Fine motor skills show a significant moderate overall correlation (r = .329) with academic-cognitive skills in children and adolescents¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · quant-synthesis r2 · q3 · i2 medium
Currency · newest study 2025 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i2 Across 118 studies, FMS correlated significantly and moderately with academic-cognitive skills (r = .329), and no tested methodological or sample moderator was significant. → Sebastian P. Suggate 2025

Evidence¶

Sebastian P. Suggate 2025¶

Sebastian P. Suggate, Viktoria L. Karle, Tanja Kipfelsberger, Heidrun Stoeger. (2025). Keep the hands in mind: A meta-analysis of correlations between fine motor skills and reading, writing, mathematics, and cognitive development in children and adolescents. Educational Research Review 49 (2025) 100748. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2025.100748

q3 · i2 · quant-synthesis · r2

Multilevel null mixed-effects meta-analysis of 1110 effect sizes from 143 samples in 118 studies of children aged 3–16, with cluster-robust estimation. The intercept estimate was "r = .329, ZF = .318, CI = .283 to .352, p < .0001"; residual heterogeneity remained significant.

"The model resulted in an intercept estimate of r = .329, ZF = .318, CI = .283 to .352, p < .0001."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Age and age variance do not moderate FMS–academic-cognitive links, inconsistent with a maturation account — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• FMS subdomain correlations vary within academic domains: nonword reading strongest, letter reading weakest, intelligence strongest among cognitive skills — related
• Writing shows the strongest FMS correlation among academic domains, exceeding reading — related
• MASEM suggests cognitive skills partially mediate the link between FMS and academic skills, which drops from r = .334 to .200 — related
• Graphomotor skills show the strongest links of the FMS subdomains with academic-cognitive skills, significantly exceeding dexterity — related
• Fine motor precision and manual dexterity are positively correlated with handwriting legibility in preschool children, and Functional Dexterity Test time is inversely correlated — related
• Only in the 5th-grade group were moderate positive correlations found, between visual-motor integration and motor coordination (r = 0.748) and between visual perception and dysgraphia classification (r = 0.643) — related
• Automaticity of handwriting predicts orthographic skills even when visual-motor integration is included in the model — related
• Fine motor skills correlate more strongly with overall academic-cognitive skills (r = .302) than gross motor skills (r = .170) in children aged 3–16 — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Early fine motor skills predict later arithmetic skills in most longitudinal studies, but not when executive functions are controlled — related
• Children's baseline motor skills do not correlate with reading-related outcomes or with their use of movement when naming letter-sounds — reports the opposite