Modification of the relative age effect on 4-6-year-old schoolchildren’s motor competence after an intervention with balance bike

Abstract

The aims of this study were to explore: 1) the relative age effect (RAE) on aiming and catching (A&C), balance (Bal) and manual dexterity (MD) skills in 4-6-year-old schoolchildren; 2) the effect of the balance bikes program intervention; 3) the effect of this program based on gender. The Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2 (MABC-2) was administered to 50 schoolchildren [26 boys (52%) and 24 girls (48%)], aged between 4 and 5 years (M = 4.46 ; SD = 0.503), from an educational centre in Galicia (Spain), at the beginning and at the end of the intervention program. The results showed that there were statistically significant differences before the application of the intervention program with respect to the quarter of birth in MD (p = .013); A&C (p = .02) and TTS (p < .001) but not in Bal (p = .137). After the intervention, it is observed that the previous differences disappear [MD (p = .755); A&C (p = .806); TTS (p = .507)], in addition, all scores are better than before the application of the intervention program. Regarding gender, no statistically significant effect is observed either before or after applying the intervention program on the variables studied. The results obtained suggest that the application of an intervention using balance bikes could positively influence the improvement of MC in preschool children (boys and girls) and reduce the differences produced by the RAE.