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Associations between Executive Functions and Sensorimotor Performance in Children at Risk for Learning Disabilities.
- Source :
- Occupational Therapy International; 9/21/2023, p1-11, 11p, 7 Charts
- Publication Year :
- 2023
-
Abstract
- Executive functions (EF) and sensorimotor skills play a critical role in children's goal-directed behavior and school readiness. The aim of the current study is to provide new insights into the relationship between executive functions and sensorimotor development by considering the risks associated with learning difficulties. Therefore, we investigate the predictive role of EF and sensorimotor skills in the development of learning difficulties during preschool years. Ninety-five preschool children (5–7 years old) were tested, comparing the performance of children that are at risk of learning difficulties (n = 55) to the performance of typically developing children (n = 40). Participants completed a battery for the assessment of sensorimotor skills (i.e., Southern California Sensory Integration Test: postural imitation, body midline crossing, bilateral motor coordination, and standing balance with eyes open) and executive functions (i.e., inhibition, cognitive flexibility, and verbal working memory). Our results show that children at risk for learning difficulties exhibited more impairments on sensorimotor and EF measures (inhibition and verbal working memory) when compared with TD children. We ran three separate binary logistic regression analyses to assess the relative influence of EF and sensorimotor functions on predicting risk for learning difficulties. Our findings demonstrated that verbal working memory as EF function (odd ratio OR = 0.91 , 95% CI 0.78-0.91, P = 0.05) and standing balance skills as a sensorimotor skill (odd ratio OR = 0.86 , 95% CI 0.81-0.98, P = 0.01) were the strongest predictors of risk for learning difficulties. The findings point to the importance of supporting children's executive function development and promoting sensorimotor development, as both fundamentally influence school readiness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- EXECUTIVE function
COGNITIVE flexibility
MEMORY
CONFIDENCE intervals
POSTURAL balance
TASK performance
MANN Whitney U Test
RISK assessment
NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL tests
DESCRIPTIVE statistics
QUESTIONNAIRES
CHI-squared test
RESEARCH funding
LOGISTIC regression analysis
ODDS ratio
DATA analysis software
BIOMECHANICS
STATISTICAL models
MOTOR ability
INTELLECTUAL disabilities
INTELLIGENCE tests
DISEASE risk factors
CHILDREN
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 09667903
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- Occupational Therapy International
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 172303663
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1155/2023/6676477