Treatment strategies for emotional-motivational blocks to motor functioning in children

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Psychology
• Motor Development
• Child Psychology

Background:

• Poor motor performance in children can stem from non-physical factors.
• Motivational-emotional handicaps like lack of confidence and learned helplessness are significant barriers.
• Behavioral issues can manifest as inhibition, distractibility, or defeatism.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and describe behavioral barriers contributing to poor motor performance in children.
• To present treatment strategies for addressing these nonphysical challenges.
• To provide guidelines for helping children overcome specific motor-related drawbacks.

Main Methods:

• Utilized an observational checklist from the revised Stott-Moyes-Henderson Test of Motor Impairment (TOMI-R).
• Identified nonphysical sources of motor failure, including motivational-emotional handicaps.
• Described treatment procedures for specific motor tasks.

Main Results:

• Children exhibit defenses like task refusal (inhibition) or avoidance strategies (distractibility, defeatism).
• Motivational-emotional handicaps significantly impact motor skill acquisition.
• The TOMI-R revision aids in identifying these behavioral barriers.

Conclusions:

• Behavioral and emotional factors are critical considerations in addressing children's motor performance issues.
• Targeted interventions can help children overcome learned helplessness and other motivational barriers.
• The TOMI-R provides a valuable tool for diagnosing and addressing nonphysical causes of motor impairment.