Gait Variability Relates to Prosocial, Emotional and Risk-Taking Behavior in Typically Developing Children

Abstract

Motor skills enable multi-facetted interactions with the environment and allow children to develop social skills and respond appropriately to situational social demands when interacting with peers and adults. Previous research with clinical samples (e.g., children diagnosed with Developmental Coordination Disorder) showed that children’s motor skills are closely linked to their psychosocial behavior (e.g., prosocial, hyperactive, inattentive, interpersonal), but studies with typically developing children are rare. We sought to fill this research gap by examining relationships between gait variability as an indicator of motor skills and prosocial behavior, problem behavior, and risk-taking behavior in typically developing children. Participants were a large cross-section of 7-13-year-olds ( N = 221). They were asked to walk normally across an electronic pathway (GAITRite). We assessed their gait variability (i.e., stride time, stride length and stride velocity). Their parents completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire that assessed their child’s prosocial behavior, hyperactivity, emotional symptoms, and any conduct or peer relationship problems. Parents also provided information on an adapted scale of the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire assessing risk-taking behavior. We used multilevel modeling to account for individual interdependence and to analyze the maximum number of strides for each participant. Children with greater stride length variability and velocity showed significantly less prosocial behavior, had more emotional symptoms and demonstrated less risk-taking behavior. Stride time variability was not significantly related to any variables. These results align with past findings that gait is sensitive to motor skill differences, and they extend past findings of these associations between gait and facets of intra- and interpersonal characteristics among children within clinical disorders to typically developing children.