| Sažetak (engleski) | The aim of this study is to determine not only the intercorrelation between the social-emotional and motor proficiency developmental domains, but also their age and gender determination. The sample included a total of 563 children attending preschool facilities in the city of Zagreb, aged from three to seven years and of both sexes, and their parents. Social-emotional development was assessed using the Ages and Stages Questionnaire: Social emotional- Second edition (Squires, Bricker & Twombly, 2015), the motor proficiency domain was assessed using the Bruininks- Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency - Second Edition˝ short form (Bruininks and Bruininks, 2005) and The Test of Gross Motor Development - Second Edition (Urlich, 2000) for locomotor and manipulative skills. For the purposes of this study the Ages and Stages Questionnaire: Social Emotional - Second edition (Squires, et al., 2015) was translated into Croatian and adapted, and the metric characteristics were checked in a pilot study (Masnjak, Fulgosi- Masnjak & Masnjak Šušković, 2016). Research has already shown the connection between the developmental domains of social-emotional and motor proficiency. The aim of this study was to determine if there is a connection between social and emotional and motor development among preschool children within the whole sample, as well as according to age and gender. The sample was divided into subsample groups by age: from three to four years old, from four to five years old, from five to six years old and from six to seven years old. The data obtained were processed using canonical correlation analysis and canonical correlation analysis of covariance, or quasi-canonical correlation analysis because of the small sample sizes and distribution of the results. Nine hypotheses were proposed and confirmed by the statistically significant connections between socio-emotional and motor development. Canonical analysis did not produce statistically significant connections for all the hypotheses, but canonical correlation analysis of covariances (quasi-canonical analysis) determined statistically significant connections for all the hypotheses. A significant positive correlation, assumed in the first hypothesis, between motor and social-emotional development, was established in the entire sample of preschool children and the first hypothesis was confirmed. By applying canonical correlation analysis, one significant relationship was found which indicates the connection between better social communication and better overall motor development, that is: fine motor control, manual coordination, body coordination, and strength, and agility. The results of the quasi-canonical analysis indicate a connection between the developmental domains so that better overall motor development, that is, fine motor control, manual coordination, body coordination and strength and agility, is associated with better social communication, cooperation and self-regulation. The second hypothesis was confirmed because significant connections were established between motor development and the level of socioemotional development in all age groups by quasi-canonical analysis. No significant associations were obtained by applying canonical analysis. For the age group from three to four years, quasi-canonical analysis established a significant relationship, which indicates that children with better self-regulation, cooperation, affects, social communication and interaction with peers are better developed in terms of fine motor control. For the age group from four to five years, we obtained two possible quasi-canonical relationships. The first connection indicates that better overall motor development, that is, fine motor control, manual coordination, body coordination, strength and agility are associated with better interaction with peers and social communication. Another quasi-canonical relationship indicates that better body coordination is associated with better interaction and cooperation with adults. In children aged five to six years, we found a connection based on the correlation between better manual coordination, body coordination and strength and agility, and better self-regulation, cooperation and affects. For the age group of children between six and seven years, we again found two possible quasi-canonical relationships; the first connection indicates that better manual coordination, body coordination, and strength and agility are associated with better self-regulation, cooperation, adaptive functioning, and interaction with peers; and the second that better social communication is associated with better fine motor control. Analysis by gender revealed a positive connection between motor and socioemotional development in both boys and girls. The third hypothesis was confirmed because it assumed significant connections between motor and socioemotional development, and these were extracted by canonical and quasi-canonical analysis in both boys and girls. Canonical analysis revealed a correlation indicating that better social communication is associated with better fine motor control in boys. Quasi-canonical analysis indicated that boys with better self-regulation, cooperation, adaptive functioning and social communication are better in overall motor development, that is, fine motor control, manual coordination, body coordination and strength and agility. In the case of girls, a quasi-canonical relationship was established, which found that girls with better social communication are better in overall motor development: fine motor control, manual coordination, body coordination and strength and agility. A significant positive association was also established between locomotor motor development and socioemotional development, which was assumed in the fourth hypothesis. The canonical analysis established a significant relationship whereby better social communication is associated with better jumps, long jumps and side movements, while the quasi-canonical analysis showed a significant relationship whereby children with better jumps, jumps, long jumps and side movements have better social communication, self-regulation and cooperation. The fifth hypothesis was also confirmed which assumes that there is a statistically significant positive connection between the locomotor motor development and socioemotional development of preschool children with regard to the child's age, that is, significant connections were found in all age groups. For the age group from three to four years, three significant relationships were determined by quasi-canonical analysis: the first showed that children with better self-regulation, adaptive functioning, affects and interaction with adults are better at galloping, jumping and moving sideways; the second one showed that children with better self-regulation, cooperation, autonomy and affects are better at jumping and long jump, but worse at galloping, and the third link showed that children with worse self-regulation, cooperation, adaptive functioning, autonomy and social communication are better in running and jumping. For the age group from four to five years, the results indicated two possible significant quasi-canonical relationships: the first showed that children with better self-regulation, cooperation, adaptive functioning, autonomy, affects, social communication and interaction with adults are worse at running, galloping, jumping and moving sideways, and the second that children with better autonomy and interaction with peers are worse in jumping, long jumping, and moving to the side. For the age group of children between five and six years, two quasi-canonical significant relationships were found: the first quasi-canonical