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Motor development is affected by maturation and growth but also influenced by the specific environmental and cultural context. Therefore, cross-cultural research can provide information about how different cultural contexts, lifestyles, and physical activity contexts can influence the process of developing motor competence. The purpose of this study was to evaluate aspects of motor competence among children from different cultural backgrounds. The sample of 463 children from 6 to 8 years consisting of 132 Greek children (52.3 % boys), 126 Italian children (53.9 % boys), and 205 Norwegian children (52.7) completed the Test of Motor Competence (TMC) including two fine motor tasks—Placing Bricks and Building Bricks—and two gross motor tasks—Heel to Toe Walking and Walking/Running in Slopes. The results indicate that the Norwegian children performed better in all tests; the differences were statistically significant in all four tasks compared with Italian children and in two tasks compared with the Greek children (Building Bricks and Heel to Toe Walking). Greek children performed significantly better than the Italians in two tasks: Placing Bricks and Heel to Toe Walking. Italian children were significantly faster than the Greek ones in one task: Walking/Running in Slopes. The differences in terms of levels of basic fine and gross motor skills between children from the different countries may be a consequence of both different physical activity contexts and cultural policies, attitudes, and habits toward movement. © 2018, The Author(s) 2018.

The purpose of the study was to identify the cognitive subtypes demonstrated by children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) using the Planning-Attention-Simultaneous-Successive Processing (PASS) theory and the Cognitive Assessment System (D-N CAS). Participants were 108 children aged 5- and 6-years old, 54 with DCD and 54 without DCD, all attending typical kindergartens. They were examined on 31 cognitive-motor variables. Hierarchical-agglomerative and iterative partitioning cluster analyses including 9 motor and 7 cognitive variables revealed the following six subtypes:. o C1 = children at risk (having considerable difficulty with jumping and minor difficulty with manual dexterity and simultaneous coding);o C2 = children on the mean (all cognitive-motor scores close to the mean);o C3 = free from cognitive-motor problems (all scores above average);o C4 = manual dexterity, planning and simultaneous coding difficulties;o C5 = manual dexterity, dynamic balance, and planning difficulties;o C6 = generalized cognitive-motor dysfunction (all scores considerably below average).It is well known that DCD is a heterogeneous condition. However, whenever cognitive processes were lower than average, cognitive-motor relationship was evident in subgroups C1, C4, C5 and C6. Early identification of task-specific cognitive-motor difficulties may be essential for early educational intervention practices in order to anticipate and improve learning, academic and performing difficulties. © 2016 Elsevier B.V.

The current study adopts the PASS theory of information processing to investigate the probable differences in specific motor and cognitive abilities between children with and without developmental coordination disorder (DCD). Participants were 108 5- and 6-year-old preschoolers (54 children with DCD and 54 children without DCD). The Movement Assessment Battery for Children assessed motor function. Running speed and agility were measured using the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency. Finally, the Planning, Attention and Simultaneous Scales from the Das-Naglieri Cognitive Assessment System evaluated cognitive ability. Children with DCD differed significantly from those without DCD performing at a lower level on all motor and cognitive tasks. A correlation analysis revealed significant relationships between cognitive processes and motor skills. Simultaneous cognitive processing and manual dexterity were significantly correlated for both groups. Furthermore, a significant relationship was revealed between planning cognitive processing and balance for the non-DCD group. Thus, early assessment might identify specific cognitive-motor difficulties. Furthermore, early intervention might prevent some of the developmental comorbidities in the academic and everyday lives of children with movement difficulties. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.

To examine the differences in sport achievement orientation among 35 professional, 36 amateur, and 35 wheelchair basketball athletes, these men completed three subscales of Competitiveness, Win orientation, and Goal orientation of the 25-item Sport Orientation Questionnaire. A multivariate analysis of variance indicated significant differences among groups. Win orientation was the factor, through discriminant function analysis, that significantly separated the athletes into the three groups. The highest win score was obtained by the professional, followed by the amateur and wheelchair groups. Replication study is necessary to confirm the present findings.

To examine the differences in sport achievement orientation among 35 professional, 36 amateur, and 35 wheelchair basketball athletes, these men completed three subscales of Competitiveness, Win orientation, and Goal orientation of the 25-item Sport Orientation Questionnaire. A multivariate analysis of variance indicated significant differences among groups. Win orientation was the factor, through discriminant function analysis, that significantly separated the athletes into the three groups. The highest win score was obtained by the professional, followed by the amateur and wheelchair groups. Replication study is necessary to confirm the present findings.

Differences in sport achievement orientations between 31 recreational wheelchair and 76 able-bodied basketball athletes were tested. Athletes from the New, England region completed the three subscales of the Sport Orientation Questionnaire (competitiveness. win orientation. and goal orientation), Wheelchair athletes responded hi-her on the Competitiveness and Goal Orientation subscales, In discriminative function analysis competitiveness scores were the only significant discriminator between the two groups.

The purpose was to examine the sport orientations and goal perspectives of wheelchair adult athletes who differed on gender and type of sport. Participants were 34 male and 14 female marathoners and 166 male and 29 female basketball players. Instruments were the Sport Orientation Questionnaire (SOQ) and the Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire (TEOSQ). Separate 2 x 2 (Gender x Sport) multivariate analysis of variance revealed that on the SOQ, males scored higher on competitive orientation, females scored higher on goal orientation, and no gender differences occurred on win orientation. Basketball players scored higher on win orientation, marathoners scored higher on goal orientation, and no differences occurred between sport groups on competitiveness orientation. On the TEOSQ, there were no gender differences;; marathoners scored higher on ego orientation, and no differences occurred between sport groups on task orientation.

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