine-motor targets to behavior plans when you also treat attention or mood goals; the motor work may double as mental-health protection.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The co-morbidity of motor coordination and mental health problems is an increasing concern. While links between poor motor coordination and mental health have been examined extensively in individuals born at normal birth weight (NBW; >2500g), relatively little research has examined these associations in special populations, particularly those born at extremely low birth weight (ELBW; <1000g). In this study, we examined whether birth weight status (ELBW vs. NBW) moderated associations between motor coordination problems and levels of mental health problems from childhood into the fourth decade of life. The present study utilized the oldest known prospectively followed, population-based cohort of ELBW survivors (n=151). This group was born between 1977 and 1982 in Ontario, Canada and was compared to a matched group of NBW controls (n=145). Mental health problems were measured at age 8 using parent and teacher reports, and at age 22-26 and 29-36 using self-reports. Childhood motor coordination was retrospectively reported at age 29-36. In both ELBW and NBW groups, childhood coordination problems were associated with elevated levels of inattention and symptoms of anxiety and depression. However, we observed stronger associations between childhood motor coordination problems and mental health problems in NBW controls at 22-26 and 29-36 years of age than in ELBW survivors. Our findings highlight the importance of recognizing and screening for motor coordination problems not only in vulnerable, at-risk children, but in all children, as motor difficulties appear to be associated with mental health problems well into adult life.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2015 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2015.06.004