Gross Motor Skills and Academic Achievement in Typically Developing Children: The Mediating Effect of Adhd Related Behaviours

ABSTRACTBackground. The relation between motor skills and academic achievement has been especially investigated in children with atypical development. However, what has not been explored is the relation between gross motor skills and academic achievement in typically developing children, whether gross motor skills affect attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) related behaviours and whether ADHD related behaviours affect academic achievement.Aim. The present study aims to verify whether gross motor skills have positive effects on academic achievement (overall, mathematics and physical education) of typically developing children by mediating ADHD related behaviours.Sample. Participants were 63 children (52% boys, mean age = 8.4 years, SD = 0.4) who attended the third grade of primary schools in Piedmont, a region in northwest Italy.Methods. The children's gross motor skills were measured by the Test of Gross Motor Development. Teachers completed a self-report questionnaire about the children's academic achievements and ADHD related behaviours (the ADHD Rating Scale for Teachers). The linear regression method and Sobel's formula were used for the analysis.Results. Results show that gross motor skills have positive effects on academic achievement because of mediating ADHD related behaviours.Conclusion. These results invite development of intervention programs that by promoting motor skills and early detection of behavioural problems, lead to improvement of all children's school achievements.KEYWORDS: gross motor skills, academic achievement, ADHDThe relation between motor skills and academic achievement has been especially investigated in children with atypical development (Sandler, et al., 1992; Sortor, Od, & Kulp, 2003; Viholainen, et al., 2006). Research has shown that the welldeveloped motor skills facilitate the development of children's academic abilities. However, investigating this association outside the field of disability, as in the present study, is also important to verify whether motor skills have an equally important role in academic achievement and whether the presence of behavioural problems, such as symptoms of attention deficit/hyperactivity or behaviours related to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), can mediate this relation in typically developing children.Motor skills are prerequisites for performing sport-specific skills and functional involvement in many physical activities (Burton & Miller, 1998). In particular, gross motor skills require use of the entire body or multi-joint movements (Cratty, 1964). A child who has developed a high level of basic gross motor skills should more easily acquire sport skills than children who have some sector deficits. Indeed, a key component of most school-based educational programs, including special education, is the development of gross motor skills. During childhood, motor skills continue to evolve, and the evaluation of gross motor development is an important aspect of screening programs for early identification of cognitive, motor or behavioural difficulties (Ulrich, 1985). The importance of motor skills has been emphasised in much of the literature, and it is generally agreed that there is a relation between motor skills and cognitive development. Research has shown that well-developed gross motor skills facilitate children's cognitive functioning (Burns, O'Callaghan, McDonell, & Rogers, 2004; Bushnell & Boudreau, 1993; Murray, et al., 2006; Piek, Dawson, Smith, & Gasson, 2008), and more specifically, children's academic abilities in reading, language and mathematics (Son & Meisels, 2006; Viholainen et al., 2006). Furthermore, since the late 80s, research has supported the conclusion that motor skills predict later achievements (Tramontana, Hooper, & Selzer, 1988). However, as we previously mentioned, the association between motor skills and academic achievement has been especially investigated in clinical studies with atypically developing children (Sandler, et al. …