The aim of the present study was to explore the relationship between motor ability,social skills and internalizing symptoms in a non-clinical sample of pre-primarychildren. We hoped to expand understanding of these variables and their associationsat a time when intervention may be critical in preventing the deterioration of a child’spsychosocial functioning. The results indicated that social skills mediated the relationship between motor ability and teacher-reported internalizing symptoms.The hypothesis that the relationship between motor ability and internalizingsymptoms would be fully mediated by social skills was supported. Additionally,as the model was a good fit for the data, preliminary support is provided for thevalidity of the causal pathways in the model. However, these results do not implycausal relationships, as the data were correlational and collected at a single timepoint. Thus, further longitudinal and experimental research is recommended toclarify the causal mechanisms involved in the associations between motor ability,social skills and internalizing symptoms.The environmental stress hypothesis (Cairney, Veldhuizenc, & Szatmari, 2010)was used as an overarching framework for explaining the development of internalizing symptoms in children with motor difficulties. More specifically, it wasargued that motor difficulties (i.e. the primary stressor) expose an individual to a