title: Relations among motor, social, and cognitive skills in pre-kindergarten children with developmental disabilities.
abstract: Despite the comorbidity between motor difficulties and certain disabilities, limited research has examined links between early motor, cognitive, and social skills in preschool-aged children with developmental disabilities. The present study examined the relative contributions of gross motor and fine motor skills to the prediction of improvements in children's cognitive and social skills among 2,027 pre-kindergarten children with developmental disabilities, including specific learning disorder, speech/language impairment, intellectual disability, and autism spectrum disorder. Results indicated that for pre-kindergarten children with developmental disabilities, fine motor skills, but not gross motor skills, were predictive of improvements in cognitive and social skills, even after controlling for demographic information and initial skill levels. Moreover, depending on the type of developmental disability, the pattern of prediction of gross motor and fine motor skills to improvements in children's cognitive and social skills differed. Implications are discussed.
authors: University of Virginia, Curry School of Education, Center for Advanced Study of Teaching & Learning, PO Box 800784, Charlottesville, VA 22908-0784, USA. Electronic address: hk3a@virginia.edu.
authors: Helyn
authors: H
authors: Kim
authors: AppleTree Institute for Education Innovation, Assessment and Evaluation, 415 Michigan Ave. NE, Washington, DC 20017, USA. Electronic address: carlson5000@gmail.com.
authors: Abby G
authors: AG
authors: Carlson
authors: George Mason University, Department of Psychology, 4400 University Dr., MS 3F5, Fairfax, VA 22030-4444, USA. Electronic address: tcurby@gmu.edu.
authors: Timothy W
authors: TW
authors: Curby
authors: George Mason University, Department of Psychology, 4400 University Dr., MS 3F5, Fairfax, VA 22030-4444, USA. Electronic address: awinsler@gmu.edu.
authors: Adam
authors: A
authors: Winsler
mesh_terms: D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003071:Cognition; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D007805:Language Development Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D007859:Learning Disabilities / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills; D066107:Social Skills; D013064:Speech Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology
keywords: Cognitive skills; Developmental disabilities; Motor skills; Pre-kindergarten; Social skills