John Cairney

The University of Queensland | UQ · School of Human Movement Studies

Children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) have higher rates of obesity compared to children with typical motor development, and, as a result may be at increased risk for developing metabolic syndrome (MetS). The purpose of this study was to determine the presence of MetS and its components among children with and without DCD. This nes...

Children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) are known to participate in active play less than typically developing children. However, it is not known whether the activity deficit between children with and without DCD widens or diminishes over time. Data were obtained from a large, prospective cohort study of children (baseline n=2278, t...

To test a theoretical model linking developmental coordination disorder (DCD) to reduced physical activity (PA) through the mediating influence of generalized self-efficacy regarding PA. This was a cross-sectional investigation of students in grades 4 through 8 from 5 elementary schools in the Niagara region of Ontario, Canada (n=590). Motor profic...

Objectives To examine the effect of cumulative prenatal risk factors (RFs) on the presence of Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) in young children. Methods Participants (N = 589, 338 boys, Mage = 4.5 ± 0.5 years) were from a larger cohort study, the Coordination and Activity Tracking in Children (CATCH). Motor coordination was assessed usin...

Introduction The golden section or golden ratio (61.8% or 0.618) is a mathematical phenomenon that appears in art, literature, music and nature with such ubiquity that it is thought to be a fundamental principle of aesthetic organisation. The golden ratio also manifests in sport, particularly as the proportion of wins to losses required to win a Ma...

Since 2015, the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization has posited physical literacy as a central tenet and pedagogical reform initiative of quality physical education. An assessment of physical literacy is, therefore, becoming an increasingly important aspect of physical education in schools. Internal and external threats t...

Objectives Reliable measurements of health‐related fitness—cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular endurance, muscular strength, body composition, and flexibility—are imperative for understanding and tracking health‐related fitness from the preschool age. This study aimed to examine the test–retest reliability of field‐based (i.e., sit and reach [sta...

Background: Children, on average, do not engage in sufficient physical activity to reap the physical, mental, and social health benefits. Understanding the value that children place on movement across social contexts, and the relative ranking of this valuation, may help us to understand and intervene on activity levels. Method: This exploratory stu...

This conceptual analysis aims to challenge the state of high-performance sport by questioning the concept of specialization. To start, we offer a brief, but critical overview of what specialization currently entails. Then, shifting the paradigm, we suggest an expansion rather than a reduction of developmental possibilities once an athlete reaches t...

The present video reports the most recent findings of the development of a physical literacy interventions reporting template (PLIRT) Carl, J., Barratt, J., Arbour-Nicitopoulos, K., Barnett, L.M., Dudley, D.A., Holler, P.,... Cairney, J. (2023). Development, explanation, and presentation of the Physical Literacy Interventions Reporting Template (P...

Introduction/purpose: To determine personal, environmental, and participation factors that predict children's physical activity (PA) trajectories from preschool through to school years. Methods: 279 children (4.5 ± 0.9 years old, 52% boys) were included in this study. PA was collected via accelerometry at 6 different timepoints over 6.3 ± 0.6 ye...

Background The physical literacy (PL) concept integrates different personal (e.g., physical, cognitive, psychological/affective, social) determinants of physical activity and has received growing attention recently. Although practical efforts increasingly adopt PL as a guiding concept, latest evidence has shown that PL interventions often lack spec...

Aim Some studies have reported that children with poor motor functioning tend to improve over time. However, much existing research does not account for regression towards the mean (RTM). Here, we examine measurement stability among 589 children aged 4–5 years. Method We administered the Movement Assessment Battery for Children 2nd Edition annuall...

The present video reports the findings of our recent systematic review with meta-analysis on the effectivenes of physical literacy (PL) interventions, published in Sports Medicine, 52, 2965-2999. doi: 10.1007/s40279-022-01738-4

The present video reports the findings of a our systematic review on the design and content of physical literacy (PL) interventions, published in Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 58, 102091. doi: 10.1016/j.psychsport.2021.102091

This study aimed to develop and evaluate the acceptability and feasibility of a web-based platform for parents to support preschoolers’ development of physical literacy. Specifically, this intervention focused on children’s motor and social-emotional skill development. Twenty parents ( M age = 35.7, SD = 4.2) of preschool-aged children ( M age = 4....

Objective: The circus professionalization process entails extensive training to mitigate the high-risk demands which increase stress in artists. In high-risk professions, everyday hassles (challenges) contribute greatly to overall stress. To capture the impact of daily challenges on student-artists, the aim of the current study was to describe the...