relationship indicated that children with worse affects and interaction with peers are better at jumps, long jumps and sideways movements, and the second indicated that children with better autonomy and affects are better at jumps and gallops. In children aged six to seven years, three significant quasi-canonical relationships were established: the first indicated that children with better affect, cooperation, interaction with adults and interaction with peers are better at galloping and jumping, the second link showed that children with better autonomy, social communication and interaction with peers are better at long jump and jumping, and the third that children with better adaptive functioning and interaction with adults, but worse affects, are worse at jumping. We confirmed the sixth hypothesis, which refers to the fact that there is a significant connection between the locomotor motor development and socio-emotional development of children with regard to the gender of the child, that is, the quasi-canonical analysis found significant connections in both boys and girls. In boys, two quasi-canonical relationships were established: the first indicating that better social communication is associated with better jumps, and the second link indicated that poorer self-regulation, cooperation and interaction with adults is associated with better jumping and worse galloping. In girls, two quasi-canonical relationships were established: the first one indicated that better social communication is associated with better jumps, jumps, long jumps and sideways movements, and the second link also established that better autonomy is associated with worse jumps. A significant connection between manipulative motor development and socioemotional development was also established, thus confirming the seventh hypothesis. Canonical analysis revealed two significant relationships: the first connected the domains whereby better autonomy, social communication, interaction with peers, and interaction with adults are associated with better baseball hitting and catching, and the second connected the domains whereby better self-regulation, adaptive functioning, and interaction with adults are associated with better dribbling and catching a ball, kicking a ball, catching a ball and rolling a ball. Applying quasi-canonical analysis, two significant relationships were also established: the first connected the domains so that better self regulation, cooperation, adaptive functioning and social communication were related to better overall manipulative motor development, that is, hitting, driving and catching a baseball, catching the ball, kicking the ball, throwing the ball and rolling the ball, and the second that better self-regulation, adaptive functioning, autonomy, affect, interaction with peers and interaction with adults are associated with better baseball hitting and kicking. The eighth hypothesis was confirmed relating to the fact that there is a significant positive connection between manipulative motor development and socioemotional development of children with regard to the age of the child, that is, significant connections were found in all age groups by quasi-canonical analysis. For the three to four year old group, the quasi-canonical relationship indicated a connection between better self regulation, adaptive functioning, social communication, interaction with adults and better ball rolling. For the age group from four to five years, two significant relationships were established: the first showed that better overall socioemotional development (self regulation, cooperation, adaptive functioning, affects, autonomy, social communication, interaction with peers and interaction with adults) is associated with worse catching and rolling a ball, but better kicking a ball, while the second relationship indicates that better social communication and poorer peer interaction are associated with better baseball hitting and pitching. For the five- to six-year-old age group, the quasi-canonical relationship indicated that better adaptive functioning, affects, and social communication are associated with poorer kicking and catching. For the age group of children from six to seven years, three significant quasi-canonical relationships were established: the first relates to the connection between better self-regulation, cooperation, adaptive functioning, autonomy, interaction with adults, interaction with peers and better kicking a ball, rolling a ball, leading and catching a ball, the second that worse interaction with peers and better interaction with adults are related to better rolling and throwing a ball, and the third that better self-regulation and adaptive functioning are associated with better handling and catching and kicking a ball. The ninth hypothesis, which assumes the existence of a significant positive connection between the manipulative motor development and socioemotional development of preschool children with regard to the gender of the child, was confirmed because significant connections were found by canonical and quasi-canonical analysis. In boys, the canonical analysis established a relationship showing a connection between poorer autonomy, affect and interaction with adults and better baseball hitting and catching a ball. Two quasi-canonical relationships were also found, the first relating to the connection between better social communication and better overall manipulative motor development (hitting, driving and catching a baseball, catching the ball, kicking the ball with the foot, throwing the ball and rolling the ball), and the second about the connection between better overall socioemotional development (self-regulation, cooperation, adaptive functioning, affects, autonomy, social communication, interaction with peers, interaction with adults) and worse hitting and catching a baseball and better kicking the ball. In girls, three quasi canonical significant relationships were found: the first one showing that better social communication is associated with better handling and catching a ball, catching a ball, kicking a ball, throwing a ball and rolling a ball, the second link indicates that better autonomy is associated with better kicking a ball, and the third that better interaction with peers is associated with worse ball rolling. Possible limitations of the study lie in the fact that the subsamples are small, the sample is only representative for the city of Zagreb and the distribution of the results was not normal. The results obtained will possibly allow a better understanding of the connection between the two domains of development because we have found the structures and nature of the determined connections. The results can help form the prerequisites for creating age-appropriate programs for the acquisition of motor skills at preschool age. The contribution of this research is also reflected in the fact that the results and new knowledge can also be applied in direct practical work with children in the form of planning and implementing interventions when a deviation from the orderly development of children is determined. By applying motor activities that include locomotor and manipulative skills, the development of socioemotional skills can be encouraged, that is, the development of self-regulation, cooperation, adaptive functioning, affects, autonomy and social communication, and interaction with adults and peers, can be promoted. Moreover, planned, and targeted socioemotional activities for children such as play can have a positive impact on their motor development. Thereby these results enable the improvement of knowledge about child development and contribute to the quality of education of specialists working with children of preschool age. |
