Through development, a child's varied movement contexts provide different opportunities or affordances for action that are fundamental to promoting motor competence. Although home is the primary environment for infants, as children age, school and sport environments gain importance. Studies focusing on affordances for motor behavior in children have mainly addressed the home microsystem, providing an incomplete picture of affordances across different settings, particularly later in development. Here, we undertook a narrative literature review of various affordances for children's motor development. This review revealed that prior studies of school and sports contexts have not specifically focused on those environmental properties that promote or hinder motor learning opportunities, meaning that future research should assess these relationships through manipulations of environmental features in these different microsystems.

Musculoskeletal (MSK) injuries have a significant physical and psychological influence on an athlete’s life. A systematic review of prospective cohort, cross-sectional, and case-control studies was undertaken in this study to analyze the association between MSK injuries with depressive symptoms in athletes. We searched on PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus, with data inception to 15 February 2023. The methodological quality was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS). Of the 3677 potential studies only nine were included. These studies showed a bidirectional association between MSK injuries and depressive symptoms. Athletes with MSK injuries had higher levels of depressive symptoms, which raises the likelihood of experiencing depression in the future. Women athletes had higher levels of depressive symptoms compared with men. The presence of depressive symptoms is a significant predictor of disability in athletes. Our findings suggest that coaches should be more aware of depressive symptoms, in order to prevent MSK injuries, and to monitor athletes following an MSK injury.

Parents’ perceptions of children’s motor competence are important because they influence the way parents interact with their children to promote motor skills development. Thirty-six mothers of 16- to 66-month old children (61%, 22 boys and 39%, 14 girls, n = 36) estimated their child’s performance while the child was being evaluated, by another trained researcher, with the same scale (Peabody Developmental Motor Scale 2nd Ed.) in a different room. Underestimations, accurate estimations, overestimations, and parental accuracy were investigated. Mothers overestimated significantly their child’s stationary and locomotion skills and their GMQ and Total Motor Quotients (TMQ). Identical levels of motor performance were found in girls and boys, and estimation accuracy was similar for both genders. We discuss our results in the context of the parents’ routines (little time interacting with children actively) and the relevance of their perceptions of the children’s abilities as a further influence on the children’s development and engagement in physical activities.

This study’s aim was two-fold: (i) to test the intra-session reliability of the one-leg balance activity test; and (ii) to assess the influence of age on reaction time (RT) and the differences between dominant and non-dominant feet. Fifty young soccer players with an average age of 12.4 ± 1.8 years were divided into two groups: younger soccer players (n = 26; 11.6 ± 0.9 years) and older soccer players (n = 24; 14.2 ± 0.8 years). Each group then completed four trials (two with each leg) of the one-leg balance activity (OLBA) to evaluate RT under a single-leg stance. Mean RT and the number of hits were calculated, and the best trial was also selected. T-tests and Pearson correlations were performed for statistical analysis. Values for RT were lower, and the number of hits was higher while standing on the non-dominant foot (p = 0.01). MANOVA revealed that the “Dominant Leg” factor did not affect the multivariate composite (Pillai Trace = 0.05; F(4, 43) = 0.565; p = 0.689; Partial ETA Squared = 0.050; Observed Power = 0.174). The “Age” factor did not present an effect on the multivariate composite (Pillai Trace = 0.104; F(4, 43) = 1.243; p = 0.307; Partial ETA Squared = 0.104; Observed Power = 0.355). The results of the present investigation demonstrate that RT may be lower while standing on the non-dominant foot.

Este estudo objetivou analisar a qualidade dos ambientes domiciliares na região central do Rio Grande do Sul para a ocorrência de oportunidades de estimulação motora. Fizeram parte do estudo 410 famílias de crianças com idades entre 18 e 42 meses. Para a avaliação foi utilizado o questionário "Affordances in the Home Enviroment for Motor Development Self-Report" - (AHEMD-SR) que aborda a qualidade e a quantidade de fatores no ambiente que são favoráveis à intensificação do desenvolvimento motor infantil. Foram utilizadas análises descritivas e os testes t para amostras independentes e ANOVA para comparação das médias. A análise dos dados evidenciou que as famílias com menor renda (p = 0,00) e cujos pais têm menor grau de instrução (p = 0,00) possuem lares que promovem menos oportunidades de estimulação motora às crianças. Os resultados menos satisfatórios foram em relação à provisão de materiais que estimulem o desenvolvimento da motricidade infantil no espaço externo das residências (entre 64,4% e 65,1% classificados como muito fraco). Conclui-se que, em grande parte das residências avaliadas, há uma carência na provisão de materiais que promovam a estimulação do desenvolvimento da motricidade infantil. O estudo dá fortes indícios que estas restrições podem ser decorrentes do baixo nível socioeconômico e grau de escolaridade das famílias pesquisadas.

O estudo investigou a influência do foco de atenção na aprendizagem de crianças, em uma tarefa de equilíbrio dinâmico. Setenta e quatro crianças com média de idade de 8,03 anos participaram do estudo. A tarefa consistia no deslocamento do Pedalo® em um percurso de 7 metros, sem o uso de apoios. Os resultados mostraram que na aquisição, os meninos desempenharam melhor a tarefa (p=0,022). Nas fases de transferências, apenas a fase T2 apresentou diferença significativa (p=0,014), com desempenho melhor dos meninos e, em relação ao foco de atenção, o foco externo distante mostrou-se superior do que o grupo controle, em ambas as fases de transferência (p=0,034; p=0,018). Conclui-se que direcionar a atenção a certa distância do corpo, os meninos potencializam sua aprendizagem.