Child Maltreatment and Motor Coordination Deficits among Preschool Children

Emotional, cognitive and social developmental deficits have been key concerns linking adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) to school-readiness. However, one domain for school readiness, physical development (i.e., motor coordination), has been overlooked. This study examines the prevalence of motor deficits among a sample of high-risk preschool children. The data come from 78 children between 2 and 5 years of age referred to the Therapeutic Interagency Preschool (TIP) of which 44 (54.6%) were reported by the caregiver to have experienced maltreatment. Motor development was assessed by Physical and Occupational Therapists using the Peabody Developmental Motor Scale (PDMS-2). Overall, children with maltreatment showed rates of impaired motoric development five to seven times higher than expected compared to PDMS-2 published norms with those exposed to sexual or physical abuse having the highest rates. This study indicates the need to consider physical developmental deficits among high risk preschool children for assessing school readiness.