Altered sense of agency in children with developmental coordination disorder

Background: There is increasing evidence that children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) have deficits in sensory-motor integration, but it is unclear whether the sense of agency (SoA) generated by sensory-motor integration is altered. Aims: To investigate whether there is a difference in the time window for SoA between children with DCD and typically developing (TD) children. Methods and Procedures: An agency attribution task was used to quantitatively measure and compare the time window for SoA in 15 children with DCD and 46 children in the TD group. Variables that correlated with the time window for SoA were also examined in both groups of children. Outcomes and Results: The time window for SoA was significantly extended in children with DCD compared to TD children. The time window for SoA in TD children was significantly associated with manual dexterity, whereas the time window for SoA in children with DCD was significantly associated with depressive tendency. Conclusions and Implications: The time window for SoA is altered in children with DCD. The present results suggest that there may be a bidirectional relationship between an internal model deficit and depressive tendency and SoA in children with DCD.