@article {10755, title = {An evaluation of the Movement ABC-2 Test for use in Italy: A comparison of data from Italy and the UK.}, journal = {Res Dev Disabil}, volume = {84}, year = {2019}, month = {2019 Jan}, pages = {43-56}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: The standardized test within the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2nd edition (MABC-2) is used worldwide to assess motor problems in children. Ideally, any country using a test developed in another country should produce national norms to ensure that it functions effectively in the new context.

AIM: The first objective of this study was to explore the differences in motor performance between Italian and British children. The second was to examine the structural validity of the test for the Italian sample.

METHOD: A total of 718 Italian (IT) and 765 British (UK) children, aged 3-10 years, were individually tested on the age-appropriate items of the MABC-2 Test.

RESULTS: Developmental trends emerged on every task and differences between IT and UK children were obtained on 11 of 27 task comparisons. Interactions between age and country indicated that differences were not consistently in favor of one culture. Confirmatory factor analysis generally supported the proposed structure of the MABC-2 Test.

CONCLUSION: Although the differences between the IT and the UK children were relatively few, those that did emerge emphasize the need for population specific norms and suggest that cultural diversity in motor experiences should be considered when evaluating motor abilities in children.

}, issn = {1873-3379}, doi = {10.1016/j.ridd.2018.04.013}, author = {Zoia, Stefania and Biancotto, Marina and Guicciardi, Marco and Lecis, Romina and Lucidi, Fabio and Pelamatti, Giovanna M and Carrozzi, Marco and Skabar, Aldo and Sugden, David A and Barnett, Anna L and Henderson, Sheila E} } @article {1728, title = {Neuromotor deficits in developmental coordination disorder: evidence from a reach-to-grasp task.}, journal = {Res Dev Disabil}, volume = {32}, year = {2011}, month = {2011 Jul-Aug}, pages = {1293-300}, abstract = {

Developmental coordination disorder (DCD) has been classified as a specific learning disability, nonetheless the underlying cognitive mechanisms are still a matter of discussion. After a summary of the main hypotheses on the principal neuromotor causes of DCD, this study applies a causal model framework to describe the possible coexistence of more than one deficit in this disorder. For this purpose, kinematic analysis was applied to an ecological task, the reach-to-grasp action, introducing the manipulation of three variables: vision, distance and object size. After a thorough neurological and neuropsychological evaluation, 9 children with DCD (7-9 years old) were selected and compared to 27 age-matched control children. The results suggest that children with DCD have a normal neurological characterization of the reaching and grasping movements, in terms of proximal to distal action, but their grasping aperture (MGA) was always wider with respect to controls, particularly when vision was not allowed. In addition, the performance of children with DCD was always slower, more dependent on vision and more variable than that of controls. The MGA of children with DCD could be explained by a deficit in the internal construction of movement for a forward model, while slowness could be related to a control problem in the neuronal firing of the muscles. The idea of a possible coexistence of these two deficits is discussed in accordance to a causal model framework and also addressed considering recent neurophysiologic evidences.

}, keywords = {Analysis of Variance, Biomechanical Phenomena, Child, Female, Humans, Male, Motor Skills Disorders, Psychometrics, Psychomotor Performance, Reaction Time, Space Perception}, issn = {1873-3379}, doi = {10.1016/j.ridd.2011.02.007}, author = {Biancotto, Marina and Skabar, Aldo and Bulgheroni, Maria and Carrozzi, Marco and Zoia, Stefania} }