Examining complexity in grip selection tasks and consequent effects on planning for end-state-comfort in children with developmental coordination disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

This is the first review to provide both a systematic and meta-analytic approach to characterizing motor planning deficits in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). Task complexity appears to be a key factor affecting motor planning in children with DCD. However, the different task-related factors and how they affect motor planning ability has not been examined. By systematically reviewing ten studies examining motor planning in children aged 4-to 14 years with and without DCD using grip selection tasks, task complexity was determined according to grip choices, level of precision, number of action steps and degree of rotation. A meta-analysis (N = 607; DCD = 255) revealed that, overall, those with DCD were 6.8% less likely to plan motor actions comfortably than typically developing children. This ability was moderated by task complexity (I 2 = 66.7%), with performance differences ranging from 2.33% for low (g = 0.21) to 13.77% (g = 0.79) for high complexity. The results confirmed that children with DCD are able to plan for comfortable end states for tasks with simple and medium complexity level. When task complexity increased, compared to typically developing children, the motor planning ability of those with DCD was affected to a significantly greater extent. These findings provide important implications for both behavioral and neurological interventions.

Motor imagery during action observation enhances imitation of everyday rhythmical actions in children with and without developmental coordination disorder

“…There is now a cogent body of research showing a reduced capacity for action planning (i.e., internal modelling) in children with DCD (Adams et al, 2014;Bhoyroo et al, 2019a).…”

Motor imagery and action observation for predictive control in developmental coordination disorder

“…Collectively, an increasing number of studies support the effect of task demands/complexity on the appearance of the planning deficit. 3,15,16 An important avenue for future studies is to systematically examine the complexity of the task and its effects on the grip selection and movement strategy used. Manipulations of each of the four dimensions of complexity identified by Bhoyroo et al 15 have only been studied in isolation.…”

“…That is, the longer the sequence, the more disadvantaged children with DCD were at the task. Collectively, an increasing number of studies support the effect of task demands/complexity on the appearance of the planning deficit 3,15,16 . An important avenue for future studies is to systematically examine the complexity of the task and its effects on the grip selection and movement strategy used.…”

“…The recent meta‐analysis by Bhoyroo et al 15 indicated effects of task complexity on planning problems in DCD. These children were able to plan for comfortable end states on tasks of a low and moderate complexity level, but showed impairments on tasks of high complexity compared with their typically developing peers.…”

“…3,15,16 An important avenue for future studies is to systematically examine the complexity of the task and its effects on the grip selection and movement strategy used. Manipulations of each of the four dimensions of complexity identified by Bhoyroo et al 15 have only been studied in isolation. A more systematic study of the richness of motor planning in children with DCD would involve a parametric analysis of these dimensions.…”