The validity of the 4-Skills Scan A double-validation study

The effects of the COVID-19 lockdowns on motor skill development of 6- and 7-year old children in the Netherlands: a longitudinal study

BACKGROUND

The closing of schools and sports clubs during the COVID-19 lockdown raised questions about the possible impact on children's motor skill development. Therefore, we compared motor skill development over a one-year period among four different cohorts of primary school children of which two experienced no lockdowns during the study period (control cohorts) and two cohorts experienced one or two lockdowns during the study period (lockdown cohorts).

METHODS

A total of 992 children from 9 primary schools in Amsterdam (the Netherlands) participated in this study (age 5 - 7; 47.5% boys, 52.5% girls). Their motor skill competence was assessed twice, first in grade 3 (T1) and thereafter in grade 4 (T2). Children in control group 1 and lockdown group 1 were assessed a third time after two years (T3). Motor skill competence was assessed using the 4-Skills Test, which includes 4 components of motor skill: jumping force (locomotion), jumping coordination (coordination), bouncing ball (object control) and standing still (stability). Mixed factorial ANOVA's were used to analyse our data.

RESULTS

No significant differences in motor skill development over the study period between the lockdown groups and control groups (p > 0.05) were found, but a difference was found between the two lockdown groups: lockdown group 2 developed significantly better than lockdown group 1 (p = 0.008). While socioeconomic status was an effect modifier, sex and motor ability did not modify the effects of the lockdowns.

CONCLUSIONS

The COVID-19 lockdowns in the Netherlands did not negatively affect motor skill development of young children in our study. Due to the complexity of the factors related to the pandemic lockdowns and the dynamic systems involved in motor skill development of children, caution must be taken with drawing general conclusions. Therefore, children's motor skill development should be closely monitored in the upcoming years and attention should be paid to individual differences.

Concurrent validity and discriminative ability of Dutch performance-based motor tests in 5 to 6 years old children

Aim

To assess the concurrent validity and discriminative ability of total, gross and fine motor (TM, GM and FM) scores of Dutch performance-based motor tests, the Baecke-Fassaert Motor Test (BFMT) and the 8- and 4-Skills Scan (SkSc) with the Movement Assessment Battery (MABC) for children at age 5.

Method

116 Dutch children (40.3% boys) were included. Spearman’s rho correlations and area under the curves (AUC) were assessed.

Results

Correlations between the TM scores of the tests were strong (absolute values from 0.58 to .65); the correlations between the GM scores and the FM scores between and within tests were weaker (absolute values from 0.30 to 0.45). Related to the cut-off (15^th percentile) of the MABC, the AUC of the BFMT, 8- and 4-SkSc, the AUC was 0.853 (95% CI: 0.757–0.949), 0.905 (95% CI: 0.837–0.972) and 0.844 (95% CI: 0.730–0.957), respectively. At optimal cut-offs, the sensitivity and specificity of the BFMT, the 8- and 4-SkSc were 78.6 and 78.4%, 92.2 and 73.2%, 78.6 and 76.3%, respectively.

Conclusion

All tests had a reasonably high discriminative ability, but validation with the MABC-2 and adaptations are needed to meet the requirements for screening (i.e. sensitivity ≥80% and specificity ≥90%). The relatively weak correlation between GM and FM scores implies that tests should be normalized and validated for GM and FM ability, separately.