The effects of two movement therapy approaches on selected academic, physical and socio-behavioral measures of first grade children with learning and perceptual-motor problems

Abstract

This study was designed to examine the effects of and to compare two remedial movement interventions on selected measures of academic achievement, physical performance and socio-behavioral adjustment of first grade children with learning and perceptual-motor problems. The two movement treatments were Dance/Movement Therapy (DMT) and Sensory Motor Activities (SMA). Sixty eight pupils were recruited from two comparable schools in the San Francisco Bay area of California and assigned to one of three groups: DMT; SMA; or Control. The two experimental groups received 30 minutes of treatment three times a week over a 13 week period. The Controls engaged in the school’s regular physical education program. The results of Multivariate Analyses of Covariance failed to disclose significant treatment difference among the three groups. Correlation analyses indicated generally low and fluctuating pre-posttest relationships among as well as within treatment groups. In the absence of a significant treatment effect, the unpredictability of group performance over time may have been more an indicator of idiosyncratic pupil performance than treatment efficacy.