Double trouble? Movement behaviour and psychiatric conditions in children: An opportunity for treatment and development

• Psychiatric disorders in children are associated with specific movement characteristics.
• Shared neuronal structures and networks can explain psychiatric and motor problems in children.
• The interconnections between psychiatric and movement problems support the use of dance movement therapy in child psychiatry.
• Indicating children adequately for dance movement therapy prevents the development of additional psychosocial and health problems.
• Dance movement therapy is a promising intervention for children in view of enhancing brain development.

Children with neurodevelopmental disorders often show problems in movement behaviour. Clinical motor features such as clumsiness, odd postures, hyperactivity and tics occur frequently in children with psychiatric conditions. Most dance/movement therapists recognize these, and consequently tailor treatment to the abilities of their clients. In view of treatment strategies, it is important to know which motor features are associated with which psychiatric conditions, and how movement problems be influenced by movement interventions. Therefore, this article focuses on clinical movement features, gross motor problems, neurodevelopmental aspects and movement interventions for children with emotional, behavioural and autism spectrum disorders.