Motor Development in Early Childhood (3–5 Year Olds): Investigating Longitudinal Changes in Children’s Movement Patterns and Outcome Performance

There is a common assumption that changes in developmental movement patterns (process) leads to better skill outcome performance (product); however, limited longitudinal data evaluate this assumption. This study examined (a) the longitudinal relationship among process and product motor skill scores across early childhood (3.5–6 years) and (b) the extent to which changes in children’s process scores (e.g., movement pattern) predicted changes in product scores (e.g., outcome performance) controlling sex and developmental factors of age and anthropometrics. Children ( n = 135; M age = 53.4 months) completed a battery of five motor skills (throwing, kicking, standing long jump, running, and hopping), assessed with both process and product scores. The relationship among process and product scores were examined using Spearman rank correlations; longitudinal relationships were examined using linear-mixed models with random intercepts. There were weak to strong correlations in process and product scores (range = .04–.77). Controlling for age, sex, and anthropometrics, there was a small inverse linear relationship between process scores of the hop and hopping speed. These results provide novel insight into motor development performance trends in early childhood. These data challenge traditional assumptions that, in general, longitudinal changes in children’s process scores do not necessarily reflect changes in product scores.