Reint Geuze

This article presents a review of the studies that have analysed the motor skills of ADHD children with without medication and the influence of medication on their motor skills. The following two questions guided the study: What is the evidence of impairment of motor skills and aspects of motor control among children with ADHD aged between 6 and 16 years? What are the effects of ADHD medication on motor skills and motor control?
The following keywords were introduced in the main databases: attention disorder and/or ADHD, motor skills and/or handwriting, children, medication. Of the 45 articles retrieved, 30 described motor skills of children with ADHD and 15 articles analysed the influence of ADHD medication on motor skills and motor control.
More than half of the children with ADHD have difficulties with gross and fine motor skills. The children with ADHD inattentive subtype seem to present more impairment of fine motor skills, slow reaction time, and online motor control during complex tasks. The proportion of children with ADHD who improved their motor skills to the normal range by using medication varied from 28% to 67% between studies. The children who still show motor deficit while on medication might meet the diagnostic criteria of developmental coordination disorder (DCD). It is important to assess motor skills among children with ADHD because of the risk of reduced participation in activities of daily living that require motor coordination and attention.

The aim of this paper is to discuss if criteria used for diagnosing children for clinical purposes should be the same as for the selection of children with Developmental Coordination Disorder for research. Next, we give an overview of the criteria mentioned in the development of the European guideline for diagnosing Developmental Coordination Disorder and the implementation of this guideline in different countries. To gain insight into current clinical practice, we also reviewed the medical files of children attending rehabilitation centers for the criteria used to diagnose Developmental Coordination Disorder in the Netherlands. To conclude, we state our expert opinion on why and when research and clinical criteria for Developmental Coordination Disorder should or should not be the same.

Children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) face evident motor difficulties in daily functioning. Little is known, however, about their difficulties in specific activities of daily living (ADL). The purposes of this study were: (1) to investigate differences between children with DCD and their peers with typical development for ADL performance, learning, and participation, and (2) to explore the predictive values of these aspects. This was a cross-sectional study. In both a clinical sample of children diagnosed with DCD (n=25 [21 male, 4 female], age range=5-8 years) and a group of peers with typical development (25 matched controls), the children's parents completed the DCDDaily-Q. Differences in scores between the groups were investigated using t tests for performance and participation and Pearson chi-square analysis for learning. Multiple regression analyses were performed to explore the predictive values of performance, learning, and participation. Compared with ...

Deze bijdrage betreft een handvoorkeurstest voor kinderen van 5 tot 7 jaar. Eerst wordt de ontwikkeling van handvoorkeur en het belang van de bepaling ervan kort besproken. Daarna worden aspecten van de betrouwbaarheid en validiteit besproken aan de hand van testgegevens van 67 kinderen van gemiddeld 6.5 jaar. Daaruit blijkt dat de test een goede interne consistentie heeft, en dat de hertestbetrouwbaarheid goed is. Uit de gegevens blijkt ook dat de verhouding van sterke linkerhandvoorkeur ten opzichte van sterke rechterhandvoorkeur bij de kinderen ongeveer hetzelfde is als bij eerstejaars Psychologiestudenten. Onder de kinderen vindt men echter 25% die nog niet een sterke handvoorkeur hebben ontwikkeld, terwijl dat bij de volwassenen ongeveer 10% is.

Children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) face evident motor difficulties in daily functioning. Little is known, however, about their difficulties in specific activities of daily living (ADL). The purposes of this study were: (1) to investigate differences between children with DCD and their peers with typical development for ADL performance, learning, and participation, and (2) to explore the predictive values of these aspects. This was a cross-sectional study. In both a clinical sample of children diagnosed with DCD (n=25 [21 male, 4 female], age range=5-8 years) and a group of peers with typical development (25 matched controls), the children's parents completed the DCDDaily-Q. Differences in scores between the groups were investigated using t tests for performance and participation and Pearson chi-square analysis for learning. Multiple regression analyses were performed to explore the predictive values of performance, learning, and participation. Compared with their peers, children with DCD showed poor performance of ADL and less frequent participation in some ADL. Children with DCD demonstrated heterogeneous patterns of performance (poor in 10%-80% of the items) and learning (delayed in 0%-100% of the items). In the DCD group, delays in learning of ADL were a predictor for poor performance of ADL, and poor performance of ADL was a predictor for less frequent participation in ADL compared with the control group. A limited number of children with DCD were addressed in this study. This study highlights the impact of DCD on children's daily lives and the need for tailored intervention.

Background / Purpose: To develop an instrument for objective and systematic assessment of activities of daily living (ADL) in 5 to 8 year old children: the DCDDailyTo confirm the validity and reliability of the DCDDaily Main conclusion: The DCDDaily is the first instrument for objective and systematic assessment of ADL in children with daily living skills (DCD). The DCDDaily differentiates the performance of ADL between children with DCD and controls.

