Aims  Motor performance and self‐perceived motor competence have a great impact on the psychosocial development of children in general. In this review, empirical studies of gross motor performance and self‐perception of motor competence in children with emotional (depression and anxiety), behavioural, and pervasive developmental disorders are scrutinized, with the objective of identifying specific motor characteristics that may be relevant to clinical practice. Method  A systematic search of studies published between 1997 and 2007 was performed using nine search engines. Results  Children in all three categories (emotional, behavioural, and pervasive developmental disorders) exhibit poor gross motor performance and problematic self‐perception of motor competence, with certain indications of disorder‐specific characteristics. In particular, children with emotional disorders have balance problems and self‐perceived motor incompetence; children with behavioural disorders show poor ball skills and tend to overestimate their motor performance; children with pervasive developmental disorders demonstrate poor gross motor performance and self‐perceived motor incompetence. As a result, children with developmental and emotional disorders are restricted in participating in games and play, which may lead to inactive lifestyles and further disruption of their psychosocial and physical development. Interpretation  Motor problems need more, to some extent disorder‐specific, attention in clinical practice than has been provided to date.

Background: Current research suggests that elevated levels of anxiety have a negative impact on the regulation of balance. However, most studies to date examined only global balance performance, with little attention to the way body posture is organized in space and time. The aim of this study is to examine whether posturographic measures can reveal (sub)clinical balance deficits in children with high levels of anxiety.

AIM Gross motor performance appears to be impaired in children with psychiatric disorders but little is known about which skill domains are affected in each disorder, nor about possible accompanying deficits in physical fitness. The present study has sought to provide information about these issues in children with emotional, behavioural, and pervasive developmental disorders (PDD).METHOD One hundred children receiving psychiatric care (81 males, 19 females, mean age 9y 11mo, SD 1y 8mo) completed both the Test of Gross Motor Development, measuring locomotion and object control, and the Motor Performance test, measuring neuromotor and aerobic fitness. The emotional disorders, behavioural disorders (BD), and PDD subgroups consisted of 17, 44 and 39 children respectively. RESULTSThe mean gross motor performance scores of the BD and PDD group were significantly (p<0.05) lower than the score of the emotional disorders group, but even the latter score was significantly lower (p<0.05) than the population norm score. Physical fitness was poor in all subgroups. The subdomains locomotion and object control were unusually highly correlated in the PDD group (r=0.68). Moreover, only in the PDD group were the locomotion scores significantly correlated with neuromotor fitness (r=0.47, p=0.02). INTERPRETATIONThe specific combinations of impairments in gross motor skills and physical fitness in children with psychiatric disorders indicate the importance of the assessment of these domains in order to provide interventions tailored to the specific profile of each individual child.No one doubts the importance of gross motor skills like running, jumping, throwing, and catching for children participating in games and sports. [1][2][3] Children who perform poorly participate less in physical activities and practice less than their peers, which may widen the skill gap and lead to activity deficits and poor physical fitness. [3][4][5][6] Clinical observations suggest that many children with psychiatric disorders show impaired gross motor performance. To date, research on this topic has been predominantly confined to children with attention-deficit ⁄ hyperactivity disorders (ADHD), pervasive developmental disorders (PDD), and, to a lesser extent, emotional disorders. [7][8][9][10] The majority of these studies confirmed the clinical observations: on average, children with psychiatric disorders perform worse on gross motor tests than typically developing children. However, nearly all pertinent studies reported only overall scores on motor tests and practically no scores on more specific domains of motor skill. An exception is the study of Erez et al., 9 who reported balance skill deficits in children with anxiety disorders. Impaired gross motor skills are known to be related to poor physical fitness, which in turn is associated with impaired health status. 5,6,11,12 There are indications that children with ADHD often have poor physical fitness. 10 However, to our knowledge, no studies focused specifically on the physical fitness of childr...

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There is little research on characteristics related to course and prognosis of early-onset psychosis. The present article aims to advance our knowledge of this disorder for the purpose of proper diagnosis and treatment. It focuses on premorbid and prodromal characteristics, treatment history, symptoms and classifications, and differences between subgroups with affective and schizophrenic psychosis.A chart review was constructed to study a group of 129 subjects (12-18 years) with psychotic symptoms referred to the University Medical Center in Utrecht.The group was characterized by early-but nonspecific-treatment, developmental problems (mostly social), and clear prodromal symptoms. Drug abuse, depressive symptoms, and suicidal behavior were also frequent. Male sex, a relatively long prodromal phase, school problems, and drug abuse were more indicative of the schizophrenic subgroup. Introversion was characteristic for boys with schizophrenia. Classifications, however, were not stable.These findings suggest that early recognition of psychosis can be enhanced in health and youth care facilities. Careful examination of the prodromal phase seems helpful to differentiate between schizophrenic and affective psychosis. D