Dose–Response Relationship: The Effect of Motor Skill Intervention Duration on Motor Performance
Abstract
Background: This study examined the effects of three different treatment doses of a motor skill intervention (the Children’s Health Activity Motor Program [CHAMP]) on changes in preschoolers’ motor performance. Methods: Onehundred and nine children were divided into one of four groups: control and three CHAMP dosage groups: T 1 , 660 min; T 2 , 720 min; or T 3 , 900 min. Motor performance was assessed before and after the intervention using the Test of Gross Motor Development, 2nd Edition (TGMD-2). We used a 2 (time) × 4 (treatment) mixed-measures ANOVA to determine interaction and main effects. Significant interactions were decomposed using separate one-way between groups ANOVAs at each time point followed by Tukey’s post hoc tests. Results: Results revealed a significant time × treatment interaction ( F 3, 100 = 16.79; p < .001). There were no differences across treatment groups before the intervention ( F 3, 100 = .075, p < .90), but after the intervention the control group had significantly lower TMGD-2 scores compared with all three CHAMP intervention groups ( F 3, 100 = 9.92, p < .001, all post hoc tests, p < .001). Posttreatment differences can be attributed to greater improvements in motor performance following the CHAMP intervention regardless of specific dosage. Conclusions: Motor performance scores for all children who completed CHAMP significantly improved.