The aim of this review was to gather information on how well authors comply to DSM criteria in their description and selection of children with DCD. We investigated which selection criteria were used in experimental and intervention studies published in the last 5years (2010-2014). Results on 176 papers are summarized. Compliance to the DSM criteria has improved over this time period. In general, detailed information was provided on motor performance using standardized test scores and cut-off values are reported. Method sections were far less detailed about other DSM criteria (i.e., whether motor coordination problems interfered with activities of daily living and how IQ, other medical conditions or co-occurring disorders were checked). Views on how the new DSM-5 criteria could be specified for clinical and research use are discussed.

The major goal of the current study was to investigate the association between continuous performance tests (CPTs) and the heart rate variability (HRV) of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) children. The HRV, specifically the 0.10-Hz component, may be considered to be a psychophysiological index of effort allocation (motivation): The less effort the subject allocates, the greater the 0.10-Hz component. Results indicated that, compared to controls, ADHD subjects had a greater 0.10-Hz component, which was associated with poor test performance over time. Thus, using a psychophysiological measure, we were able to confirm the clinical concept of ADHD from a motivational perspective.

Preterm infants are exposed to the visual environment earlier than fullterm infants, but whether early exposure affects later development is unclear. Our aim was to investigate whether the development of visual disengagement capacity during the first 6 months postterm was associated with cognitive and motor outcomes at school age, and whether associations differed between fullterms and low-risk preterms. Seventeen fullterms and ten low-risk preterms were tested in a gaze shifting task every 4 weeks until 6 months postterm. The longitudinal data were converted into single continuous variables by fitting the data with an S-shaped curve (frequencies of looks) or an inverse model (latencies of looks). Neuropsychological test results at school age were converted into composite z scores. We then performed linear regression analyses for each functional domain at school age with the variables measuring infant visual attention as separate predictors and adjusting for maternal level of educat...

During early infancy major developmental changes, both in the variety of body movements and in visual attention, help the infant to explore its surroundings. Both behaviours depend on a gradual shift from subcortical to cortical functioning. First, to determine whether preterms reach mature levels of movement variety (the number of different movement patterns) and visual attention earlier than fullterms. Second, to determine whether individual developmental trajectories of movement variety and visual attention were associated. Finally, we compared the associations of developmental trajectories between fullterm and preterm infants. In this longitudinal study, 20 fullterm and 9 low-risk preterm infants performed a visual disengagement task every four weeks from six weeks until six months postterm. For each infant we drew up developmental trajectories for movement variety, and for frequencies and latencies of looks. We analyzed the developmental trajectories by means of general linear ...

Difficulties in the performance of activities of daily living (ADL) are a key feature of developmental coordination disorder (DCD). The DCDDaily-Q was developed to address children's motor performance in a comprehensive range ADL. The aim of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of this parental questionnaire. Parents of 218 five to eight year-old children (DCD group: N=25; reference group: N=193) completed the research version of the new DCDDaily-Q and the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2 (MABC2) Checklist and Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire (DCDQ). Children were assessed with the MABC2 and DCDDaily. Item reduction analyses were performed and reliability (internal consistency and factor structure) and concurrent, discriminant, and incremental validity of the DCDDaily-Q were investigated. The final version of the DCDDaily-Q comprises 23 items that cover three underlying factors and shows good internal consistency (Cronbach's α>.80). Moderate correlations were found between the DCDDaily-Q and the other instruments used (p<.001 for the reference group; p>.05 for the DCD group). Discriminant validity of the DCDDaily-Q was good for DCDDaily-Q total scores (p<.001) and all 23 item scores (p<.01), indicating poorer performance in the DCD group. Sensitivity (88%) and specificity (92%) were good. The DCDDaily-Q better predicted DCD than currently used questionnaires (R(2)=.88). In conclusion, the DCDDaily-Q is a valid and reliable questionnaire to address children's ADL performance.

It has been hypothesized that cerebral lateralization of function enhances cognitive performance. Evidence was found in birds and fish. However, recent research in humans did not support this hypothesis. We aimed to replicate and extend these findings for single- and dual-task performance in an ecologically relevant task. We combined a word generation task which is assumed to be primarily processed in the left hemisphere with a driving task which is assumed to be primarily processed in the right hemisphere. For each task the individual strength and direction of hemispheric lateralization was assessed by using functional transcranial Doppler sonography (fTCD). For each subject (36 right-handed, 35 nonright-handed) performance was measured in the two single-tasks and in the dual-task condition. On average, subjects showed a left hemisphere bias for the word generation task, a right hemisphere bias for the driving task and dual-task interference. Within subjects, lateralization of language and driving were statistically independent. In accordance with earlier studies, the results show no indication of a positive effect of strength of lateralization on performance in single-tasks or dual-task efficiency. We also found no advantage of a typical compared to an atypical or a contralateral compared to an ipsilateral lateralization pattern. In right-handers, but not in nonright-handers, we even found a negative relationship between strength of lateralization and dual-task efficiency for atypically lateralized subjects. This further supports the suggestion that lateralization does not enhance cognitive performance in humans.