Perceived Activity Competence and Participation in Everyday Activities of Children With and Without Neurodevelopmental Disorders.

Abstract

Aim: To compare children with and without neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) in self-rated activity competence, participation, and the associations between activity competence and participation.

Methods: This cross-sectional study included 126 children with NDD and 115 without NDD, aged 6-12 years, who completed interviews with the Perceived Efficacy and Goal Setting System (PEGS) and Picture My Participation (PmP). Independent t-tests or Mann-Whitney U tests examined group differences in the PEGS and PmP scores. Correlation and regression analyses examined associations between the PEGS and PmP scores.

Results: Children with NDD perceived lower physical competence than children without NDD, particularly in self-care (d = 0.80) and leisure (d = 0.66). The two groups did not differ in participation. Both groups demonstrated significant correlations between perceived activity competence and attendance (r = 0.21-0.49) and involvement (r = 0.19-0.53); significantly lower correlations were observed in children with NDD than those without (d = 0.22-0.28). Perceived activity competence significantly influenced attendance (β = 0.365) and involvement (β = 0.391).

Conclusions: Children with NDD perceived less competency than peers without NDD. Children's perceived activity competence is correlated bi-directionally with perceived participation. Clinicians can support competence to promote participation, or by supporting participation, the competence can be enhanced.