An Examination of the Relations between Fine Motor Abilities and Executive Functioning in Children with Down Syndrome

Fine motor (FM) and executive development were once thought to be independent of one another. More recent research suggests that these constructs are inter-connected. Understanding relations between FM abilities, which are readily assessed in early childhood, and executive functioning (EF) may inform research trying to identify early markers of later EF impairments in children with Down syndrome (DS). Studies have also rarely examined FM abilities in DS relative to their MA-matched TD peers. This study further characterizes FM abilities in children with DS relative to their MA-matched TD peers and their relationship to EF abilities. Thirty-one children with DS (Male = 42%; Mage=11.54 years) completed the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test 2nd Edition, Bruininks-Oseretsky Test 2nd Edition (BOT-2), Missing Scan Task (MST), NIH Toolbox Flanker Task, and NIH Toolbox Dimensional Change Card Sort Task (DCCS). Twenty-three children with typical development (Male = 57%; Mage= 5.09 years), matched on mental age and sex, also completed these measures. A series of independent sample t-tests were conducted to examine group differences on the BOT-2 FM subtests. Correlational analyses were calculated to examine relations between BOT-2 FM subtests and EF measures (MST, Flanker, DCCS). Children with DS performed worse than MA-matched TD controls on the BOT-2 manual dexterity subtest (t(44)=-2.76; p<.01, d=.81). Conversely, groups did not differ significantly on either the BOT-2 FM Precision subtest or BOT-2 FM Integration subtest (ps>.05). Correlational analyses revealed that BOT-2 FM integration (r=.42) and BOT-2 manual dexterity (r=.46) were both significantly (p<.05) positively correlated with the NIH Flanker task. Additionally, FM precision was significantly (p<.05) positively correlated with the NIH DCCS task (r=.40). No other FM-EF correlations were significant (ps >.05). Our findings highlight the extent to which manual dexterity abilities are impaired in children with DS. They also provide preliminary support that FM abilities are related to specific EF skills in children with DS. Thus, future studies should examine these relations longitudinally to evaluate the predictive validity of FM skills for later EF impairment in children with DS.