Movement Assessment Battery for Children-Second Edition: Theoretical Adequacy of a Motor Assessment Instrument

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the adequacy of the theoretical model of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-Second Edition (MABC-2) instrument. Methods: 582 children, of both sexes, aged between 3 and 5 years and residents in the city of Maringá (state of Paraná, Southern Brazil) participated in the study. Data were collected from May/2014 to June/2015 and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: The evidence obtained from exploratory factor analysis indicated the presence of two factors, which was the option that best fitted the explanatory model. Hence, it was necessary to regroup the motor tasks of the dimensions “Aiming & catching” and “Balance” into only one dimension. It is noteworthy that the “Bicycle trail” motor task did not fit the model, as it presented a low and negative factor load in the analyzed dimensions. In the confirmatory factor analysis, adequate adjustment indices were observed for the tested model, which confirmed the non-classification of the “Bicycle trail” motor task in the original dimension. Conclusions: After removing the “Bicycle trail” motor task, the adjusted two-factor model seems to be the most appropriate to assess the motor performance of children participating in the study.