Examining the stability of emotional regulation and psychological distress for low-income individuals: A latent transition analysis.

Previous relationship education research has focused on investigating healthy relationships at the couple level, with limited research conducted on individual-oriented relationship education programs for economically disadvantaged individuals. More specifically, there is a lack of research on how individual-oriented relationship education programs contribute to changes in unique attributes of individuals who enroll in these programs and who would benefit most from relationship education programs. The primary aim of this study is to understand the stability of economically disadvantaged individuals' psychological distress and emotion regulation over two time points, comparing individuals randomly assigned to the relationship intervention using Prevention and Relationship Education's (PREP) Within My Reach (WMR) versus those assigned to a wait-list control. Using a sample of 1129 economically disadvantaged individuals enrolled in the study, results indicated that the three-class model for psychological distress and emotion regulation was the most appropriate for the latent transition analysis. Treatment group participants were more likely to transition to more adaptive models than their wait-list control counterparts, although a small percentage of participants did transition to a less adaptive model. Implications, future directions, and limitations are discussed.

Longitudinal Locomotor Competence and Body Mass Index Across Self-Reported Gender and Vision Level for Youth With Visual Impairments: A 3-Year Investigation.

Youth with visual impairments are more likely to be overweight than peers without visual impairments and often struggle with their locomotor skills. Locomotor development can combat unhealthy body weight statuses by supporting physical activity behaviors. There are no longitudinal investigations concerning the locomotor skill and body mass index (BMI) developmental trajectories of youth with visual impairments. The purpose of this study was to examine the 3-year developmental trajectory of the locomotor skills and BMI of youth with visual impairments including differential effects of self-reported gender and degree of vision. Participants (N = 34, Mage = 11.75 years, 47% female) showed severely delayed and arrested locomotor development with increases in BMI across 3 years regardless of self-reported gender or degree of vision. Participants failed to breech a proficiency barrier of motor competence to combat against increases in BMI across time. Additional longitudinal inquiries are needed.

The Effects of Ecologically Valid Intervention Strategies on the Locomotor Skills of Children With Visual Impairments.

Children with visual impairments often exhibit difficulties with locomotor skills (e.g., the ability to move one's body from one place to another), warranting the need for ecologically valid interventions with conditions that attempt to match the real world in a variety of settings. Parents and physical education teachers are the ones choosing to provide movement opportunities for children with visual impairments and must be included in any ecologically valid intervention strategy. This was a descriptive-analytic study. To support the greatest diversity in settings, the authors recruited 94 participants (blind = 44 and low vision = 50; Mage = 13.01 years, SD = 3.26) from schools for the deaf and blind in the United States (teacher led, n = 17) or Latvia (teacher led, n = 57), through an online LISTSERV throughout the United States (parent led, n = 10), and a control subgroup (n = 10). At the pretest, no participant's motor development met age expectations. Children with visual impairments from multiple locations and cultures significantly improved compared with controls who did not. Results were most favorable when the physical educator was the interventionist. However, further research is needed to replicate these findings.

SKIPping With PALS: Exploring Parental Engagement in a Motor Intervention for Their Preschool Children.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore how parent involvement influenced the effectiveness of a movement intervention targeting gross motor skills and physical activity behavior in preschool-aged boys and girls. Methods: Parents received training at monthly school-based sessions and online to implement the movement intervention once per month at school and once per week at home across 6 months (N = 104; Mage = 48.30 months, SD = 6.90). Children completed the Test of Gross Motor Development-3 at baseline and wore physical activity trackers 24/7 for six weeks during the intervention. COVID-19 disrupted the intervention and prevented immediate post testing. Children (N = 60; Mage = 60.86 months, SD = 6.57) who returned to the center one year later completed gross motor skill retention testing. Results: For each additional school-based session attended by the parents (up to six), children's locomotor and manipulative skills were 1.87 and 1.95 points higher, respectively, at the start of the following academic year. For physical activity, each session increase in attendance at the school-based component of the intervention resulted in an additional 1455 steps in average weekly step count. Conclusion: Increased parent engagement demonstrated greater change in gross motor skills and larger acute physical activity responses. Understanding barriers that impact the level of parental intervention engagement (i.e., dose) also provides insight into why some children learn and others do not within a parent-led intervention. Although the implementation and results of this study were impacted by COVID, these data can help researchers optimize future intervention strategies.

