title: Motor impairment in children with anxiety disorders.
abstract: This study examined the frequency and degree of motor impairment in referred children with anxiety disorders (AnxDs), compared with children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), children with comorbid AnxDs and ADHD, and nonreferred controls. All participants (n=141; 90 males, 51 females; mean age: 10 years, 1 month; range: 7-13 years) had an IQ greater than 70. Diagnoses of mental disorders were established using the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Aged Children (Kiddie-SADS). Motor ability was assessed using the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (M-ABC). We found that children with AnxDs exhibited significantly higher total impairment scores on the M-ABC than controls, but were not significantly different from children with ADHD or children with comorbid AnxDs and ADHD. All clinical groups exhibited similar profiles of motor impairment. A total of 19 (46%) children with AnxDs scored below the 5th percentile on the M-ABC, indicating that motor function is impaired in many children with AnxDs to a degree that probably interferes with their activities of daily living. These results support the notion that assessment of motor function is important in understanding the daily challenges of children with AnxDs.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Eastern and Southern Norway, Oslo, Norway. benedicte.skirbekk@r-bup.no
authors.forename: Benedicte
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Skirbekk
authors.forename: Berit Hjelde
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Hansen
authors.forename: Beate
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Oerbeck
authors.forename: Tore
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wentzel-Larsen
authors.forename: Hanne
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kristensen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D015897:Comorbidity; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019957:Motor Skills Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D009069:Movement Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004856:Postural Balance; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires