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Building From a Stable Foundation? Understanding Stability Skill Proficiency in British Children in the First Year of School.

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Title: Building From a Stable Foundation? Understanding Stability Skill Proficiency in British Children in the First Year of School.
Authors: Duncan, Michael J. (AUTHOR), Crotti, Matteo (AUTHOR), Davies, Katie Fitton (AUTHOR), Africa, Eileen (AUTHOR), Martins, Ricardo (AUTHOR)
Source: Child: Care, Health & Development. May2026, Vol. 52 Issue 3, p1-5. 5p.
Subjects: Motor ability, British people, Logrolling (Medical procedure), T-test (Statistics), Psychology of school children, Research evaluation, Descriptive statistics, Child development, Data analysis software, Postural balance, Video recording, Inter-observer reliability, Children
Geographic Terms: United Kingdom
Abstract: Objective: Stability skill proficiency is purported to be below the norm in children. However, no process‐oriented proficiency data are available examining this issue. This study assessed stability skill proficiency in British children. Materials and Methods: Stability skill proficiency of 243 (116 boys and 127 girls) English children aged 4–5 years was assessed using the Test of Stability Skills. Stability skill proficiency was classed as proficient, near proficient and poor. Results: Approximately 60% did not achieve proficiency in any of the three stability skills. Only three children (1.2%) were proficient in all three stability skills. Individual skill proficiency was poor, with proficiency of the roll, rock and back support being 10.3%, 4.9% and 8.2%, respectively. Conclusion: This study provides preliminary normative data for process‐oriented stability skill in British children aged 4–5 years. As stability skill is a prerequisite for the development of other gross motor skills, such information is important in effective targeting for stability skill intervention. Summary: Stability skills are a key, but often overlooked, aspect of fundamental movement skills, with the predominant approach in the literature focusing on locomotor and object control skills.Although some product‐oriented approaches to motor competence assessment include balance subscales, to date, no studies have reported process‐oriented data relating to stability skills in children aged 4–5 years.This study presents preliminary process‐based data on stability skill, using the Test of Stability Skills, for Reception‐aged children living in high deprivation in England. The results suggest that stability skill proficiency is poor, at approximately 10%, 5% and 8% for the roll, rock and back support skills, respectively.Future work may want to document stability skill proficiency in a more representative sample of children in England to verify the claims of low proficiency suggested in the current work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Child: Care, Health & Development is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
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  Data: Building From a Stable Foundation? Understanding Stability Skill Proficiency in British Children in the First Year of School.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Duncan%2C+Michael J%2E%22">Duncan, Michael J.</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Crotti%2C+Matteo%22">Crotti, Matteo</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Davies%2C+Katie Fitton%22">Davies, Katie Fitton</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Africa%2C+Eileen%22">Africa, Eileen</searchLink> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Martins%2C+Ricardo%22">Martins, Ricardo</searchLink> (AUTHOR)
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Child%3A+Care%2C+Health+%26+Development%22">Child: Care, Health & Development</searchLink>. May2026, Vol. 52 Issue 3, p1-5. 5p.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Motor+ability%22">Motor ability</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22British+people%22">British people</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Logrolling+%28Medical+procedure%29%22">Logrolling (Medical procedure)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22T-test+%28Statistics%29%22">T-test (Statistics)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Psychology+of+school+children%22">Psychology of school children</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Research+evaluation%22">Research evaluation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Descriptive+statistics%22">Descriptive statistics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Child+development%22">Child development</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Data+analysis+software%22">Data analysis software</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Postural+balance%22">Postural balance</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Video+recording%22">Video recording</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Inter-observer+reliability%22">Inter-observer reliability</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Children%22">Children</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22United+Kingdom%22">United Kingdom</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
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  Data: Objective: Stability skill proficiency is purported to be below the norm in children. However, no process‐oriented proficiency data are available examining this issue. This study assessed stability skill proficiency in British children. Materials and Methods: Stability skill proficiency of 243 (116 boys and 127 girls) English children aged 4–5 years was assessed using the Test of Stability Skills. Stability skill proficiency was classed as proficient, near proficient and poor. Results: Approximately 60% did not achieve proficiency in any of the three stability skills. Only three children (1.2%) were proficient in all three stability skills. Individual skill proficiency was poor, with proficiency of the roll, rock and back support being 10.3%, 4.9% and 8.2%, respectively. Conclusion: This study provides preliminary normative data for process‐oriented stability skill in British children aged 4–5 years. As stability skill is a prerequisite for the development of other gross motor skills, such information is important in effective targeting for stability skill intervention. Summary: Stability skills are a key, but often overlooked, aspect of fundamental movement skills, with the predominant approach in the literature focusing on locomotor and object control skills.Although some product‐oriented approaches to motor competence assessment include balance subscales, to date, no studies have reported process‐oriented data relating to stability skills in children aged 4–5 years.This study presents preliminary process‐based data on stability skill, using the Test of Stability Skills, for Reception‐aged children living in high deprivation in England. The results suggest that stability skill proficiency is poor, at approximately 10%, 5% and 8% for the roll, rock and back support skills, respectively.Future work may want to document stability skill proficiency in a more representative sample of children in England to verify the claims of low proficiency suggested in the current work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Child: Care, Health & Development is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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RecordInfo BibRecord:
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      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1111/cch.70270
    Languages:
      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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      Pagination:
        PageCount: 5
        StartPage: 1
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Motor ability
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: British people
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Logrolling (Medical procedure)
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: T-test (Statistics)
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Psychology of school children
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Research evaluation
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Descriptive statistics
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Child development
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Data analysis software
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      – SubjectFull: Postural balance
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      – SubjectFull: Video recording
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      – SubjectFull: Inter-observer reliability
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      – SubjectFull: Children
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      – SubjectFull: United Kingdom
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    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Building From a Stable Foundation? Understanding Stability Skill Proficiency in British Children in the First Year of School.
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            NameFull: Duncan, Michael J.
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              M: 05
              Text: May2026
              Type: published
              Y: 2026
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