The Self-Esteem and Motor Performance of Young Learning Disabled Children

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between motor performance and specific dimensions of self-esteem in children with learning disability and developmental coordination disorder (LD-DCD). This relationship was examined through secondary analyses of data collected in two treatment efficacy studies. Young LD-DCD children seen for occupational therapy treatment had significantly lower level of teacher-reported academics self-esteem and self-reported physical and cognitive competence than the norm. As well, the low teacher- reported academic self-esteem was found to be significantly related to both overall motor and gross motor performance. Reduced level of perceived physical competence were significantly related to overall and fine motor performance.