Examining the Feasibility of Supine-to-Stand as a Measure of Functional Motor Competence

Abstract

A person’s ability to rise from the floor to a standing position is seen as a precursor for establishing and maintaining bipedal independence. It also is an important primer for the development of other fundamental movement skills and is associated with functional capacity in later life. Thus, the potential importance of developing this movement capability early in life and understanding how it may relate to global function (i.e., motor competence [MC]) across the lifespan may be underestimated. Therefore, this study examined the validity of supine-to-stand test (STS) as a developmental measure of functional MC across childhood into young adulthood using a pre-longitudinal screen approach and examining associations between movement components. STS time also provided a secondary measure of developmental validity in addition to an examination of the concurrent validity of STS against developmentally valid measures of MC (i.e., throwing, kicking, hopping, and standing long jump) in these age groups. Overall, results indicated that cross-sectional data “curves” for the STS components generally fit Roberton’s hypothetical model curves. STS time demonstrated weak to moderate (r = −.28 to −.64) correlations to MC product measures across all age groups indicating that STS time can be considered a valid and reliable measure of MC across childhood into young adulthood.

Impact of Exergaming on Children’s Motor Skill Competence and Health-Related Fitness: A Quasi-Experimental Study

“…Children’s body height and weight were measured using a stadiometer (Seca GmbH, Hamburg, Germany) and digital weight scale (Detecto, Web City, MO, USA), respectively. The validity and reliability of all of these measures have been noted in previous studies [ 34 , 35 , 38 , 39 , 40 ]. Baseline MSC and HRF tests were measured in September of 2012 and post-tests were conducted in May of 2013.…”

“…MSC assessments included performance on four skills (kicking, throwing, standing long jump, and hopping) based on our and other experts’ studies [ 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 ]. We used performance scores of skills to measure children’s MSC because the measures are sensitive in discriminating children’s competence levels across childhood and align with validated process-oriented assessments of motor skills [ 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 ]. The maximum speed for kicking (20-cm diameter playground balls) and throwing (using tennis balls) and maximum standing long jump distance were assessed from a total of five trials and used for analysis [ 38 ].…”

“…Throwing and kicking speed was measured using a radar gun (Stalker Radar, Plano, TX) [ 38 ]. For hopping, the average height of a minimum of three hops for each leg was used for analysis [ 35 ]. Both standing long jump and hopping performance were calculated based on children’s standing height [ 34 , 35 ].…”

“…For hopping, the average height of a minimum of three hops for each leg was used for analysis [ 35 ]. Both standing long jump and hopping performance were calculated based on children’s standing height [ 34 , 35 ]. The reliability of these tests (alpha coefficient method) were r = 0.70 ( p < 0.01) according to a previous study [ 10 ].…”

Assessment in the Supine-To-Stand Task and Functional Health from Youth to Old Age: A Systematic Review

“…The STS task performance also uncovers an individual’s level of motor competence (MC), defined as the proficiency in motor actions performed with coordination and control [ 5 , 6 , 7 ]. The STS task requires complex coordination of large muscle groups of the trunk and extremities, while controlling their center of mass in dynamic balance during elevation and stabilizing body alignment during the erect posture [ 8 ].…”