Dual task performance and automatization of movement of manual skills in children with developmental coordination disorder

Abstract

Children with DCD experience difficulties with manual skills that interfere with ADL. One hypothesis that could explain these difficulties is the automatization deficit hypothesis. Goals of this study were to explore the DT paradigm and manual motor task performance in a DCD- and TD group, the impact of manual dexterity and motor task variation on motor performance, and the correlation between manual motor performance and the motor skills level. 18 participants (DCD: n=10; TD: n=8) between 6 and 10 years old were enrolled in the first study part. 12 children with DCD between 5 and 10 years old were recruited for the adapted protocol. The M-ABC 2 and Tyneside Pegboard Test (TPT) with and without a concurrent acoustic task were administered. Outcomes of the TPT were slower for children with DCD relative to TD children. The initial protocol showed more significant differences for the DCD- compared to the TD group: for ST versus DT conditions, small peg versus large peg conditions, dominant versus non-dominant hand conditions and negative correlation between M-ABC 2 percentiles and TPT duration. However, the adapted protocol only showed a significant difference for small peg versus large peg conditions. Overall, children with DCD revealed poor manual motor performance compared to TD children. Contradicting the automatization deficit hypothesis, both groups experienced a similar amount of DT cost. Perhaps, the implemented tasks were too easy to interfere with motor performance.