The comparison of psychomotor development between adolescents aged 14 and 15 from Prague orphanages and their peers from grade schools
Abstract
The results of international studies showed significantly lower levels in psychomotor development of adolescents from orphanages in comparison with conventional development standards of the majority of society (Roeber, Gunnar, & Pollak, 2014; Roeber, Tober, Bolt, & Pollak, 2012). Due to the fact that there is currently no study in this area in the Czech Republic, it is important to analyze the psychomotor development of adolescents in Czech Republic in this field.
The psychomotor development of adolescents was tested with the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency, Second Edition (BOT-2), which contains 52 items, divided into twelve dimensions. We focused on fine, gross motor skills, coordination and agility.
The sample consists of 108 adolescents from the Prague region: N=45 adolescents from orphanages (mean age: 14.87+-0.54); N=63 adolescents from grade schools (mean age: 14.81+-0.47). Adolescents from grade schools showed significantly better results only in the areas fine motor precision (p<.01; η2=.28) and fine manual control (p<.01; η2=.29) in comparison with adolescents from orphanages.
The comparison between girls from orphanages and from grade schools showed differences in the dimension running speed and agility (p<.01; η2=.15): girls from grade schools in this case achieved a higher score. The boys from orphanages achieved lower scores compared to boys from grade schools in the areas fine manual control (p<.01; η2=.30) and fine motor precision (p<.01; η2=.29).
These findings show differences in the psychomotor development between adolescents from orphanages in Prague and their peers from elementary school in the dimension fine motor precision and fine manual control. In contrast to international studies, our results do not confirm differences in psychomotor development in bilateral coordination and body coordination tests.