title: The influence of developmental coordination disorder and attention deficits on associated movements in children.
abstract: The relationship between associated movements (AMs) and level of motor performance is not well understood. In this study we investigated whether children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD), with (n = 10) and without (n = 10) attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and a control group (n = 10), differed in the severity of AMs. A total AM severity score was obtained for each child by rating their performance on AM tasks. Both groups with motor difficulties had significantly more severe AMs than the control group. A significant correlation was found between level of motor performance and total AM scores (r = -.62). Our results suggest that level of motor performance should be considered in future research attempting to understand individual differences in severity of AMs as a function of motor, learning, and behavioural disorders.
authors.affiliation: School of Human Movement and Exercise Science, The University of Western Australia. licarm01@tartarus.uwa.edu.au
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Licari
authors.forename: Dawne
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Larkin
authors.forename: Motohide
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miyahara
mesh_terms: D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills; D019957:Motor Skills Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index