Vol. 9, No 1, 2011 pp. 81 - 90
UDC 796.012.266:-055.2
Original empirical article
THE EFFECTS OF AGE AND GENDER ON BALANCE SKILLS IN PRESCHOOL CHILDREN
Fotini Venetsanou1, Antonis Kambas2,1
1Department of Physical Education and Sport Science, Democritus University of Thrace, Greece
2Active Children-Active Schools Research Group, Greece
Abstract. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of age and gender on balance skills in preschool children. For that purpose, the balance subtest of the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency (Bruininks, 1978) was administered to 283 children, 4½ - 6 years old (M=61.77 months, SD= 5.43). For the data analysis, both an ANOVA and a MANOVA were applied on the total subtest score and the eight item scores, respectively. Age was found to have a significant effect on both the subtest (F2,277 = 32.77, p< .001, η2= .19) and item scores (min. F2,277= 17.78, p< .001, min. η2= .11). Significant gender differences were found in the subtest score (F1,277= 14.70, p< .001, η2= .05) and on six of the items (min. F2,277= 4.35, p< .038, min. η2= .01). However, the low values of the η2 associated with gender indicated that those differences were not of great significance.
Key words:  balance skills, BOTMP, preschool age, gender differences.
UTICAJ GODIŠTA I POLA NA SPOSOBNOST BALANSIRANJA MEĐU PREDŠKOLSKOM DECOM
Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je da razmotri uticaj godišta i pola na sposobnost balansiranja među predškolskom decom. Iz tog razloga, koristili smo pod test za balansiranje Bruininks-Oseretsky testa za motoričke sposobnosti (Bruininks, 1978) i primenili ga na 283 dece, uzrasta 4½ - 6 godina (M=61,77 meseci, SD= 5,43). Radi analize podataka, primenili smo i ANOVA i MANOVA analiz na celokupan skor pod testa i na osam pojedinačnih skora, tim redosledom. Ustanovljeno je da godište ima značajan uticaj na oba pod testa (F2,277 = 32,77, p< ,001, η2= ,19) i na pojedinačne testove (min. F2,277= 17.78, p< ,001, min. η2= ,11). Značajne razlike u pogledu pola utvrđene su na skoru pod testa (F1,277= 14,70, p< ,001, η2= ,05) i na šest pojedinačnih testova (min. F2,277= 4,35, p< ,038, min. η2= ,01). Ipak, niske vrednosti η2 koje se povezuju sa polom bile su indikacija da te razlike nisu imale veliki značaj.
Ključne reči: sposobnost balansiranja, BOTMP, predškolski uzrast, razlike u polovima