Developmental Change in Motor Competence: A Latent Growth Curve Analysis

Background: The development of childhood motor competence demonstrates a high degree of inter-individual variation. Some children’s competence levels increase whilst others’ competence levels remain unchanged or even decrease over time. However, few studies have examined this developmental change in motor competence across childhood and little is known on the influencing factors). Aim: Using latent growth curve modeling (LGCM), the present longitudinal study aimed to investigate children’s change in motor competence across a two-year timespan and to examine the potential influence of baseline weight status and physical fitness on their trajectory of change in motor competence. Method: 558 children (52.5% boys) aged between 6 and 9 years participated in this study. Motor assessments took place three times across a two-year timespan. Baseline measurements included weight status, motor competence (i.e., Korperkoordinationstest fur Kinder; KTK) and physical fitness (i.e., sit and reach, standing long jump and the 20m shuttle run test). LGCM was conducted to examine change in motor competence over time, based on the raw scores of the four KTK subtests. Results: The analyses showed a positive linear change in motor competence across two years (=28.48, p