School of Health Sciences, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia.
School of Education, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia.
Phys Occup Ther Pediatr. 2021;41(6):655-669. doi: 10.1080/01942638.2021.1912247. Epub 2021 Apr 19.
Handwriting is an essential life skill, impacted by proficiency in visual-motor integration and fine motor control. The increase in the use of digital technology has changed the way children interact with their environments, and potentially, the development of the important requisite skills for handwriting. This study examined the "handwriting readiness" skills of children born in the digital age. 219 children in their first year of formal schooling (mean age = 5 years, 10 months), completed the Beery Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual Motor Integration (Beery-VMI) and the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency, Second Edition (BOT-2) Short Form to assess visual motor integration, overall motor proficiency, and fine motor proficiency. Pencil grasp was also observed. Data analysis consisted of descriptive statistics and comparison to established normative data using summary t-tests. Participants met the expected performance level on the Beery-VMI and the manual dexterity subtest of the BOT-2. However, overall motor proficiency on the BOT-2 for our sample was lower than published normative data. Further, 60.3% of participants used static pencil grasps. The findings prompt us to question the potential contribution of digital technology to changes in motor performance among children in the digital age.
书写是一项基本的生活技能，受到视觉运动整合和精细运动控制能力的影响。数字技术的广泛应用改变了儿童与环境互动的方式，也可能改变了儿童书写所需重要技能的发展方式。本研究旨在调查数字时代出生的儿童的“书写准备”技能。219 名刚进入正规学校教育第一年的儿童（平均年龄=5 岁 10 个月）完成了比耶里视觉运动整合测试（Beery-VMI）和布鲁因克斯-奥塞尔斯基运动能力测试，第二版（BOT-2）短式版，以评估视觉运动整合、整体运动能力和精细运动能力。还观察了铅笔抓握情况。数据分析包括描述性统计和使用汇总 t 检验与既定的规范数据进行比较。参与者在 Beery-VMI 和 BOT-2 的手动灵巧性测试中达到了预期的表现水平。然而，我们样本的 BOT-2 整体运动能力低于已发表的规范数据。此外，60.3%的参与者使用静态铅笔抓握。这些发现促使我们质疑数字技术对数字时代儿童运动表现变化的潜在影响。
