{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,16]],"date-time":"2025-12-16T12:35:59Z","timestamp":1765888559479,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":44,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,8]],"date-time":"2021-03-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1615161600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001871","name":"Funda\u00e7\u00e3o para a Ci\u00eancia e a Tecnologia","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["Grant UID04045\/2020","UIDB\/00447\/2020 (unit 447)."],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Grant UID04045\/2020","UIDB\/00447\/2020 (unit 447)."]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001871","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Regional Operational Program North 2020,","award":["Project TECH - Technology, Environment, Creativity and Health, Norte-01-0145-FEDER-000043"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Project TECH - Technology, Environment, Creativity and Health, Norte-01-0145-FEDER-000043"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Children"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The number of single-child families has been rising steadily in recent years, resulting in a childhood absent of sibling relationships. Being an only child has been shown to have a negative impact on physical fitness, somatic fitness, and motor development. In this study, we aimed to understand how living with and without siblings can impact the motor competence of children. One hundred and sixty-one children (87 boys, 74 girls) from 3.0 to 6.0 years of age (34 only children, 125 siblings) and with no known motor or cognitive disability were assessed using the Motor Competence Assessment (MCA). Their standardized results on the three MCA subscales (stability, locomotor, and manipulative) and total MCA were used to group them into high, average, and low motor competence groups. Motor competence percentile distribution of the sibling and only child group condition was compared using chi-square tests. Results showed a significative and positive association between the sibling condition and the distribution between the three MC groups (chi-square = 6.29; p = 0.043), showing that children in a household with siblings, independent of their age and sex, show a clear tendency for developing better motor competence.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/children8030204","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,8]],"date-time":"2021-03-08T12:12:18Z","timestamp":1615205538000},"page":"204","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":10,"title":["Siblings\u2019 Influence on the Motor Competence of Preschoolers"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"8","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6804-3600","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Luis P.","family":"Rodrigues","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Escola Superior Desporto e Lazer de Melga\u00e7o, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Viana do Castelo, 4900-347 Viana do Castelo, Portugal"},{"name":"Research Center in Sports Sciences, Health and Human Development (CIDESD), 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9126-5375","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Carlos","family":"Luz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Escola Superior de Educa\u00e7\u00e3o de Lisboa, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Lisboa, 1549-003 Lisboa, Portugal"},{"name":"Centro Interdisciplinar de Estudos Educacionais, 1549-003 Lisboa, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4907-7186","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rita","family":"Cordovil","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculdade de Motricidade Humana, Universidade de Lisboa, 1499-002 Cruz Quebrada-Dafundo, Portugal"},{"name":"Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Human Performance (CIPER), 1499-002 Cruz Quebrada-Dafundo, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2433-5193","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rui","family":"Mendes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Escola Superior de Educa\u00e7\u00e3o, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Coimbra, 3030-329 Coimbra, Portugal"},{"name":"Centro de Investiga\u00e7\u00e3o em Desporto e Atividade F\u00edsica (CIDAF-UC), 3040-248 Coimbra, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Rita","family":"Alexandre","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physical Education, Col\u00e9gio Pedro Arrupe, 1990-529 Lisboa, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1599-2180","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"V\u00edtor P.","family":"Lopes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Center in Sports Sciences, Health and Human Development (CIDESD), 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal"},{"name":"Escola Superior de Educa\u00e7\u00e3o, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Bragan\u00e7a, 5300-253 Bragan\u00e7a, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Eurostat (2020, December 08). 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