Psychometric Properties of the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Movement Skill Competence for Young Norwegian Children.

The objective of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Movement Skill Competence (PMSC) for young Norwegian children, a scale that is aligned with skills assessed in the Test of Gross Motor Development- Third Edition. We used convenience sampling to recruit 396 Norwegian-speaking children (7-10-year-olds) who completed the PMSC. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) confirmed factorial validity for the proposed three-factor model of the PMSC, encompassing measures of self-perceived ball, locomotor, and active play competence.

Assessment of psychometric properties and measurement invariance of the sensation seeking scale for children in a Norwegian sample.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of a Norwegian translation of the Sensation Seeking Scale for Children (SSSC), designed for children between 7 and 12 years of age.

Methods: A sample of 393 children (7-10 years old) were recruited to participate in the study. The SSSC was administered through interviews with each child, wherein their responses to the SSSC questionnaire were recorded on a tablet.

Psychometric properties of the Adolescent Motor Competence Questionnaire for Norwegian adolescents.

The objective of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Adolescent Motor Competence Questionnaire (AMCQ) for Norwegian adolescents. To this end, a sample of 349 Norwegian-speaking adolescents (13-16 years old) were recruited and completed the AMCQ. Initial results showed that confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) did not indicate statistical support for previous statistical models reported in the literature.

Individual differences in children's movement variability in a virtual reality playground task.

Children's movements are highly complex, and thus require measurements that capture various gross motor strategies. This study examined whether aspects of individual differences in children's gross motor movement patterns could be captured in virtual reality (VR) and how motor movements could be conceptualized through freezing-freeing patterns of degrees of freedom. To this end, a three-minute VR scenario was developed for children to freely explore, play, and move around without further instructions, and their movement strategies were simultaneously captured by a non-invasive inertial motion capture system.

Distinct clusters of movement entropy in children's exploration of a virtual reality balance beam.

Although assessing motor competence is vital to advancing current understandings of motor development and its significance in various fields, no consensus exists on how the construct should be operationalised and measured. Existing approaches to assessing motor competence in children typically involve applying qualitative and/or quantitative scoring procedures in which children's performance is evaluated according to certain levels of assessment-specific task performance dependent upon predefined sets of instructions and procedures. Building upon ecological dynamics as a framework, different levels of motor competence can be identified in children's attempts to coordinate their degrees of freedom while trying to complete the interactive task and environmental constraints.

Constituent Year Effects and Performance in Alpine Skiing Junior World Championships.

This study examines constituent year effect (CYE) and race performance among junior alpine skiers in the World Championships. In various junior age cohorts competing together, variation in skiing performance can be expected not only due to practice load and experience but also due to inter-individual differences in physical and psychological maturation. Within a one-year cohort, this effect has been referred to as the birth month effect or the relative age effect (RAE).

Virtual Risk Management-Exploring Effects of Childhood Risk Experiences through Innovative Methods (ViRMa) for Primary School Children in Norway: Study Protocol for the ViRMa Project.

Background: Research indicates that risky play benefits children's risk assessment and risk management skills and offers several positive health effects such as resilience, social skills, physical activity, well-being, and involvement. There are also indications that the lack of risky play and autonomy increases the likelihood of anxiety. Despite its well-documented importance, and the willingness of children to engage in risky play, this type of play is increasingly restricted.

Development and Content Validation of the Swimming Competence Assessment Scale (SCAS): A Modified Delphi Study.

The purpose of this study was to design and develop the Swimming Competence Assessment Scale (SCAS) to measure children's aquatic skills as they align with the physical education curriculum for Norwegian primary schools. We conducted a three-round modified Delphi study involving 22 national experts in the aquatic profession. Experts reached consensus on scale items within an observation form and coding sheet based on a swimming proficiency test for measuring six aquatic skills: water entry, frontstroke swimming, surface dive, float/rest, backstroke swimming and water exit.

