Examining the Pathway to Motor Skill Competence in a Mastery Motivational Climate: An Appreciative Inquiry

A Matched-Pair Analysis of Gross Motor Skills of 3- to 5-Year-Old Children With and Without a Chronic Physical Illness

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to compare the gross motor skills of children with a chronic physical illness with those of their healthy peers.

METHODS

Data for children with a chronic physical illness come from the Multimorbidity in Children and Youth Across the Life Course study, and data from children without a physical illness come from the Health Outcomes and Physical Activity in Preschoolers study. Multimorbidity in Children and Youth Across the Life Course and Health Outcomes and Physical Activity in Preschoolers included children ages 3-5 years and administered the Peabody Development Motor Scales-second edition. Participants were sex and age matched (20 male and 15 female pairs; Mage = 54.03 [9.5] mo).

RESULTS

Gross motor skills scores were "below average" for 47% of children with a physical illness compared with 9% of children without a physical illness (P = .003). Matched-paired t tests detected significant differences in total gross motor scores (dz = -0.35), locomotor (dz = -0.31), and object control (dz = -0.39) scores, with healthy children exhibiting better motor skills, and no significant difference in stationary scores (dz = -0.19).

CONCLUSIONS

This skill gap may increase burden on children with physical illness and future research should assess gross motor skills longitudinally to establish whether the gap widens with age.

Structured Observations of Child Behaviors during a Mastery-Motivational Climate Motor Skill Intervention: An Exploratory Study

This exploratory study aimed to quantify children's engagement behaviors during a mastery-motivational climate intervention. We also completed an exploratory factor analysis to elucidate if child engagement changed across intervention sessions.

METHOD

35 children (17 boys; 18 girls) completed a 10-week mastery-motivational climate motor skill intervention. Engagement was operationalized as the time children were appropriately involved in the intervention and was assessed using momentary time sampling during the motor skill practice portion of the intervention.

RESULTS

Overall, children were engaged 36% of the motor skills practice time (37% for boys; 36% for girls). Children who initially had below-average skills engaged for 36% (36% for boys; 35% for girls) of the motor skills practice time, and children who were average or above-average at the start of the intervention engaged in skill practice for 39% (39% for boys; 36% for girls). Differences in engagement in skill type (e.g., locomotor vs. ball skills) and trends over time were observed.

CONCLUSION

These findings support that children engage in mastery-motivation climates, but the amount of participation may be influenced by individual factors of sex and initial skill level.

Perceived Physical Competence Predicts Gains in Children's Locomotor but Not Ball Skills across an Intervention

The purpose of this pre/post experimental study was to examine if children's perceived physical competence predicted changes in motor skills across an intervention. Sixty-seven children (Mage = 53.2 ± 3.7 months) participated in a 16-week, mastery-climate motor skill intervention. Perceived physical competence was assessed before the intervention using the physical competence subscale of the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance for Young Children. Motor skills were assessed using the Test of Gross Motor Development-3rd Edition before and after the intervention. Results revealed that controlling for pretest skills, perceived physical competence significantly predicted posttest locomotor (p < 0.05) and total skills (p < 0.05) but did not predict posttest ball skills (p > 0.05). These results indicate that perceived physical competence may be a significant factor that predicts children's gains in locomotor or total skills, but not ball skills, across an intervention.