Motor development is affected by maturation and growth but also influenced by the specific environmental and cultural context. Therefore, cross-cultural research can provide information about how different cultural contexts, lifestyles, and physical activity contexts can influence the process of developing motor competence. The purpose of this study was to evaluate aspects of motor competence among children from different cultural backgrounds. The sample of 463 children from 6 to 8 years consisting of 132 Greek children (52.3 % boys), 126 Italian children (53.9 % boys), and 205 Norwegian children (52.7) completed the Test of Motor Competence (TMC) including two fine motor tasks—Placing Bricks and Building Bricks—and two gross motor tasks—Heel to Toe Walking and Walking/Running in Slopes. The results indicate that the Norwegian children performed better in all tests; the differences were statistically significant in all four tasks compared with Italian children and in two tasks compared with the Greek children (Building Bricks and Heel to Toe Walking). Greek children performed significantly better than the Italians in two tasks: Placing Bricks and Heel to Toe Walking. Italian children were significantly faster than the Greek ones in one task: Walking/Running in Slopes. The differences in terms of levels of basic fine and gross motor skills between children from the different countries may be a consequence of both different physical activity contexts and cultural policies, attitudes, and habits toward movement.

The purpose was to examine the sport orientations and goal perspectives of wheelchair adult athletes who differed on gender and type of sport. Participants were 34 male and 14 female marathoners and 166 male and 29 female basketball players. Instruments were the Sport Orientation Questionnaire (SOQ) and the Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire (TEOSQ). Separate 2 × 2 (Gender × Sport) multivariate analysis of variance revealed that on the SOQ, males scored higher on competitive orientation, females scored higher on goal orientation, and no gender differences occurred on win orientation. Basketball players scored higher on win orientation, marathoners scored higher on goal orientation, and no differences occurred between sport groups on competitiveness orientation. On the TEOSQ, there were no gender differences; marathoners scored higher on ego orientation, and no differences occurred between sport groups on task orientation.

This study investigated the differences between DCD and typically developing children in motor and cognitive abilities, and determined which tasks were best indicators in order to assess children with and without DCD. The study adopted the PASS theory of information processing in motor and cognition. Participants were 42 preschool students 5 years old (24 DCD and 18 non DCD). Results revealed that DCD differed significantly (p<0.05) from non DCD students and performed at a lower level on all motor and cognitive tasks. The discriminant analysis showed the strengths and weaknesses for both groups. Early identification of specific cognitive-motor difficulties, as a precursor of academic performance, contributes to early intervention

Background/Objectives: This study investigates specific neuropsychological functions—visuospatial working memory, attention, planning, and decision-making—among preschool-aged children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) compared to typically developing (TD) peers. The objective was to assess deficits in selective, sustained, and focused expressive attention, visuospatial and visual/verbal working memory, and decision-making abilities, and to examine their relationship with fundamental motor skills. Methods: A comparative study was conducted with Greek preschool-aged children using the Cognitive Assessment System (CAS) to evaluate cognitive processing (planning, attention, simultaneous processing) and the Movement Assessment Battery for Children—Second Edition (MABC-2) to assess motor skills. Results: Significant performance disparities were identified between DCD and TD children across attentional and planning domains, with notable cognitive–motor correlations. Discriminant function analyses revealed high classification accuracy (e.g., 73.9% for receptive attention, 79.5% for simultaneous processing), reinforcing the diagnostic value of targeted cognitive indices. Notably, approximately one-third of the children with DCD (17 out of 44) exhibited deficits in one or more cognitive domains. Conclusions: These findings highlight the importance of neuropsychological profiling in understanding DCD and suggest that targeted motor interventions may simultaneously enhance executive function. A strength-based, holistic assessment approach is recommended, supported by educator training and evidence-based therapeutic programming.