Fine motor skills and motor control networking in developmental age

Objectives We investigated the relationships between fine motor skills, fitness, anthropometrics, gender and perceived motor performance in school beginners. The aim of our study was to delineate whether and to what extent fine motor control would show meaningful synchrony with other motor variables...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of human biology 2022-08, Vol.34 (8), p.e23758-n/a
Main Authors: Bondi, Danilo, Robazza, Claudio, Lange‐Küttner, Christiane, Pietrangelo, Tiziana
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age
Anthropometry
Children
Clusters
Fitness
Girls
Handwriting
Motor ability
Motor skill
Motor task performance
Network analysis
Performance indices
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Summary:Objectives We investigated the relationships between fine motor skills, fitness, anthropometrics, gender and perceived motor performance in school beginners. The aim of our study was to delineate whether and to what extent fine motor control would show meaningful synchrony with other motor variables in the age of onset of handwriting in school. Methods A sample of N = 239 of 6‐to‐8‐year‐old children were tested with an array of tasks measuring fine motor (i.e., dexterity and speed) and grapho‐motor performance (tracing on a tablet screen), anthropometric indexes, and fitness (shuttle run) measures. A subset of 95 children was also tested for perceived motor competence. Results In spite of an overall poor anthropometric condition, our participants were relatively fit. As expected, older children performed better in both, fine motor tasks and the shuttle test. The girls were better in fine motor skills, and an original speed‐quality trade‐off in the drawing was found. However, the magnitude of difference by grade was greater for boys' fine motor skills than those of girls'. A network analysis revealed three specific clusters, (1) perceived competencies, (2) fitness, and (3) fine motor skills. Conclusions Given the relative independence of these areas of physical performance, we suggest focusing on these three clusters as distinct areas of physical education. Fine motor skills deserve further consideration, especially at an early school age. We have demonstrated that network analysis and technology devices used to evaluate motor development are useful and meaningful tools.
ISSN:1042-0533
1520-6300
DOI:10.1002/ajhb.23758