Is Quarter of Birth a Risk Factor for Developmental Coordinator Disorder in Preschool Children?

Rubén Navarro-Patón, Silvia Pueyo Villa, Juan Luis Martín-Ayala, Mariacarla Martí González and Marcos Mecías-Calvo
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Rubén Navarro-Patón: Facultad de Formación del Profesorado, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 27001 Lugo, Spain
Silvia Pueyo Villa: Facultad de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades, Universidad Europea del Atlántico, 39011 Santander, Spain
Juan Luis Martín-Ayala: Coordinación de posgrado, Universidad Internacional Iberoamericana, 24560 Campeche, Mexico
Mariacarla Martí González: Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Europea del Atlántico, 39011 Santander, Spain
Marcos Mecías-Calvo: Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Europea del Atlántico, 39011 Santander, Spain

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 11, 1-10

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine the probability that preschool children have severe motor difficulties or are at risk of motor difficulties, according to quarter of birth and gender. Five hundred and eighty-eight preschool-age children were evaluated, of which 318 (54.08%) were boys and 270 (45.92%) were girls, with a mean age of 4.66 years (SD = 0.53). The Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2 (MABC-2) was used to collect the data. The results obtained were the following: Regarding students with severe motor difficulties: 6.7% born in quarter 1 (Q1); 13.3% born in the second quarter (Q2); 20.0% born in the third quarter (Q3); and 60.0% born in the fourth quarter (Q4). The probabilities found (OR) were: Q1 vs. Q2 (OR = 3.15; p < 0.05); Q1 vs. Q3 (OR = 4.68; p < 0.005); Q1 vs. Q4 (OR = 12.40; p < 0.001); Q2 vs. Q4 (OR = 4.04; p < 0.001); and Q3 vs. Q4 (OR = 2.65; p < 0.005). The adjusted ORs, with respect to the probabilities of having severe motor difficulties, were the following: Being born in Q4 is 13.03 times more likely than being born in Q1 ( p < 0.001); those born in Q3 are 4.85 times more likely than those born in Q1 ( p < 0.05); and those born in Q2 4.14 times more than those born in Q1 ( p < 0.05). The conclusion is that children born in Q4 are more likely to be classified as children with severe difficulties compared to children born in the other quarters of the same year.

Keywords: relative age effect; childhood; MABC-2; motor competence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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