Differences in Motor Competence Between Children and Adolescents With and Without ADHD: Findings from a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
Kids with ADHD show clear, medium-sized motor skill gaps—screen and treat these alongside behavior goals.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Nerea and her team pulled every paper that compared motor skills in kids with ADHD to neurotypical peers.
They ran a meta-analysis, a math tool that averages results across many studies.
The review covered children and teens, not just little kids.
What they found
Kids and teens with ADHD scored lower on balance, ball skills, and coordination tests.
The gap was medium-sized, not tiny but not huge.
The deficit showed up across many tasks and countries.
How this fits with other research
Capio et al. (2013) saw the same pattern: Czech kids with ADHD moved slower on tricky hand and foot tasks.
Lee et al. (2021) looked at baby milestones and found no delay; the motor gap seems to grow after infancy, not before.
Shen et al. (2012) and Gomot et al. (2011) link the trouble to handwriting: messy letters trace back to weak upper-limb control and visual-motor mix-ups.
Jones et al. (2010) ran a similar meta for autism and found even larger motor gaps, showing ADHD deficits are real yet smaller than those seen in ASD.
Why it matters
If you write behavior plans for kids with ADHD, add a quick motor screen.
Check balance, ball play, and handwriting warm-ups.
When these skills lag, build them into treatment goals or refer to OT.
Fixing motor gaps can cut frustration and boost on-task time.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) often show major deficits in motor and cognitive abilities. Pharmacological treatment is commonly used to reduce ADHD symptoms. However, non-pharmacologic treatment methods would be preferred by parents, children and psychiatrists. Physical activity (PA) has been demonstrated to improve cognitive functioning in healthy populations. It can be hypothesized that there are similar beneficial effects in children with ADHD, however, very little is known about this issue. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether PA improves cognitive performance in children with ADHD. A total of 43 children with ADHD (32 boys and 11 girls) aged between seven and 12 years took part in the study. To investigate whether potential effects on executive functioning depend on the kind of PA, two different 12-week training programs were implemented. The study-design consisted of two experimental groups (EG1, n=13; EG2, n=14) and a wait-list control group (CG, n=16). Participants in EG1 took part in a training which focused on the abilities ball handling, balance and manual dexterity. Participants in EG2 group were trained in sports without a specific focus. The children in the CG group received no intervention. Participants completed assessments of working memory (WM) and motor performance before, immediately after the first training week and one week after the last session. After the 12-week intervention period, several measures of the EG1 and EG2s significantly improved over time. Furthermore, between group comparisons demonstrated significant improvements in both EG1 and EG2 compared to the CG in variables assessing WM performance and motor performance. These findings support the hypothesis that long-term PA has a positive effect on executive functions of children with ADHD, regardless of the specificity of the PA. The outcomes indicated that regular PA can be used as a complementary or alternative non-pharmacologic treatment for ADHD.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2025 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2014.12.005