A reliable and valid protocol for assessing action observation and imitation abilities in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (R-13714)

BACKGROUND Action observation (AO) and imitation abilities are considered fundamental for learning and consolidating motor skills, but are often impaired in children with DCD. We recently developed a novel protocol for the assessment of AO and imitation abilities. AIMS (1) To confirm the psychometric properties of the protocol. (2) To compare AO and imitation abilities in children with DCD and aged-matched typically developing (TD) children. (3) To correlate AO and imitation abilities to motor performance. METHOD 23 children with DCD (mean age 7,8y, SD 1,4) and 21 TD children (mean age 7,8y, SD 1) were included. The imitation test includes 12 meaningful (MF) and 20 meaningless gestures (NMF). The AO test consists of observation and execution of two assembly tasks. Items of both tests are rated on a 4-point scale. For construct validity, the mABC-2 test was used. RESULTS For inter-rater reliability, excellent intraclass correlation coefficients were reported in all the tests (ICC > 0.92). A significant difference between DCD and TD group was found for AO abilities (p=.03) and for NMF and MF tests (p<0.0001). For construct validity, significant correlations were reported between all tests and mABC-2 test (total score and manual dexterity domain, r between 0.32 and 0.60). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION The results support the psychometric properties of the protocol. AO and imitation abilities are impaired in children with DCD and related to lower motor competence. The study encourages the use of the protocol for clinical work and research.

Keywords:Neurological rehabilitation

Disciplines:Rehabilitation