Document Type : Original Articles
Authors
1 Department of Physical Education, Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran
2 Department of Sports Sciences، Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
Abstract
Background: Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) is a neurodevelopmental condition that impairs motor skills and can negatively affect attention and executive function. Additionally, the presence of comorbid neurodevelopmental disorders may further influence cognitive performance in children with DCD. This comparative study aimed to examine differences in two components of executive function between children with DCD and their typically developing (TD) peers.
Methods: In this causal-comparative study, 250 primary school students in Sepidan (mean age = 8.86 ± 0.44 years) were screened using the Movement Assessment Battery for Children–Second Edition (MABC-2) to identify children with DCD and TD children. Twenty children diagnosed with DCD were compared with their TD peers on two executive function tasks: working memory, assessed with the N-Back test, and cognitive flexibility, assessed with the Simple Stroop test. Multivariate and univariate analyses of variance were conducted to examine group differences in executive functions.
Results: Children with DCD demonstrated significantly lower accuracy on the working memory task (correct responses: 56.60 ± 21.43) compared with TD children (97.90 ± 13.42, P = 0.001). Additionally, their response times were significantly longer (910.35 ± 174.92 ms vs. 745.4 ± 164.35 ms, P = 0.004). In terms of cognitive flexibility, the interference score was significantly higher in DCD children (11.2 ± 6.32) than in TD children (5.4 ± 2.99, P = 0.001), indicating poorer performance.
Conclusion: The findings indicate that TD children outperform children with DCD in both working memory and cognitive flexibility. These deficits in multiple executive function components among children with DCD underscore the importance of early motor and cognitive interventions to support cognitive development in this population.
Keywords
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