Combined Effects of Perceptual–Motor Interventions and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Motor Competence in Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder

Background Developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is a common neurodevelopmental condition in children, characterized by deficits in both actual motor competence (AMC) and perceived motor competence (PMC). Objective This study aimed to investigate the effects of linear and non-linear perceptual–motor intervention, with or without transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), on AMC and PMC in children aged 7–9 years with DCD. Methods A quasi-experimental pre-test–post-test design with four groups was used: (i) Linear pedagogy (LP) perceptual–motor intervention, (ii) non-linear pedagogy (NLP) perceptual–motor intervention, (iii) tDCS combined with perceptual–motor intervention using the LP, and (iv) tDCS combined with perceptual–motor intervention using the NLP. A total of 40 children diagnosed with DCD based on the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2 were randomly assigned to the groups. Perceptual–motor interventions were delivered over 10 sessions, and tDCS was applied to the right primary motor cortex for 20 min before each training session. Results Results showed that the group receiving NLP combined with tDCS exhibited the greatest improvements in both AMC and PMC compared to all other groups (p