Purpose of Review Children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) have consistently been found to be at higher risk of physical inactivity, as they tend to have deficits or difficulties performing the complex motor skills required for participation. Consequently, children with DCD have also been found to be at greater risk for cardiorespira...

Background The holistic concept of physical literacy assumes that individuals require adequate cognitive (knowledge and understanding), affective (motivation and confidence), and physical (physical competence) qualities to engage in lifelong physical activity behavior. In recent years, the research field has undergone rapid development and has also...

Purpose Physical activity (PA) has been shown to enhance executive functions (EFs) in children, and PA involving a cognitive component may confer additional benefit. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether cognitively engaging PA impacts EF, and whether affect and fitness act as either mediators or moderators of this relationship. Met...

Developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is often comorbid with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). While children with DCD engage in less moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) compared to typically developing (TD) children, research pertaining to how ADHD affects this relationship is limited. We investigated the effect of ADH...

Objective To determine the effects of learning interventions aimed at optimizing the quality of physical education (PE) on psychomotor, cognitive, affective and social learning outcomes in children and adolescents. Design A systematic review and meta-analysis. Data Sources After searching PsycInfo, ERIC, and SportDiscus electronic databases, we i...

Although psychological distress has been shown to increase during adolescence, participation in organized activities may have protective effects. The present study aimed to identify whether there is a relationship between high school student-athletes’ breadth of participation in organized activities and psychological distress, using a latent class...

Objectives This study examined the physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviour (SB) along with the developmental progression of 2087 Canadian students. It also examined whether their physical literacy (PL) predicts latent class affiliations and transition probabilities from grades 5 to 6 and whether this affiliation in grade 6 predicts body mass...

Background The concept of physical literacy (PL) has gained worldwide interest due in large part to alarming decreases in physical activity (PA) and increases in overweight and obesity. Although the concept is gaining in popularity, critical gaps in research remain including the need to develop quality assessment tools to determine PL levels, to ev...

Purpose Increased adiposity in children confers a higher risk of cardiovascular disease in later life, with low cardiorespiratory fitness strongly linked to poorer metabolic health. Children with motor coordination problems are likely to be less physically fit and at a higher risk of obesity. In this study, we examined the associations between aero...

Grounded in social cognitive theory (SCT), this study sought to examine whether parents perceived social cognitive factors regarding children's physical activity (PA) behaviors were associated with preschool children's moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) levels. A total of 142 Hong Kong parent-child pairs from five preschools/childcare centers completed...

Purpose: The associations between longitudinal physical activity (PA) patterns across childhood and physical literacy have not been studied. The purpose of this study was to identify PA trajectories from preschool to school-age, and to determine if trajectory group membership was associated with school-age physical literacy. Methods: Participant...

The evaluation of motor coordination is important for diagnosing children and adolescents with motor impairments. However, motor coordination may be affected by time-of-day effects, and thus, the intra-day variation could subsequently influence the assessment accuracy of the standardized test used in the diagnostic process. To the best of our knowl...

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate longitudinal associations between physical activity and early childhood neurodevelopment. Methods: Data from 1673 children from the 2015 Pelotas (Brazil) birth cohort study were analyzed. Physical activity was measured using accelerometers on the wrist at ages 1, 2, and 4 years. Neurodevelopme...

Background To date, no research has investigated social determinants of leisure time physical activity through the lens of intersectionality in a low- and middle-income country. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the intersectionality in leisure time physical activity in a nationwide sample of Brazilian adults. Methods Data from the B...

The concept of physical literacy (PL) has gained increasing attention over the last decade and posits that individuals value and take responsibility for engagement in physical activities for life through (a) motivation/ confidence, (b) physical competence, and (c) knowledge/understanding. There is a mounting number of articles that have recently tr...

This study explored how athletes’ symptoms of mental disorders changed over the course of pandemic year. Predictors of baseline levels and changes in symptoms of mental disorders were also examined. Surveys were completed four times throughout a year by Canadian athletes training for the 2020 Olympics/Paralympics (ntime1 = 186, ntime2 = 142, ntime3...

This study examined the home advantage effect in decisive National Basketball Association Conference Finals and Finals series playoff games from 1979 to 2019 (the 3-point shot era). We also examined the potential contribution of various offensive- and defensive-based skills and whether these skills mediated the relationship between game status (dec...

The aim of this study was to apply the Multi-Process Action Control model to examine how the additions of regulatory and reflexive processes predict physical activity (PA) behaviors among adolescents. Our sample included 1,176 Grade 11 students ( M age = 15.85 ± 0.38) recruited from a large school board in Southern Ontario. Participants completed a...

