Siblings' Influence on the Motor Competence of Preschoolers

Associations between Agility, the Relative Age Effect, Siblings, and Digit Ratio (D2:D4) in Children and Adolescents

BACKGROUND

This study aims to analyze the influence of relative age effects, siblings, and digit ratio on the agility of children and adolescents.

METHODS

The study included 283 children (9.54 ± 1.36 years) and 296 adolescents (14.68 ± 1.36 years) from four different schools. The analyzed variables included anthropometric data, the presence of siblings, relative age effect, and results from the 10 × 5 m shuttle run test.

RESULTS

The findings indicated no significant association between agility and either the 2D:4D ratio or the relative age effect in both children and adolescents (p > 0.05). Additionally, having siblings did not have a notable impact on agility. Multiple regression analysis confirmed that relative age did not influence this lack of association (quarter of birth: p = 0.345, β = 0.039; siblings: p = 0.100, β = -0.069). However, boys showed higher performance than girls in the 10 × 5 m shuttle run test, and higher body mass index was related to lower agility.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings contribute to existing knowledge on the relative effects of age and provide valuable information for physical education teachers on the influence of the 2D:4D ratio and the presence of siblings on the physical fitness of children and adolescents.

Individual, family, and environmental correlates of fundamental motor skills among school-aged children: a cross-sectional study in China

OBJECTIVE

This cross-sectional study examined the socio-ecological factors influencing fundamental motor skills (FMS) in Chinese school-aged children.

METHODS

A total of 1012 parent-child pairs were randomly sampled between March-1st and April-15th, 2022. Based on the socio-ecological model of Children's FMS, three levels of factors: individual-level (e.g., demographic, physical, psychological, and behavioral characteristics of children), family-level (e.g., caregiver demographics, parental support, and socioeconomic status), and environmental factors (e.g., availability of physical activity equipment) were assessed using self-reported scales (e.g., the Self-perception Profile for Children, the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale, and the 12-item Psychological Well-Being Scale for Children) and objective measures (e.g., ActiGraph GT3X, the Chinese National Student Physical Fitness Standard, and the Test of Gross Motor Development-Third Edition). Multi-level regression models were employed using SPSS.

RESULTS

The results demonstrated that children's age, sex, physical fitness, parental support, and the quality of home and community physical activity environments consistently influenced all three types of FMS, including locomotor, ball, and composite skills. Additionally, seven individual-level factors (children's age, sex, body mass index, light physical activity, sleep duration, perceived motor competence, and physical fitness) were associated with different types of FMS.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings underscore the multidimensional and complex nature of FMS development, with individual-level factors playing a particularly significant role. Future research should adopt rigorous longitudinal designs, comprehensive assessment tools covering various FMS skills, and objective measurement of parents' movement behaviors to better understand the strength and direction of the relationship between socio-ecological factors and children's FMS.

Associations between sociodemographic and behavioural parameters and child development depending on age and sex: a cross-sectional analysis

OBJECTIVES

To explore environmental and individual factors that are associated with child development and to investigate whether the strength of these associations differs according to the age of the children.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study.

SETTING

This study was part of the LIFE Child study, a large cohort study conducted in Leipzig, Germany.

PARTICIPANTS

778 children aged between 0.5 and 6 years (48.6% girls, mean age=2.67 years).

OUTCOME MEASURES

The outcomes were cognitive development, language development, body and hand motor skills, social-emotional development, and tracing skills, measured with a standardised development test. We analysed the associations between development and gestational age, socioeconomic status (SES), sex, behavioural difficulties, siblings, sleep duration, breastfeeding duration and overweight/obesity. We also tested for interactions between these variables and child age or sex.

RESULTS

Higher gestational age (b ranging between 0.12 and 0.26) and higher SES (b ranging between 0.08 and 0.21) were associated with better outcomes in almost all developmental domains (all p<0.019). Children with older siblings had improved body and hand motor skills compared with children without older siblings (both b=0.55, all p<0.029). Boys had poorer scores than girls in body and hand motor skills and tracing (b=-0.45, -0.68 and -1.5, all p<0.019). Children with behavioural difficulties had significantly poorer outcomes in most developmental domains. Some of the associations with SES and sex were stronger in older than in younger children. Associations between gestational age and motor development were weaker in older children. We did not find significant associations between child development and sleep duration, breastfeeding duration or overweight/obesity.

CONCLUSION

Some factors had a protective, others an adverse effect on development of children under 6 years of age. The effect of SES and sex increased, while the effect of gestational age decreased with age.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

NCT02550236.

Reliability levels of motor competence in youth athletes

This study aimed to analyze the reliability of the tests included in the motor competence assessment (MCA) battery and compare the effects of the number of trials per test. Thirty female volleyball players (14.6 ± 1.3 years of age) were tested. The participants performed two or three trials of each test. Intra-class correlation (ICC) was calculated, and a paired sample t-test analyzed the variations between trials (1st vs. 2nd vs. 3rd). Results revealed a significant difference between the first and the second trials for jumping sideways [t(29) = -4.108, p < 0.01], standing long jump [t(29) = -3.643, p < 0.01], and shuttle run [t(29) = -3.139, p < 0.01]. No significant result was registered in the shifting platforms, ball throwing and kicking between the first and second trials. Hence, any difference was recorded between the second and third trial. High ICC values were registered in lateral jumps, among the three repetitions of ball kicking and ball throwing, and between the last two repetitions of shuttle run. Almost perfect values were recorded for the shifting platforms and standing long jump. Nevertheless, there seems to be a learning effect between the first and the second repetition-no differences were registered only considering the two manipulative tests. In conclusion, except for jumping sideways, the MCA tests are reliable and only need to be performed two times instead of three.