Motor Competence Among Irish Adolescents: An Investigation of Sex Differences and Relatedness Between Fundamental Movement Skills and Functional Movement

Abstract

In prior research, Irish youth displayed poor motor competence across fundamental movement skills (FMS) and functional movements (FM). Our purpose in this study was to compare FMS and FM across male and female Irish adolescents and to determine whether there are associations between these movement domains. We collected data on 373 adolescents (178 females; M age = 14.38, SD = 0.87 years) from six Irish secondary schools, including motor competence testing of 10 FMS, and 7 FM. Overall levels of motor competence of both FMS and FM were low, and certain levels of dysfunctional movement were high. We observed significant sex-based differences in both FMS and FM, and there was a moderate association between FMS and FM that warrants further investigation. There is a need for societal intervention and policy changes to address low levels of motor competence among adolescent youth.