Effects of a 10-week need-supportive teaching program on motor competence in children ages 7–10 with motor difficulties: a single-group repeated-measures design

Background Children with motor difficulties potentially associated with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) often face challenges in school-based physical activity settings, leading to reduced perceived competence, frustration, and avoidance of movement tasks. Need-supportive teaching, grounded in self-determination theory, emphasizes autonomy, competence, and relatedness support within structured learning environments and may provide a psychologically supportive context for motor learning. Objective This study aimed to examine changes in motor competence during a 10-week need-supportive teaching intervention among children ages 7–10 years with motor difficulties identified through school-based screening. Methods A single-group repeated-measures design was used. Twenty children identified via questionnaire screening for motor coordination difficulties with an MABC-2 total percentile score at or below the 16th percentile (13 boys and 7 girls; mean age, 8.38 ± 1.00 years) participated in a 10-week school-based need-supportive teaching program delivered three times per week, 40 min per session. The program incorporated meaningful choices, progressively graded motor tasks, specific process-focused feedback, and cooperative activities. Outcomes included the MABC-2 total, Manual Dexterity, Aiming and Catching, and Balance standard scores assessed at baseline (T0), after Week 5 (T1), and immediately after Week 10 (T2). Results The median (Q1, Q3) MABC-2 total standard score was 5.50 (5.00, 6.25) at T0, 6.00 (5.00, 7.00) at T1, and 7.00 (6.00, 8.00) at T2. The Friedman test indicated significant changes in performance across the time points, χ 2 (2) = 27.825, p < 0.001, Kendall’s W = 0.696. Holm-adjusted Wilcoxon signed-rank tests showed no significant difference between T0 and T1 (adjusted p = 0.132), but a significant improvement between T0 and T2 (adjusted p < 0.001). Significant performance changes also occurred across the time points for Manual Dexterity ( χ 2 (2) = 20.320, p < 0.001), Aiming and Catching ( χ 2 (2) = 25.033, p < 0.001), and Balance ( χ 2 (2) = 14.966, p < 0.001). Aiming and Catching showed the largest median increase from T0 to T2. Conclusion Motor competence improved over the 10-week program, particularly from T1 to T2, with the largest median increase observed in Aiming and Catching. These preliminary findings should be interpreted cautiously given the single-group design and possible task-specific practice effects.