BOT-2 Evaluation of Gender Differences in Upper Limb Coordination among Children 7 to 9 Years Old

Abstract

Numerous recent studies indicate the significant impact of fundamental motor skills on the psychological and social development of young boys and girls. However, it is not well-known if there are differences between boys and girls aged 7 to 9 in terms of the fundamental development of motor skills.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to address the question of the fundamental issues between boys and girls using upper limb coordination evaluated by the Bruininks-Oseretsky test of motor proficiency (BOT-2), including seven sub-scales of measurement.

Method: The participants (n=79) were 41 boys and 38 girls aged 7 to 9 years old. BOT-2 test scores were used for upper limb coordination (ULC) differences by gender.

Results: The BOT-2 measurements of upper limb coordination show a significant difference in favor of the boys only for 6ULC=7±2.77 relative to 5.66±2.66, (d=.49, ES=.24, p=.03) and 7ULC=2±1.45, relative to 1.32±1.21, (d=.51, ES=.25 p=.02), while for the other tests there are no significant differences. The magnitude of the impact was on the values of the alternate hand dribble, p=.23, while the little effect was achieved for throwing a ball at a target, p=.25. Conclusion: Our results showed that there are no significant differences between boys and girls in terms of the fundamental development of motor skills, indicating a strong biological determinant of homogenous development.

Keywords: upper limb coordination, motor skills, sex differences, school children, motor development.