Bilateral Force Deficit in Proximal Effectors Versus Distal Effectors in Lower Extremities.

: Bilateral force deficit occurs when the maximal generated force during simultaneous bilateral muscle contractions is lower than the sum of forces generated unilaterally. Neural inhibition is stated as the main source for bilateral force deficit. Based on differences in bilateral neural organization, there might be a pronounced neural inhibition for proximal compared to distal effectors.

Aspects of Developmental Pathways toward World-Class Parasport.

The developmental pathways of athletes with a physical disability into world-class parasport are much less researched and understood compared to able-bodied athletes' participation histories. The purpose of this study was to investigate the developmental pathways of para-athletes toward elite performance. Data from eight athletes with physical disabilities ranked among the top performers in Paralympics, World Championships, and/or European Championships were gathered.

Effects of Free Play and Partly Structured Playground Activity on Motor Competence in Preschool Children: A Pragmatic Comparison Trial.

Both the indoor and the outdoor environments and their organization exert pronounced influence upon physical activity behavior and motor development of preschool children. The aim of this study was to explore whether partly structured activity or free play in a specific playground had different impacts on motor competence development in 4-6-year-old preschoolers. The study had a pretest-post-test design, with two intervention groups and one control.

Variations in the relative age effect with age and sex, and over time-Elite-level data from international soccer world cups.

The relative age effect (RAE) is a statistical bias observed across sport contexts and consists of a systematic skewness in birth date distribution within an annual-age cohort. In soccer, January 1st is the common cut-off date when categorizing players in competitions according to their chronological age, which potentially disadvantages those within the cohort who were born later in the year. Thus, relatively older soccer players in their cohort can be favored in talent identification, selection, and development.

The association between academic achievement in physical education and timing of biological maturity in adolescents.

Individual differences in tempo and timing of biological maturity, especially in adolescents, has been argued as a potential underlying cause of relative age effects observed in Physical education (PE). Indeed, differences in maturation could influence pupils`achievement in PE where motor behavior and physical activity are central tenets. However, the timing of biological maturity has not previously been investigated in the context of academic achievement in PE.

Interacting Constraints and Relative Age Effect in Elite Cross-Country Skiers and Freeskiers.

Different characteristics of sports disciplines potentially lead to skewness in birth month distribution (relative age effect, RAE). These characteristics can be considered from a constraint-based approach with interacting environmental, task, and individual constraints as a theoretical framework with which to examine variations in RAE. The main aim of the present study was to examine the theoretical predictions of the constraint-based framework by investigating the birth month distribution in cross-country skiers and freeskiers at elite junior and senior levels.

Association Between Motor Competence, Physical Fitness, and Academic Achievement in Physical Education in 13- to 16-Year-Old School Children.

In physical education (PE), both assessment practices and choice of teaching content indicate that pupil-related factors such as motor competence and physical fitness potentially influence pupils' academic achievement in PE. However, neither of these factors are explicitly expressed as assessment criteria in the Norwegian PE-curriculum. Hence, the aim of the current study was to investigate potential differences in motor competence and physical fitness between pupils with different academic achievements in PE.

Bilateral Interference in Motor Performance in Homologous vs. Non-homologous Proximal and Distal Effectors.

Performance of bimanual motor actions requires coordinated and integrated bilateral communication, but in some bimanual tasks, neural interactions and crosstalk might cause bilateral interference. The level of interference probably depends on the proportions of bilateral interneurons connecting homologous areas of the motor cortex in the two hemispheres. The neuromuscular system for proximal muscles has a higher number of bilateral interneurons connecting homologous areas of the motor cortex compared to distal muscles.

Age at Nomination Among Soccer Players Nominated for Major International Individual Awards: A Better Proxy for the Age of Peak Individual Soccer Performance?