Perceived Motor Competence Mediates the Relationship Between Gross Motor Skills and Physical Activity in Youth With Visual Impairments.

Children with visual impairments typically demonstrate lower levels of motor competence, physical activity, and perceived motor competence compared to their peers without visual impairments. Stodden and colleagues purport that perceived motor competence mediates the relationship between motor competence and physical activity for youth without visual impairments. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to test whether perceived motor competence mediates the relationship between motor competence and physical activity for youth with visual impairments. Methods: Participants (N = 138; boys = 81, girls = 57) were age 9-18 years (Mage = 13.37, SD = 2.34) with visual impairments. Participants completed the Test of Gross Motor Development-3, the Test of Perceived Physical Competence-VI, and the Physical Activity Questionnaire. Results: Locomotor skills predicted perceived motor competence, which predicted physical activity. Perceived motor competence showed a mediation effect on the path from locomotor skills to physical activity. There was no significant relationship between locomotor skills and physical activity. Conclusion: The results from this study provide initial evidence to support the hypothesis proposed by Stodden and colleagues. These data provide a rationale to include both perceived and actual motor competence within targeted intervention strategies to increase physical activity behaviors for youth with visual impairments. Future research should consider following participants longitudinally to test the roles of perceived and actual motor competence as factors supporting positive developmental trajectories for health.

An Examination of Motor Competence Profiles in Preschool Children: A Latent Profile Analysis.

Purpose: Identifying profiles of preschoolers' motor competence (MC) is essential for providing accurate and targeted intervention. However, little is known regarding children's MC profiles, more specifically how skills may present in unique clusters. The purposes of the study were to explore MC profiles of U.S. children ages 3-6 years, quantify the uniqueness of these profiles, and examine differences by age, gender, race, geographic region, socioeconomic status, and Body Mass Index z-scores. Methods: Participants included children (N = 582, ngirls = 296) aged 3-6 years (Mage = 4.97, SD = .75) enrolled in one of seven early childhood education centers (Alabama, Louisiana, Ohio [× 2], South Carolina [× 2], Texas). Each child's MC was assessed with the 12 skills comprising the TGMD-2. Latent profile analysis was performed using the 12 MC skills. Results: Five profiles of MC emerged, three of which show developing MC but in varying combinations. Wald tests revealed possible MC advantages for preschool children who are older, boys, reside in an urban region, and are of higher socioeconomic status, but only for the proficient MC profile. Conclusion: By uncovering five unique latent MC profiles, professionals should consider the presentation/origins of each profile and use such knowledge to create targeted, individualized MC interventions in American preschoolers. From a research perspective, the implications of this study suggest that researchers should consider person-oriented approaches examining individual skill scores (vs. summed subscale scores) whenever possible.

The Brief Form of the Test of Gross Motor Development-3 for Individuals with Visual Impairments.

Children with visual impairments (VI) tend to struggle with their fundamental motor skills (FMS), and these difficulties often persist across the lifespan, requiring frequent assessment. The Test of Gross Motor Development (TGMD) shows robust psychometric properties for children with VI. The TGMD, which includes 13 skills, is time-consuming to administer and score, warranting the need to explore brief versions. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the psychometric properties of three, six-skill versions of the TGMD-3 with children with VI. Children (n = 302; Boys = 58%, Girls = 42%; Mage = 13.00, SD = 2.50 years) with VI (B1 = 27%, B2 = 20%, B3 = 38%, B4 = 15%) participated in this study. We examined three different models using confirmatory factor analyses on the relationships between the motor skills and latent traits across the models. Scores from all three brief versions had acceptable global fit. Although further research should be conducted, practitioners can adopt a brief version of the TGMD to assess children with VI.

