Mapping relationships among gross motor skills in 16,989 children using network analysis

Vagnetti, R, Cooper, S ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5219-5020, Carlevaro, F, Boat, R ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4897-8118, Magno, F, Musella, G and Magistro, D ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2554-3701, 2025. Mapping relationships among gross motor skills in 16,989 children using network analysis. Scientific Reports, 15: 11591. ISSN 2045-2322

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Abstract

The development of gross motor skills during childhood is crucial for shaping more complex movements and laying the groundwork for physical activity, and subsequently lifelong health and enhanced well-being. Performance in motor skills improves throughout development, with the greatest improvements occurring during childhood. Understanding the relationships between developing gross motor skills is essential for informing educational and intervention practices. A total of 16,989 children aged 3–11 years underwent assessment of gross motor skills. Using network analysis, gross motor skills networks were constructed for the entire sample, and stratified by age and sex. The accuracy and stability of the networks were assessed, and centrality and bridge statistics were estimated for each node. The results indicated that running and two-hand catching exhibited higher centrality and bridge statistics compared to the other nodes in the all-sample network. Additionally, it was observed that the strength between nodes decreased and their distance increased with age. These results highlight the importance of specific gross motor skills due to their significant role in relation to other skills within the network. Gross motor skills progress towards increased independence and specialisation during development, indicating the importance of early educational interventions where children could benefit from educational practices focused on catching and running.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Scientific Reports
Creators:	Vagnetti, R., Cooper, S., Carlevaro, F., Boat, R., Magno, F., Musella, G. and Magistro, D.
Publisher:	Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date:	4 April 2025
Volume:	15
ISSN:	2045-2322
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1038/s41598-025-95924-9 DOI 2423828 Other
Rights:	© The Author(s) 2025. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Science and Technology
Record created by:	Melissa Cornwell
Date Added:	08 Apr 2025 15:28
Last Modified:	08 Apr 2025 15:28
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/53383

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