TY - JOUR
T1 - Associations between Biological Maturation, Chronological Age, Body Mass Index, Sex, and Motor Competence in Prepubertal Children
T2 - A Network Analysis
AU - Salami, Sedigheh
AU - Bandeira, Paulo Felipe Ribeiro
AU - Mashhadi, Maryam Rahymian
AU - Shamsipour Dehkordi, Parvaneh
AU - Luz, Leonardo G. O.
AU - Martins, Clarice Maria de Lucena
AU - Hardy, Louise L.
AU - Duncan, Michael J.
N1 - This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
PY - 2024/9/20
Y1 - 2024/9/20
N2 - Background: The development of motor competence (MC) during childhood is crucial for future physical activity and health outcomes, and it is affected by both biological and psychosocial factors. Most MC research has focused on children’s age, with fewer studies examining separate associations between MC and biological maturation. Methods: This cross-sectional study used network analysis to assess the nonlinear associations between biological maturation (the child’s percentage of predicted mature stature to indicate somatic maturation), chronological age, sex, BMI, and MC (Test of Gross Motor Development, third edition) in 218 children (100 boys, 118 girls) aged 7–9 years. Results: Biological maturation was not significantly associated with MC in boys and weakly associated with MC in girls for the dribble, under-hand throw, and gallop. Age was positively associated with MC in girls and boys. Centrality measures indicated that the gallop and slide in girls and the dribble, catch, and run in boys were the most important network variables. Positive associations were observed between maturation and BMI for girls (r = 0.579) and, to a lesser degree, for boys (r = 0.267). Conclusions: The findings suggest that age, rather than biological maturation, is positively associated with MC in 7- to 9-year-olds. Centrality measures showed that some skills may influence other skills.
AB - Background: The development of motor competence (MC) during childhood is crucial for future physical activity and health outcomes, and it is affected by both biological and psychosocial factors. Most MC research has focused on children’s age, with fewer studies examining separate associations between MC and biological maturation. Methods: This cross-sectional study used network analysis to assess the nonlinear associations between biological maturation (the child’s percentage of predicted mature stature to indicate somatic maturation), chronological age, sex, BMI, and MC (Test of Gross Motor Development, third edition) in 218 children (100 boys, 118 girls) aged 7–9 years. Results: Biological maturation was not significantly associated with MC in boys and weakly associated with MC in girls for the dribble, under-hand throw, and gallop. Age was positively associated with MC in girls and boys. Centrality measures indicated that the gallop and slide in girls and the dribble, catch, and run in boys were the most important network variables. Positive associations were observed between maturation and BMI for girls (r = 0.579) and, to a lesser degree, for boys (r = 0.267). Conclusions: The findings suggest that age, rather than biological maturation, is positively associated with MC in 7- to 9-year-olds. Centrality measures showed that some skills may influence other skills.
KW - complex systems
KW - children
KW - TGMD-3
KW - motor competence
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85205251570
U2 - 10.3390/children11091143
DO - 10.3390/children11091143
M3 - Article
SN - 2227-9067
VL - 11
JO - Children
JF - Children
IS - 9
M1 - 1143
ER -