title: Childhood clumsiness and peer victimization: a case-control study of psychiatric patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Poor motor and social skills as well as peer victimization are commonly reported in both ADHD and autism spectrum disorder. Positive relationships between poor motor and poor social skills, and between poor social skills and peer victimization, are well documented, but the relationship between poor motor skills and peer victimization has not been studied in psychiatric populations.
  
  
  METHODS
  277 patients (133 males, 144 females), mean age 31 years, investigated for ADHD or autism spectrum disorder in adulthood and with normal intelligence, were interviewed about childhood peer victimization and examined for gross motor skills. The parents completed a comprehensive questionnaire on childhood problems, the Five to Fifteen. The Five to Fifteen is a validated questionnaire with 181 statements that covers various symptoms in childhood across eight different domains, one of them targeting motor skills. Regression models were used to evaluate the relationship between motor skills and the risk and duration of peer victimization, adjusted for sex and diagnosis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Victims were described as more clumsy in childhood than their non-victimized counterparts. A significant independent association was found between reportedly poor childhood gross motor skills and peer victimization (adjusted odds ratio: 2.97 [95% confidence interval: 1.46-6.07], n = 235, p = 0.003). In adulthood, the victimized group performed worse on vertical jumps, a gross motor task, and were lonelier. Other factors that were expected to be associated with peer victimization were not found in this highly selected group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Poor gross motor skills constitute a strong and independent risk factor for peer victimization in childhood, regardless of sex, childhood psychiatric care and diagnosis.
authors: Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. susanne.bejerot@ki.se
authors: Susanne
authors: S
authors: Bejerot
authors: Mats B
authors: MB
authors: Humble
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000523:psychology; D058445:Bullying / Q000523:psychology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000523:psychology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills; D010379:Peer Group; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult