RELATIONSHIP OF HANDGRIP STRENGTH TO MOTOR COMPETENCE AND WRITING QUALITY OF CHILDREN IN THE WRITING LEARNING PROCESS

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to analyze whether motor competence (MC) and writing quality (WQ) may differ between children of both sexes, with different strength levels and who are in the learning process of writing. Sixty-one students from 05 to 07 years old enrolled in the first school year participated in the study. To measure handgrip strength (HS) a hand dynamometer was used and to assess the MC the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency Test, Second Edition BOT-2 was used for Fine Motor Precision, Fine Motor Integration, Manual dexterity and Bilateral Coordination. The assessment of WQ was performed by the teachers. One-way ANOVA was used to compare MC and WQ according to HS, while two-way ANOVA was used to compare MC and WQ according to HS and gender. Overall, the HS was higher (p <0.05) in both hands of boys (right = 8.1 ± 1.0kg; left = 7.8 ± 1.3kg) compared to girls (right = 6.8 ± 0.9kg; left = 6.6 ± 1.3kg). When separated into thirds of HS levels, regardless of gender, MC was higher in children of higher strength. When divided by the median strength and based on gender, the highest strength boys (above the median) were superior to the lower strength boys (p <0.01) and that the girls, regardless of the strength level (p < 0.05). No effects were found on WQ. The results suggest that in children learning to write, HS seems to impact MC, favoring boys with highest strength, but WQ does not seem to be influenced by force, regardless of gender.