Differential Development of Children With Motor Coordination Difficulties: Longitudinal Findings Concerning Motor Coordination, Executive Functions, and Scholastic Achievement

The present 3-year-longitudinal study examines the development of motor coordination, executive functions, and scholastic achievement in children at risk for developmental coordination disorders and typically developing children. Results of the first two measurement points were already published (Michel, Molitor & Schneider, 2018) and showed that children with (n = 48) and without (n=48) motor coordination difficulties, who were initially 4- to 6-year-old, differed significantly in the stability of their motor coordination development and in their cognitive profiles. At the last measurement point reported here, all children additionally completed scholastic achievement tests. Overall, results of the first two measurement points could be confirmed in the follow-up assessment. Children with persisting motor coordination difficulties showed developmental delays in executive functions and marked impairments in dynamic spatial working memory, both compared to typically developing children and to those children who remitted from their initial motor coordination problems during the first year of the study. Children with persistent motor problems showed lower scholastic achievement. The role of motor coordination and executive functions for scholastic achievement as well as implications for early diagnosis and prevention of school problems are discussed.