Introducing the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-3 and Its Potential for Application in Motor Development Assessment of Korean Children

Motor development is a critical factor not only in physical growth but also in the cognitive and socio-emotional development of children. Early identification of motor delays using standardized assessment tools is essential for timely intervention, especially for children at risk of developmental coordination disorder (DCD). The Movement Assessment Battery for Children-Second Edition (MABC-2) has been widely used in clinical, educational, and research settings to assess motor development in both typically developing children and those at risk of those at risk of DCD. However, concerns have been raised regarding its ecological validity, ceiling effects in older children, limited age coverage, and potential evaluator bias. In response, the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-Third Edition (MABC-3) was released in 2023, incorporating substantial revisions in task composition, scoring systems, expanded age bands, and cultural standardisation. This study introduces the structure and features of MABC-3 and compares it with MABC-2 across multiple dimensions, including age-specific task sets and scoring criteria. Furthermore, this research discusses the applicability of MABC-3 to the Korean context, highlighting its potential use in physical education, special education, occupational therapy, and developmental psychology. The expanded age range (up to 25 years), refined task difficulty, improved scoring system that captures performance variability and consistency, and the availability of self-report checklists suggest that MABC-3 may serve as a more sensitive and developmentally appropriate tool for assessing motor skills in Korean children and adolescents, both with and without motor difficulties. Implications for future implementation, localization, and interdisciplinary use are also discussed.