The role of anxiety and self-efficacy in movement.

Previous research suggests that affective factors may influence perception of potential movement differently compared to perception during movement itself. To build on this the current study investigated the roles of general and movement-specific anxiety, self-efficacy, general resilience and motor control in how 41 adults with typical motor skills thought they would behave (perceptual judgement) and how they actually behaved (executed action). Participants completed several standardised scales and two movement-specific scales, a perceptual judgement task and an executed action task.

Harnessing real-life experiences: the development of guidelines to communicate research findings on Developmental Coordination Disorder/dyspraxia.

Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), also known as dyspraxia, affects 5-15% of school-aged children (Hamilton and Sutton, Am Fam Physician 66:1435, 2002) and significantly impacts a child's ability to learn motor skills and perform everyday activities efficiently and effectively (Zwicker et al., Eur J Paediatr Neurol 16:573-81, 2012). These motor deficits can have a negative impact on academic performance, vocational choices and leisure pursuits (Zwicker et al.

EEG spectral power in developmental coordination disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a pilot study.

Developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) overlap in symptoms and often co-occur. Differentiation of DCD and ADHD is crucial for a better understanding of the conditions and targeted support. Measuring electrical brain activity with EEG may help to discern and better understand the conditions given that it can objectively capture changes and potential differences in brain activity related to externally measurable symptoms beneficial for targeted interventions.

Roadside experiences of parents of children with developmental coordination disorder and/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Introduction: Pedestrians are a vulnerable group at the roadside and previous research has identified that children with DCD and ADHD are at a heightened risk of pedestrian injuries. Despite this, limited research has explored parental perspectives of the pedestrian risks faced by children with DCD and/or ADHD. Understanding parents' perspectives provides a unique insight into the challenges children face every day and the concerns that parents perceive regarding their children's safety as pedestrians.

Age-related changes in motor planning for prior intentions: a mouse tracking reach-to-click task.

When we complete sequential movements with different intentions, we plan our movements and adjust ahead. Such a phenomenon is called anticipatory planning for prior intentions and is known to decline with age. In daily life activities, we often need to consider and plan for multiple demands in one movement sequence.

Understanding factors that influence physical activity behavior in people with developmental coordination disorder (DCD): a mixed-methods convergent integrated systematic review.

This systematic review synthesizes the literature on physical activity amongst people with DCD using the COM-B framework. The review questions were: (1) what is the Capability (C), Opportunity (O) and Motivation (M) for physical activity and (2) what does physical activity behavior (B) look like? A mixed-methods systematic review was conducted by searching eight databases (PubMed, APA PsycINFO, EMBASE, Scopus, Child Development and Adolescent Studies, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CINAHL) up to July 2023. Data were extracted, thematically analyzed, and mapped to the COM-B model.

Parent perceptions of cycle training for children with special education needs and disabilities: What drives intention to cycle?

Background: Young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) are especially vulnerable to physical inactivity. Research has demonstrated the effectiveness of tailored cycle training for children with SEND, however, it is unclear whether this then results in a greater uptake of cycling.

Aims: To determine parent based perceptions of a SEND cycle training programme, factors which predict intention to cycle more and ongoing barriers to cycling.

Motor and cognitive dual-task performance under low and high task complexity in children with and without developmental coordination disorder.

Background: In everyday life, tasks are often performed simultaneously, which may be more difficult for children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) than their peers.

Aims: To examine (1) the effects of task complexity and type of concurrent task on dual-task performance in children with and without DCD; and (2) if the amount of effort that children put into the task performance differs between the groups.

Methods: Participants were 64 children with and without DCD (aged 7-14 years).

The adult developmental coordination disorders/dyspraxia checklist - German: adapted factor structure for the differentiation of DCD and ADHD.

Background: The Adult Dyspraxia/DCD Checklist (ADC) is the only existing self-report questionnaire to screen adults for potential Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). It was developed in English and Hebrew, however, its factor structure has not yet been assessed.

Aims: The goals of the current study were to (1) develop and refine a German translation, (2) explore the emerging factors in a new and restructured ADC in German and apply this structure to an English ADC, and (3) explore its potential for distinguishing DCD versus ADHD.

Inter-limb coordination in a novel pedalo task: A comparison of children with and without developmental coordination disorder.

Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) have been shown to have different coordination patterns on some tasks compared to their typically developing peers. However, it is unclear whether these differences are driven by the fact that typically developing children tend to be more practiced at the task on which coordination is being measured. The current study used a novel pedalo task to measure coordination in order to eliminate any practice differences.

Anxiety, confidence and self-concept in adults with and without developmental coordination disorder.

Background: Previous research suggests that adults with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) report lower general wellbeing and higher general anxiety levels than typically developing (TD) adults.

Aims: To examine and explore relationships between anxiety and confidence (self-efficacy and resilience) generally and in a movement-specific context, along with self-concept among adults with DCD and TD adults.

Methods: 74 adults with diagnosed DCD, 26 adults with suspected DCD and 79 TD adults (18-60 years) completed an online questionnaire composed of a mixture of existent psychometric measures and novel scales.