Dynamics of sleep, sedentary behavior, and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity on school versus nonschool days.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: Studies examining time-use activity behaviors (sleep, sedentary behavior, and physical activity) on school days compared with nonschool days have examined these behaviors independently, ignoring their interrelated nature, limiting our ability to optimize the health benefits of these behaviors. This study examines the associations of school-day (vs. nonschool day) with time-use activity behaviors. METHODS: Time series data (6,642 days) from Fitbits (Charge-2) were collected (n = 196, 53% female, 5-10 years). We used a variable-centered dynamic structural equation modeling approach to estimate day-to-day associations of time-use activity behaviors on school days for each child. We then used person-centered cluster analyses to group individuals based on these estimates. RESULTS: Within-participant analysis showed that on school days (vs. nonschool days), children (1) slept less (ß = -0.17, 95% CI = -0.21, -0.13), (2) were less sedentary (ß = -0.05, 95% CI = -0.09, -0.02), and (3) had comparable moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA; ß = -0.05, 95% CI = -0.11, 0.00). Between-participant analysis showed that, on school days, children with higher sleep carryover experienced greater decreases in sleep (ß = 0.44, 95% CI = 0.08, 0.71), children with higher body mass index z-score decreased sedentary behavior more (ß = -0.41, 95% CI = -0.64, -0.13), and children with lower MVPA increased MVPA more (ß = -0.41, 95% CI -0.64, -0.13). Cluster analysis demonstrated four distinct patterns of connections between time-use activity behaviors and school (High Activity, Sleep Resilient, High Sedentary, and Dysregulated Sleep). CONCLUSIONS: Using a combination of person-centered and more traditional variable-centered approaches, we identified patterns of interrelated behaviors that differed on school, and nonschool days. Findings can inform targeted intervention strategies tailored to children's specific behavior patterns.

Preschoolers Build Fundamental Motor Skills Critical to an Active Lifestyle: The All 4 Kids© Intervention Study.

This pragmatic, real world study examined the effects of the All 4 Kids© intervention on preschoolers' mastery of movement skills and determined whether the instruction had greater impact than natural development. Methods included a quasi-experimental intervention-comparison subsample of 379 children (COMPARISON) and a pretest-posttest design with convenience scale-up sampling of 2817 preschoolers (SCALE-UP). Children receiving education and dance instruction 3 times/week for 8 weeks were assessed using the Preschool Movement Assessment to evaluate skills pre and post intervention. Using repeated measures ANOVA, McNemar and Wilcoxon signed ranks tests, preschooler's participation in the intervention resulted in greater improvement in 12 movement skills (F = 83.451, df = 1, p < 0.001, η p 2 = 0.555), balance (p = 0.028), hopping (t = -3.545, df = 112, p = 0.001) and crossing the midline (p < 0.001) than natural development (COMPARISON). In the SCALE-UP study, children significantly improved in all measures based on post-intervention scores. Significant differences were observed between Hispanic and non-Hispanic children for the 12-skills (b = -0.758, se = 0.161, p < 0.001) using hierarchical linear models; boys' and girls' scores were not differentially impacted by the intervention. Therefore, implementation of interventions focused on fundamental movement skill development have the potential to remediate secular motor skill decline in young children.

Motor Competence Levels and Developmental Delay in Early Childhood: A Multicenter Cross-Sectional Study Conducted in the USA.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Developmental delay in motor competence may limit a child's ability to successfully participate in structured and informal learning/social opportunities that are critical to holistic development. Current motor competence levels in the USA are relatively unknown. The purposes of this study were to explore motor competence levels of US children aged 3-6 years, report percentages of children demonstrating developmental delay, and investigate both within and across childcare site predictors of motor competence, including sex, race, geographic region, socioeconomic status, and body mass index percentile classification. Potential implications from results could lead to a greater awareness of the number of children with developmental delay, the impetus for evidence-based interventions, and the creation of consistent qualification standards for all children so that those who need services are not missed. METHODS: Participants included children (N = 580, 296 girls) aged 3-6 years (Mage = 4.97, standard deviation = 0.75) from a multi-state sample. Motor competence was assessed using the Test of Gross Motor Development, Second Edition and the 25th and 5th percentiles were identified as developmental delay-related cutoffs. RESULTS: For both Test of Gross Motor Development, Second Edition subscales, approximately 77% of the entire sample qualified as at risk for developmental delay (≤ 25th percentile), while 30%  of the entire sample were at or below 5th percentile. All groups (e.g., sex, race, socioeconomic status) were prone to developmental delay. Raw object control scores differed by sex. CONCLUSIONS: Developmental delay in motor competence is an emerging epidemic that needs to be systematically acknowledged and addressed in the USA. By shifting norms based upon current data, there may be a lower standard of "typical development" that may have profound effects on factors that support long-term health.

Correction to: Motor Competence Levels and Developmental Delay in Early Childhood: A Multicenter Cross-Sectional Study Conducted in the USA.

Page 1, Abstract, Results, sentence 1: The following sentence, which previously read.