title: Action planning and position sense in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder.
abstract: The present study examined action planning and position sense in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). Participants performed two action planning tasks, the sword task and the bar grasping task, and an active elbow matching task to examine position sense. Thirty children were included in the DCD group (aged 6-10years) and age-matched to 90 controls. The DCD group had a MABC-2 total score ⩽5th percentile, the control group a total score ⩾25th percentile. Results from the sword-task showed that children with DCD planned less for end-state comfort. On the bar grasping task no significant differences in planning for end-state comfort between the DCD and control group were found. There was also no significant difference in the position sense error between the groups. The present study shows that children with DCD plan less for end-state comfort, but that this result is task-dependent and becomes apparent when more precision is needed at the end of the task. In that respect, the sword-task appeared to be a more sensitive task to assess action planning abilities, than the bar grasping task. The action planning deficit in children with DCD cannot be explained by an impaired position sense during active movements.
authors.affiliation: Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: i.adams@pwo.ru.nl.
authors.forename: Imke L J
authors.initials: IL
authors.lastname: Adams
authors.affiliation: Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Old Main Building Grote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa. Electronic address: gillian.ferguson@uct.ac.za.
authors.forename: Gillian D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Ferguson
authors.affiliation: Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: j.lust@pwo.ru.nl.
authors.forename: Jessica M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Lust
authors.affiliation: Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The Netherlands; School of Psychology, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne Campus, VIC 3065, Australia. Electronic address: b.steenbergen@pwo.ru.nl.
authors.forename: Bert
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Steenbergen
authors.affiliation: Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Old Main Building Grote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa. Electronic address: bouwiensmits@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Bouwien C M
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Smits-Engelsman
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D001307:Auditory Perception; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019957:Motor Skills Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D011434:Proprioception; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D013360:Subliminal Stimulation; D013998:Time Perception
keywords: Action planning; Developmental Coordination Disorder; End-state comfort; Position sense; Proprioception