Evoked Potentials Differentiate Developmental Coordination Disorder From Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in a Stop-Signal Task: A Pilot Study.

Developmental Coordination Disorder and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder are unique neurodevelopmental disorders with overlaps in executive functions and motor control. The conditions co-occur in up to 50% of cases, raising questions of the pathological mechanisms of DCD versus ADHD. Few studies have examined these overlaps in adults with DCD and/or ADHD.

Why Are Older Adults More at Risk as Pedestrians? A Systematic Review.

Objective: To explore factors that could explain why older adults are more at risk at the roadside.

Background: The physical and psychological health benefits of walking have been well-established, leading to the widespread promotion of walking amongst older adults. However, walking can result in an increased risk of injury as a pedestrian at the roadside, which is a greater risk for older adults who are overrepresented in pedestrian casualty figures.

The Lived Experience of Crossing the Road When You Have Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD): The Perspectives of Parents of Children With DCD and Adults With DCD.

Pedestrians are one of the most vulnerable groups at the roadside, furthermore, previous research has demonstrated perceptual-motor limitations in individuals with DCD which may put these individuals at even more at risk in the context of road crossing. However, it is unclear whether this is the lived experience of these individuals at the roadside. Furthermore, difficulties with road crossing and safety have been found in other neurodevelopmental disorders but the impact this might have on an individual with co-occurring difficulties is unknown.

The nature of the risk faced by pedestrians with neurodevelopmental disorders: A systematic review.

Pedestrians represent one of the most vulnerable road user groups worldwide. Children and adult pedestrians with neurodevelopmental disorders may be at greater risk due to deficits in a range of domains, such as attention, social communication, motor control and executive function. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (American Psychological Association, 2013), neurodevelopmental disorders include individuals with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Specific Learning Disorder, Motor Difficulties, Communication Disorders and Intellectual Disabilities.

To step or to spring: the influence of state anxiety on perceptual judgements and executed action.

Emotional state, in particular anxiety, has been shown to constrain perceptual judgement of action capabilities. However, whether anxiety also constrains actual behaviour is unknown. The current study, therefore, aimed to determine whether state anxiety constrained firstly perceptual judgements of action capabilities and secondly actual behaviour.

Constraints on motor planning across the life span: Physical, cognitive, and motor factors.

Skilled adult movers plan for a comfortable end position even when this requires an uncomfortable start position (end-state-comfort effect). This ability declines in late adulthood and has been linked to age-related differences in cognitive functioning. Other factors, which may also drive difference in motor planning in later adulthood have not been systematically examined.

Motor planning with and without motor imagery in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder.

Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) demonstrate inefficient motor planning ability with a tendency to opt for non-optimal planning strategies. Motor imagery can provide an insight to this planning inefficiency, as it may be a strategy for improving motor planning and thereby motor performance for those with DCD. In this study, we investigated the prevalence of end-state-comfort (ESC) and the minimal rotation strategy using a grip selection task in children with DCD with and without motor imagery instructions.

The "why" of reaching: Second-order planning across the adult lifespan.

Second-order planning, planning that takes into account imminent and subsequent task demands, has been shown to be essential during everyday movement. For example, the kinematics of a "reach to an object" action have been shown to be linked to the intended goal for the object (the prior intention). However, it is unclear whether this type of second-order planning for prior intention is preserved during aging or indeed how this differs across the adult lifespan.

Investigating motor planning in children with DCD: Evidence from simple and complex grip-selection tasks.

Several studies suggest that children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) may be able to plan simple movements as well as their peers, but experience increasing difficulties as the movements become complex. The present study aimed to clarify the nature of motor planning in DCD, including a putative deficit, by being the first to investigate motor planning using converging measures of simple and complex motor planning in a single sample of children with DCD. Boys aged between 8 and 12 years with (n = 10) and without DCD (n = 17) completed three commonly used 'simple' (bar grasping, sword, and bar transport tasks) measures and one 'complex' (octagon task) measure of end-state-comfort (ESC), a classic measurement of motor planning ability.

When an object appears unexpectedly: foot placement during obstacle circumvention in children and adults with Developmental Coordination Disorder.

Adjustments to locomotion to avoid an obstacle require a change to the usual pattern of foot placement, i.e. changes to step length and/or step width.

When an Object Appears Unexpectedly: Object Circumvention in Adults.

Obstacles often appear unexpectedly in our pathway and these require us to make immediate adjustments. Despite how regularly we encounter such situations only few studies have considered how we adjust to unexpected obstacles in the pathway that require us to walk around them. The authors considered how adults adjust to the possibility of an obstacle appearing and then also how foot placement is adjusted to circumvent an obstacle.

When an object appears unexpectedly: anticipatory movement and object circumvention in individuals with and without Developmental Coordination Disorder.

Obstacles often appear unexpectedly in our pathway and these require us to make adjustments to avoid collision. Previous research has demonstrated that healthy adults will make anticipatory adjustments to gait where they have been told there is the possibility of an obstacle appearing. One population that may find this type of anticipatory movement difficult is individuals with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD).