Validity and reliability of the Simple Motor Competence-check for Kids (SMC-Kids)

Area of Science:

• Pediatric motor development
• Movement science
• Child psychology

Background:

• Assessing motor development in preschool children is crucial for early intervention.
• Existing tools may require specialized equipment or extensive space.
• A simple, reliable, and valid assessment is needed for widespread use.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the validity and reliability of the Simple Motor Competence-check for Kids (SMC-Kids).
• To determine if SMC-Kids can effectively measure locomotor and object control skills in preschoolers.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional and repeated-measures design.
• Validity assessed by comparing SMC-Kids (10m shuttle run, paper ball throw) with the Test of Gross Motor Development-3 (TGMD-3) in 71 children (4-6 years).
• Reliability assessed via inter-rater (91 children, 3-6 years) and intra-rater (53 participants, 7-10 day retest) measures.

Main Results:

• Strong correlations found between SMC-Kids components and TGMD-3 scores (locomotor: rho=-0.51, object control: rho=0.80).
• Confirmatory factor analysis supported SMC-Kids' measurement of latent locomotor and object control skills (loadings: -0.97 and 0.88).
• Excellent inter-rater (ICC=0.898-0.96) and intra-rater (ICC=0.882-0.974) reliability demonstrated.

Conclusions:

• SMC-Kids is a valid and reliable tool for assessing preschooler motor skills.
• The test effectively measures locomotor and object control abilities.
• SMC-Kids is a simple, equipment-free option for quick motor skill assessment in young children.