Movement behaviors have been found to be important correlates of health for children and may be particularly important for children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) who often experience greater mental health problems. To date, however, little research has investigated the daily movement composition of preschool children with Developme...

The Pediatric Collections: Sports Medicine Playbook will increase pediatric providers’ understanding of the injuries that young athletes may incur – including their history, treatment, and prevention. Each section includes a unique expert introduction and they cover such topics as the benefits of physical activity, injuries, and concerns including...

In a global and highly competitive world, the importance of creativity is increasing as it supports adaptability, health, and actualization. Yet, because most research focuses on what it takes to produce creative artifacts, interventions supporting growth in creative potential remains underexplored. To address this limitation, the first goal of thi...

Movement behaviours have been found to be important correlates of health for children and may be particularly important for children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) who often experience greater mental health problems. To date, however, little research has investigated the daily movement composition of preschool children with Developm...

Objective: Research supports the efficacy of acute, classroom-based, physical activity breaks on executive functioning in children. However, research pertaining to the effect of physical fitness on the acute physical activity—executive functioning relationship remains limited. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the acute effects o...

Background To date, no research has investigated social determinants of leisure time physical activity through the lens of intersectionality in a low- and middle-income country. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the intersectionality in leisure time physical activity in a nationwide sample of Brazilian adults. Methods Data from the B...

Introduction Researchers have increasingly focused on the mental health of elite athletes. However, there remains a paucity of research on the mental health of elite Canadian athletes, and the prevalence of mental disorders among this population is unknown. Purpose This study evaluated the prevalence of symptoms of mental health disorders, specifi...

Abstract: The mental health (MH) of elite Canadian athletes is understudied, yet a prospective understanding of athletes’ MH could inform periodized interventions designed to target athlete MH at different times in a competitive season. The purpose of this project was to identify the prevalence of symptoms of depression, anxiety, and eating disorde...

Cognitively engaging physical activity (PA) has been suggested to have superior effects on cognition compared to PA with low cognitive demands; however, there have been few studies directly comparing these different types of activities. The aim of this study is to compare the cognitive effects of a combined physically and cognitively engaging bout...

Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) have poorer fitness and greater internalizing/externalizing problems compared with typically developing (TD) children. The purpose of this study was to examine the potential mediating role of internalizing/externalizing problems on the relationship between children at risk for DCD (DCDr) and p...

Background: Physical activity (PA) interventions are limited in number and reach for youth with physical disabilities (YPD) who experience systemic barriers that may preclude their in-person participation. Further, a lack of theory in the development and evaluation of PA interventions impedes our understanding and replication of active components o...

Objective: To examine the differences in experiences of stress, emotional well-being, and physical activity among international and domestic students. Participants: Domestic (n = 4,035) and international (n = 605) students at a large Canadian university. Methods: Responses to items on stress, emotional well-being (happiness and satisfaction with li...

Joined-up governance (JUG) approaches have gained attention as mechanisms for tackling wicked policy problems, particularly in intersectoral areas such as child health, where multiple ministries that deliver health and social services must collaborate if they are to be effective. Growing attention to the need to invest in early childhood to improve...

Purpose The purpose of the present study was to conduct the first longitudinal investigation using accelerometers to assess physical activity behavior change during individuals' acute transition out of high school. Methods Participants in the current investigation were a part of a prospective cohort study called the MovingU Study. Participants wer...

Recent work has demonstrated the collective impact of daily movement behaviours on mental health outcomes, however, positive aspects of mental health have received much less attention. The purpose of this study was to identify unique adolescent movement behaviour profiles and determine whether profile membership is associated with differences in me...

Background and purpose Young children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) are more likely to experience internalizing problems, such as depression and anxiety, than typically developing (TD) children. Currently, the underlying mechanisms resulting in increased internalizing problems in DCD remains unknown; however, a previous study based...

Objectives: The purpose of this research is to examine whether perceived fundamental movement skills (FMS) competence mediated the relationship between actual FMS and physical activity (PA) in Hong Kong preschool-aged children. Design: A cross-sectional study. Methods: 148 preschool-aged children (43% girls; mean age = 4.52 ± 0.67 years) from...

Objective: About 20-26% of children and youth with a mental health disorder (depending on age and respondent) report receiving services from a community-based Child and Youth Mental Health (CYMH) agency. However, because agencies have an upper age limit of 18-years old, youth requiring ongoing mental health services must "transition" to adult-orie...

