Systematic Review on Executive Functions in Children with Poor Motor Skills and With Development Coordination Disorder

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to describe the tests used to assess working memory, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility, and analyzed the main research results related to executive functions in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder or with poor motor skills. Methods: This review used as data sources studies in MEDLINE, Web of Science, APA PsycNET, EMBASE, and Google Scholar with children with poor motor skills, DCD, and typical development. Quality of the studies was conducted using the Newcastle Ottawa Scale. Results: 1475 papers found, 31 matched the review criteria; 31 different executive function tests used to assess children with poor motor skills and DCD. Across the 31 studies, included in this systematic review, eleven studies examined only the working memory; ten studies measured only inhibition, a single study measured only cognitive flexibility, three studies examined the working memory and inhibition, one study examined inhibition and cognitive flexibility, one study examined working memory and cognitive flexibility and four studies examined the three executive functions. In conclusion, many tests were used to assess children with poor motor skill and DCD requiring verbal, nonverbal, or complex visuospatial processing, with or without motor demand involved. In some tests the different demands or different types of stimulus involved cause secondary loss in execution. The executive functions deficits in children with poor motor skills and DCD are in a wide ranging and extend across basic all functions assessed (working memory, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility). The pervasive and persistent nature of the executive function deficits suggests a need for a more aligned methodological approach to investigate this phenomenon.