Systematic Review on Executive Functions in Children with Poor Motor Skills and With Development Coordination Disorder

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to describe the tests used to assess working memory, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility, and analyzed the main research results related to executive functions in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder or with poor motor skills. Methods: This review used as data sources studies in MEDLINE, Web of Science, APA PsycNET, EMBASE, and Google Scholar with children with poor motor skills, DCD, and typical development. Quality of the studies was conducted using the Newcastle Ottawa Scale. Results: 1475 papers found, 31 matched the review criteria; 31 different executive function tests used to assess children with poor motor skills and DCD. Across the 31 studies, included in this systematic review, eleven studies examined only the working memory; ten studies measured only inhibition, a single study measured only cognitive flexibility, three studies examined the working memory and inhibition, one study examined inhibition and cognitive flexibility, one study examined working memory and cognitive flexibility and four studies examined the three executive functions. In conclusion, many tests were used to assess children with poor motor skill and DCD requiring verbal, nonverbal, or complex visuospatial processing, with or without motor demand involved. In some tests the different demands or different types of stimulus involved cause secondary loss in execution. The executive functions deficits in children with poor motor skills and DCD are in a wide ranging and extend across basic all functions assessed (working memory, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility). The pervasive and persistent nature of the executive function deficits suggests a need for a more aligned methodological approach to investigate this phenomenon.

Aerobic fitness and fine motor skills are related to switching and updating in typically developing children

“…These children with poor motor skills often do not meet the clinical cut-off values of motor difficulties as determined by criteria for a developmental coordination disorder according to the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-V). Other criteria such as from the Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire (DCD-Q) indicate motor problems for scores below the 10th percentile and suspected motor problems between the 10th and 25th percentile, while the M-ABC-2 suggests a significant motor difficulty below the 5th percentile and a risk of motor difficulty below the 16th percentile (Sartori, 2019 ). However, the present results using a dimensional perspective indicate that even when children do not meet these criteria, they show significantly lower cognitive performance.…”

“…The total motor score is often used in clinical samples but also in typically developing samples to indicate motor problems such as developmental coordination disorder (Houwen et al, 2017 ; Kaiser et al, 2015 ). The equivalent percentile of the total motor score suggests a significant motor difficulty below the 5 th percentile and a risk of motor difficulty below the 16th percentile (Sartori, 2019 ).…”