Recent work has demonstrated the collective impact of daily movement behaviours on mental health outcomes, however, positive aspects of mental health have received much less attention. The purpose of this study was to identify unique adolescent movement behaviour profiles and determine whether profile membership is associated with differences in me...

Accurate time perception is crucial for hearing (speech, music) and action (walking, catching). Motor brain regions are recruited during auditory time perception. Therefore, the hypothesis was tested that children (age 6-7) at risk for developmental coordination disorder (rDCD), a neurodevelopmental disorder involving motor difficulties, would show...

Background: The construct of physical literacy is gaining traction internationally and yet measurement of physical literacy is in its infancy. This paper describes the development of a pictorial child report scale of perceived physical literacy based on the comprehensive Australian Physical Literacy Framework, which includes 30 elements within four...

PLAYself is a tool designed for self-description of physical literacy in children and youth. We examined the tool using both the Rasch model and Classical Test Theory to explore its psychometric properties. A random selection of 300 children aged 8–14 years (47.3% female) from a dataset of 8513 Canadian children were involved in the Rasch analysis....

An association among adults between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and arterial stiffness and between arterial stiffness and cardiovascular disease has been established. Recent cross-sectional evidence suggests that ACEs is linked to the development and progression of arterial stiffness, but it remains unclear when these changes begin to mani...

The Physical Literacy Assessment for Youth (PLAY) Tools are a suite of tools to assess an individual’s physical literacy. The purpose of this study is to examine the psychometric properties of the PLAY Tools, including inter-rater reliability, internal consistency, validity and the associations between the tools. In this study, 218 children and you...

Movement behaviour guideline adherence has been associated with lower depressive symptoms during adolescence, yet no studies have used person-centered approaches to examine this relationship. The purpose of the present study was to identify whether unique adolescent movement behaviour profiles exist, evaluate predictors of profile membership, and d...

Objective: Emerging research within school settings suggests acute forms of physical activity and exercise lead to improvements in executive functioning among children. However, research pertaining to these effects within the afterschool setting remains limited. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the acute effects of a community-b...

This study examined the effects of perceptions of motor abilities on aerobic and musculoskeletal exercise performance in young children at risk for developmental coordination disorder (rDCD). The participants (N = 539) were part of a larger cohort study, the Coordination and Activity Tracking in Children (CATCH) study. The Movement Assessment Batte...

This introductory article explores the concept of physical literacy. It begins by discussing the current defining aspects of physical literacy and provides a pragmatic solution for moving beyond definitions to actions. The article also articulates how this special issue on physical literacy is addressing a range of United Nations agenda initiatives...

While numerous studies have highlighted the benefits of physical activity on cognitive health, learning, and executive function, maintaining physical activity throughout one’s life lies with the acquisition of physical literacy. This article examines how the process of cognitive learning attributed to physical literacy can be understood in light of...

It has been theorized that physical literacy is associated with physical activity and health. The purpose of this study is to investigate the associations between physical literacy and health, and if this relationship is mediated by moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Two hundred and twenty-two children (113 girls, 10.7 ± 1.0 years old)...

Background: Children and youth are facing three major challenges: (1) poor mental health, (2) physical inactivity, and (3) lack of school readiness. Fundamental movement skills (FMS) and social-emotional learning (SEL) are two developmental domains that are associated with each of these challenges. Currently, there is little focus on interventions...

The 2014 Sochi Winter Games were the last Winter Olympics where NHL players were allowed to compete. One explanation for prohibiting NHL players from participating in the Winter Olympics is a perceived negative impact on their performance post-Olympics, owing to the additional fatigue of participating. The purpose of this study was to explore wheth...

The aim of this communication is to highlight synergies and opportunities between the fields of education, sport and health and the performing arts for the promotion of physical literacy. First, physical literacy is introduced and then defined according to the definition used in this communication. Secondly, we highlight the gap in physical literac...

A gap in physical literacy (PL) oriented professional development (PD) for generalist teachers exists and thus their capacity to develop PL and maximize student health is potentially limited. We explored the feasibility of a novel job-embedded professional development (JEPD) program (10 weeks) and its impact on teachers’ capacity to deliver PL-enri...

By using children with developmental coordination disorder as a case study, the current study examines how several core domains of physical literacy interact and change over time in relation to enjoyment of physical education. Data from 2278 children (5% identified as probable development coordination disorder) were collected across six time points...

Objective: Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience significant challenges in executive functioning. Emerging evidence suggests exercise may improve executive functioning among children; however, these effects and their mechanisms have not been fully explored among children with ASD. The purpose of this study was to explore the acute...