Individual soccer performance is notoriously difficult to measure due to the many contributing sub-variables and the variety of contexts within which skills must be utilised. Furthermore, performance differs across rather specialised playing positions. In research, soccer performance is often measured using combinations of, or even single, sub-variables.

More Pronounced Bimanual Interference in Proximal Compared to Distal Effectors of the Upper Extremities.

Bimanual performance depends on effective and modular bilateral communication between the two bodysides. Bilateral neural interactions between the bodysides could cause bimanual interference, and the neuromuscular system for proximal and distal muscles is differently organized, where proximal muscles have more bilateral interneurons at both cortical and spinal level compared to distal muscles. These differences might increase the potential for bimanual interference between proximal arm muscles, because of greater proportions of bilateral interneurons to proximal muscles.

The Effects of Physical Education on Motor Competence in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Appropriate levels of motor competence are an integrated part of individuals' health-related fitness, and physical education is proposed as an important context for developing a broad range of motor skills. The aim of the current study was to apply meta-analyses to assess the effectiveness of curriculum-based physical education on the development of the overall motor competence of children and adolescents. Studies were located by searching seven databases and included according to predefined criteria.

Variations in the constituent year effect in Junior World Championships in alpine skiing: A window into relative development effects?

While research on the effects of 'birth month' is usually referred to as relative age effects, the study of the effects of 'birth year' is described as the constituent year effect (CYE). In the present study we examined the impact of the CYE on participation in the Junior World Championship in alpine skiing. Based on previous research, we expected to find increasing numbers of participants the older the age-group, and that the CYE would be stronger in the speed events compared to the technical ones.

A Golden Age for Motor Skill Learning? Learning of an Unfamiliar Motor Task in 10-Year-Olds, Young Adults, and Adults, When Starting From Similar Baselines.

It is often argued within sports circles that the age span of around 6-12 years is a for motor skill learning, and this period is often described as sensitive, or even critical, for learning such skills. Consequently, skill development programmes target this age span for teaching technical and coordinative skills. In the scientific literature, however, the term is scarcely seen, and few studies have even attempted to test this hypothesis.

Effect of a Single Bout of Acute Aerobic Exercise at Moderate-to-Vigorous Intensities on Motor Learning, Retention and Transfer.

Acute exercise influences human cognition, and evidence suggests that learning can be improved. According to the cognitive-energetic approach towards exercise cognition, exercise represents a stressor that elevates physiological arousal, which, in turn, increases the availability of mental resources. However, the degree of arousal is hypothesized to have optimal and suboptimal states, and moderate intensity exercise is thus considered to be favorable compared to low intensity and vigorous exercise.

Relative difference in muscle strength between patients with knee osteoarthritis and healthy controls when tested bilaterally and joint-inclusive: an exploratory cross-sectional study.

Background: To improve the goal-directedness of strength exercises for patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA), physical rehabilitation specialists need to know which muscle-groups are most substantially weakened across the kinetic chain of both lower extremities. The purpose was to improve the knowledge base for strength exercise therapy. The objective was to explore the relative differences in muscle strength in the main directions bilaterally across the hip, knee, and ankle joints between patients with light-to-moderate symptomatic and radiographic KOA and people without knee complaints.

Relative difference among 27 functional measures in patients with knee osteoarthritis: an exploratory cross-sectional case-control study.

Background: To raise the effectiveness of interventions, clinicians should evaluate important biopsychosocial aspects of the patient's situation. There is limited knowledge of which factors according to the International Classification of Function, Disability, and Health (ICF) are most deviant between patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA) and healthy individuals. To assist in measures' selection, we aimed to quantify the differences between patients with KOA and healthy controls on various measures across the ICF dimensions of body function, activity, and participation.

Interpersonal and intrapersonal entrainment of self-paced tapping rate.

Entrainment is a ubiquitous property not only of interacting non-linear dynamical systems but also of human movements. In the study reported here, two premises of entrainment theory were investigated in a tapping task conducted in both interpersonal (i.e.