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Intervention to Improve Preschool Children's Fundamental Motor Skills: Protocol for a Parent-Focused, Mobile
E Kipling Webster1, Chelsea L Kracht2, Robert L Newton2
1Institute of Public and Preventive Health, Augusta University, Augusta, GA, United States.
Insights
This study tested a mobile app to improve preschool children's fundamental motor skills (FMS). The app showed promise for promoting FMS development in young children through parent engagement.
Area of Science:
- Child Development
- Digital Health Interventions
- Motor Skill Acquisition
Background:
- Preschool years are critical for developing fundamental motor skills (FMS).
- Many children exhibit delays in FMS development during early childhood.
- Structured physical activity is key for FMS mastery.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the PLAY study, a pilot trial assessing a mobile app's acceptability, feasibility, and effectiveness.
- To promote FMS development in preschool children (aged 3-5) via a parent-delivered mobile application.
- To explore the app's impact on physical activity, movement competence, and self-regulation.
Main Methods:
- A 2-arm, parallel-design randomized trial involving 72 parent-child dyads.
- Development of a mobile app delivering 12-week FMS or unstructured physical activity curricula.
- Assessment of primary outcomes (feasibility, acceptability, FMS) at 12 weeks and secondary outcomes at 24 weeks.
Main Results:
- Data collection completed for 69 children, with results anticipated by 2021.
- The study is funded and has received institutional review board approval.
- The project timeline included data collection from May 2019 to February 2020.
Conclusions:
- The PLAY study investigated a parent-led, app-based approach to enhance preschool FMS.
- If effective, the app could be widely disseminated to parents.
- This model demonstrates the potential of mobile apps for promoting early childhood motor skills.
Background:
Preschool age is an important time to master fundamental motor skills (FMS) through structured physical activity, yet many young children lag behind in motor skill development.
Objective:
The Promoting Lifelong Activity in Youth (PLAY) study is a pilot comparative effectiveness trial to test the acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary effectiveness of a mobile app delivered to parents to promote FMS development in their preschool children (aged 3-5 years).
Methods:
We conducted a 2-arm, parallel-design, randomized comparative effectiveness trial in 72 parent-child dyads from the southeastern United States. Experts in motor development and developmental psychology developed an app designed to deliver a 12-week program to parents of preschoolers using 1 of 2 curricula: an FMS program (intervention) that involved peer modeling, parent engagement, and structured skills-based activities and an unstructured physical activity (comparator) curriculum that provided suggestions for child-led physical activity (ie, free play). Primary outcomes are feasibility and acceptability of the app and child's FMS measured at end of intervention (week 12). Exploratory outcomes are child's objective physical activity, perceived movement competence, and parent report of self-regulation at the end of treatment (week 12) and sustained outcomes at follow-up (week 24).
Results:
This project was funded in September 2018, with institutional review board approval in August 2018. Data collection took place from May 2019 through February 2020. To date, the project team has completed data collection on 69 preschool-age children, and results are expected to be published by 2021.
Conclusions:
The PLAY study examines the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of a mobile app, parent-led curricula to promote FMS proficiency for preschool children. If found to be effective, the app has the potential for wide-scale dissemination to parents of preschoolers and to provide a model for the utilization of mobile apps to promote young children's motor skill development.
Trial Registration:
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03901300; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03901300.
International Registered Report Identifier (Irrid):
DERR1-10.2196/19943.
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