Validity and reliability of the short-form of the assessment battery for children-second edition (MABC-2-SF) in Spanish children aged 4-7 years

Background. Adequate motor competence during childhood influences physical activity, fitness, and overall development, highlighting the importance of early screening. Despite the lack of a universal assessment tool, the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-second edition (MABC-2) is widely used but time-consuming. Aims. This cross-sectional study of 147 Spanish children aged 4-7 years (age 5.41±0.55; 47.62% girls; ethnicity white) aimed to examine the validity and reliability of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-second edition short-form (MABC-2-SF) in children. Methods and procedures. The validity was tested using exploratory factor analysis and convergent validity analysis, and reliability was assessed by concordance and test performance analysis. Outcomes and results. The results showed that the MABC-2-SF, which consisted of three subtests, is valid, reliable and useful for pre-screening Spanish children’s motor competence aged 4-7 with a 94.16% probability of pre-screening children who are not at risk for developmental motor coordination disorder. Conclusions and implications. The MABC-2-SF allows pre-screening children’s motor competence in a more adjusted cost-efficient way of collecting extensive sample data that could facilitate mass pre-screening tests, benefiting clinicians, educators, and researchers working with young children.