Importance: The Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire (DCDQ) is the most widely used measure of difficulties with activities of daily living and academic performance in children with developmental coordination disorder, but this tool has not been adapted for use in Spain. Objective: To translate and cross-culturally adapt the DCDQ into European Spanish (DCDQ–ES) for use in assessing motor coordination in Spanish children. Design: Cross-cultural adaptation and preliminary validation study. Setting: Community and mainstream schools in Spain. Participants: A committee of five experts oversaw the cross-cultural adaptation process. A community-based convenience sample of 31 parents of children ages 5–14 yr was used to test the comprehensibility of the DCDQ–ES. Preliminary reliability was tested with 35 randomly selected parents of children ages 6–12 yr. Outcomes and Measures: The DCDQ was translated into European Spanish and cross-culturally adapted following international guidelines. Comprehensibility was assessed using cognitive debriefing interviews. The final version of the DCDQ–ES was used for the reliability analysis. Results: Cultural relevance and equivalence and idiomatic differences between the DCDQ and DCDQ–ES were evaluated. Comprehensibility analysis led to minor modifications that facilitated comprehension and interpretation. Internal consistency and homogeneity of the DCDQ–ES were good (Cronbach’s α = .857, corrected item–total correlations = .268–.692). Conclusions and Relevance: The DCDQ–ES is conceptually and semantically equivalent to DCDQ and was successfully cross-culturally adapted for the European Spanish context. Preliminary data suggest that the DCDQ–ES is a reliable measure of motor coordination in Spanish children. What This Article Adds: This study provides evidence of the cultural equivalence of the DCDQ–ES for use with Spanish children. Occupational therapists in Spain can use the DCDQ–ES to evaluate children’s motor coordination difficulties in everyday activities.

OBJECTIVE. The aim of this study was to conduct a broad in-depth examination of the relationship between developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and use of executive strategies, daily life activities, emotional state, and internal factors attributed to success. METHOD. We used a large randomized cohort of young adults. Structural equation modeling was performed to test both the direct effects and the mediated effects of the independent variable (probable DCD) on dependent variables (executive functions, academic and nonacademic activities, emotional state, and attribution to success). RESULTS. Probable DCD had a direct and significant effect on all variables. Motor coordination impairments directly affected daily function in nonacademic and academic abilities and resulted in decreased use of executive strategies. Likewise, all the indirect effects hypothesized in the model were found to be significant. CONCLUSION. The model revealed the direct and indirect influences of probable DCD on a range of functions, with far-reaching clinical implications.

OBJECTIVE. This study investigated the mediational role of team sports and other leisure occupations for boys ages 10 to 13 years in the relationship between physical coordination ability and perceptions of loneliness. METHOD. Sixty boys with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and 113 comparison boys without DCD completed a self-report measure of loneliness. Parents recorded information on leisure involvement over 7 days. RESULTS. Boys with DCD recorded significantly higher loneliness and lower participation rates in all group physical activities, whether structured (e.g., team sports) or unstructured (e.g., informal outdoor play) than boys without DCD. An inverse relationship between physical coordination ability and loneliness was mediated by participation in team sports. No other leisure pursuits were found to be significant mediators. Childhood physical coordination difficulties were significantly associated with loneliness. CONCLUSION. Participation in team sports acted as one potential mechanism mediating the inverse relationship between physical coordination ability and loneliness in boys. Occupational therapists can act as advocates to support boys with DCD who choose to participate in team sports. Further investigations are recommended to determine aspects of team sports environments that promote an optimal fit among child, activity, and environment.

OBJECTIVE. The ability to use perceptual cues within the environment to guide movement accurately can be acquired implicitly in that skill may increase while the learner is not consciously aware of what cues are being used. In this study, the implicit learning capabilities of children with and without developmental coordination disorder were compared. METHOD. Twenty-two children (11 with developmental coordination disorder, 11 without the disorder) played a computer game where they “caught” a descending ball image with a paddle on the screen. The dependent variable was accuracy of catch, as measured by the score on the computer game. On training trials, a visual cue appeared 50% of the time that signaled the direction of the ball. On probe trials, the visual cue was false. After completing the task, the children were interviewed about their conscious awareness of the cue. A mixed factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze the data for group comparisons. RESULTS. Of the 22 children, only 6 indicated that they were aware of the cue. A mixed factorial ANOVA was significant for greater error when the visual cue was false, F(1.12, 22.49) = 27.27, p = .000, indicating that the children responded to the cue. No difference was found between groups in game performance. CONCLUSION. Children with developmental coordination disorder in this study were able to implicitly recognize and use a perceptual cue to enhance their performance on a computer game. Strategies that foster implicit learning may be relevant to occupational therapy intervention.

The findings of a small qualitative interview study with 8 parents of 6 children with developmental coordination disorder are reported. The parents discussed the social consequences of their children’s motor difficulties. The new International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health was used as a framework for the analysis of the interview transcripts. The analysis revealed that the parents believed that their children’s impairments restrict their participation in society. The interactions between impairment and participation are interpreted in the context of stigma and its management. The significance of occupational therapy interventions in the area of physical activity play to children’s social life is discussed.