2.2. Movement Assessment Battery for Children-Second Edition (M-ABC-2)

The Movement Assessment Battery for Children-Second Edition (M-ABC-2) is a standardized tool used to test fine and gross motor skills with the purpose of identifying individuals with motor function impairments. Children were required to perform eight tasks grouped into three sections (manual dexterity; aiming and grasping; balance) on which they were scored and rated. The performance test M-ABC-2 covers three age bands: 3:00–4:11 years, 5:00–10:11 years, and 11:00–16:11. The present study involved the administration of the Manual Dexterity scale only, which included the following three tasks: inserting coins into a piggy bank; threading beads into a wire; and tracing a path inside margins with a pen. The M-ABC-2 provides a total score and a standardized score adjusted for age and percentile of the motor functioning of the assessed individual. The M-ABC-2 battery provides a “traffic light” system that allows for the interpretation of performance scores according to a risk categorization. Any child whose score falls at or below the 5th percentile is regarded as having a significant movement difficulty (red zone), between the 6th and 15th percentile at risk of developing motor difficulties that require to be monitored over time (amber zone), and above the 16th percentile as unlikely to have a movement difficulty (green zone).

The M-ABC-2 test requires an individual setting. The ideal assessing room should be 6 m × 4 m in size and have at least one smooth white wall (preferably without windows). Furthermore, it should be well lit and ventilated. There must be a table and two chairs available. Recommendations are provided that the table and chairs height are adjusted according to the height of the child to be evaluated. The table surface should be approximately at the level of the child’s elbow when seated. Finally, the child must be able to rest their feet firmly on the ground or on a raised platform.

The M-ABC-2 shows good psychometric proprieties with high test-retest reliability ranging across one week from 0.92 to 0.98 [60] and indicating that the Movement ABC provides stable values over a 1-wk period in all age bands. Concurrent validity estimated with the Bruininks–Oseretsk Test of Motor Proficiency (BOTMP; [61]) as the criterion measure was good (range of Pearson’s r values from 0.60 and 0.90) [60]. These findings have been confirmed by the study of Swee and colleagues [62], showing a correlation coefficient of 0.79 between the M-ABC-2 and the BOTMP-SF, a coefficient of 0.86 between the M-ABC-2 and the McCarron Assessment of Neuromuscolar Development (MAND; [63]) and a coefficient of 0.83 between the BOTMP-SF and the MAND.