The physical activity experiences of children with attention -deficit/hyperactivity disorder and movement difficulties

Children with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) often experience challenges in physical activity (PA) behaviours due to their poor movement performances (Harvey et al., 2007) that may also overlap with movement behaviour disorders, like Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD; Sergeant, Piek, & Oosterlaan, 2006). The purpose of this pilot study was to investigate the PA experiences of boys with ADHD who had a range of movement difficulties. It explored the good and not so good PA days of six boys with ADHD to gain a broader understanding of PA experiences from each child's perspective. The convenience sample of six boys with ADHD, 7-12 years, was recruited from an ADHD clinic at a provincial mental health university institute in Quebec, Canada. A sequential mixed-method research design was employed to understand the boys' PA experiences. First, two quantitative movement skill assessment tests, Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2 (MABC-2) and Test of Gross Motor Development-Second Edition (TGMD-2), were administered. The boys were categorized into two groups, based on the results from the MABC-2 test scores. Three boys were placed into the Amber/Red (A/R)-Zone group (i.e., "at risk" of having DCD or movement difficulties) and three boys were placed into the Green (G)-Zone group (i.e., no movement difficulties). The TGMD-2 scores showed that both groups demonstrated poor fundamental movement skills. This finding was expected for the A/R-Zone group but not for the G-Zone group. A new qualitative, visual research method, called the storybook-telling interview technique, was also created for this pilot study. The method enabled child-friendly, semi-structured PA interviews to be conducted with each participant. Within- and between-case analyses were performed during thematic analyses. Five themes emerged from the interview: Activity, Knowledge, Self-Awareness, Other People and Interview. Both groups shared similar experiences because they related positive feelings about performing specific movement skills and playing with family and friends during PA. A few differences were also present. The boys in the A/R-Zone group experienced asocial behaviours from their peers (e.g., exclusion) whereas the boys in the G-Zone group spoke about building rapport with peers during PA. This is the first qualitative study to concurrently explore the PA experiences of children with ADHD/DCD (e.g. A/R-Zone group) and ADHD (e.g., G-Zone group). It is hoped that this pilot study will lead to more research studies in this area to encourage all children with ADHD to lead a healthy and active lifestyle in the long term.

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