Chinese handwriting performance in preterm children in grade 2

Kindergarten Visual-Perceptual and Motor Skills and Behavioral Traits Predict First-Grade Chinese Handwriting Legibility and Speed

IMPORTANCE

Clarifying the relationship between kindergarteners' characteristics and their future handwriting performance is beneficial for the early detection of children at risk of handwriting difficulties.

OBJECTIVE

To determine which visual-perceptual and motor skills and behavioral traits significantly predict kindergartners' Chinese handwriting legibility and speed in the first grade.

DESIGN

One-year longitudinal, observational design.

SETTING

Kindergarten and elementary schools.

PARTICIPANTS

One hundred six kindergarten children (53 boys and 53 girls; ages 5 or 6 yr) were recruited.

OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

The participants completed two subtests of the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency-Second Edition, Test of Visual Perceptual Skills-Third Edition, Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration (Beery™ VMI), and the Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Test-Chinese Version in kindergarten. Their handwriting legibility (character accuracy and construction) and speed were assessed by investigator-developed Chinese handwriting tests in the first grade.

RESULTS

Multivariate regression analyses indicated the independent predictive power of spatial relationships (p = .042) and inattention (p = .004) for character accuracy. Visual-motor integration (VMI; p = .008) and inattention (p = .002) were the key predictors of character construction. Manual dexterity (p = .001) was the only significant predictor of writing speed.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

Kindergarteners who perform poorly in spatial relationships, VMI, manual dexterity, and attention are likely to have less legible Chinese handwriting and slow writing speed in first grade. Plain-Language Summary: Children's visual-perceptual and motor skills and behavioral traits in kindergarten can predict their Chinese handwriting legibility and speed in first grade. This study found that kindergarteners who performed poorly in spatial relationships, VMI, manual dexterity, and attention were likely to have less legible Chinese handwriting and slow writing speed in the first grade.

Neurodevelopmental outcomes of very low birth weight preterms in preschool childhood: a prospective cohort study

BACKGROUND

Preterm birth is a risk factor for a child's neurological development. Preterm children have unusual neurodevelopmental profiles with executive, visual-motor functions, fine and gross motor skills, language and behavior that affect learning. In this study, we analyzed the neurodevelopmental outcomes of a cohort of very low birth weight infants admitted to the Treviso Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) between 2014 and 2016 and followed up to preschool childhood.

METHOD

This is a prospective cohort study. Infants were followed at birth and after NICU discharge at two- and four-year follow-ups. The two-year assessment was conducted with Bayley III, and at four years with the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence - III scales and Movement Assessment Battery for Children - 2.

RESULTS

The cohort consisted of 207 subjects with a mean gestational age of 28.9 weeks, and a mean birth weight of 1097.2 g. At two years of age, children without disabilities were 90 (59.6%), those with minor disabilities 47 (31.1%), and those with major disabilities 14 (9.3%); at four years, 58.4% of children without previous disabilities, presented problems with verbal tests and manual dexterity: aiming, grasping and balance at movement assessment. There was significant alteration in processing speed (p < 0.001). Furthermore, there was a strong correlation between processing speed and manual dexterity (p < 0.001) and between processing speed and aiming and grasping (p = 0.0059).

CONCLUSIONS

We found that more than half the children free of disability at two years, at four years had deficit often involving the oculo-motor coordination and processing speed. These motor profile alterations limit the expression of cognitive abilities and the achievement of expected school performance, thus resulting in behavioral disorders, typical of preterm children. Early professional follow-up could improve the expected educational outcomes.

Higher risk for poor handwriting in Taiwanese children born late preterm

BACKGROUND

Late-preterm and early-term births constitute a significant proportion of live births. However, handwriting skills of these two populations remain unclear. We aimed to investigate their risk for poor Chinese handwriting in grade two.

METHODS

In this observational study, 185 second graders born late preterm (34⁺⁰-36⁺⁶ weeks' gestation, n = 54), early term (37⁺⁰-38⁺⁶ weeks' gestation, n = 56), and full term (39⁺⁰-41⁺⁶ weeks' gestation, n = 75) without any intervention or diagnosis related to developmental delays were included. Their handwriting performance was rated by class teachers using the Chinese Handwriting Evaluation Form (CHEF), which is a standardized handwriting scale including five handwriting dimensions (construction, accuracy, directionality, speed, and pencil grasp).

RESULTS

After controlling for demographic risk factors, the late-preterm born group had a greater risk of having worse performance in the full form (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 3.93; p = .038) and construction dimension (aOR = 4.77; p = .009) of the CHEF than peers born at full term, whereas the risks were comparable for the early- and full-term born groups (aOR = 0.14-1.90; p = .073-0.453 in the handwriting dimensions).

CONCLUSIONS

Late-preterm but not early-term born children were found to be at higher risk for poor Chinese handwriting in grade two. They particularly have difficulty with spatial construction including size, spacing, and alignment of Chinese characters and components that may influence handwriting legibility.

Reliability and validity of Handwriting Test for Preschool Children (HT-PRE): A new tool to assess the handwriting ability of preschool children aged 5-6 years old in Mainland China

BACKGROUND

Handwriting ability is related to many neuronal functions, such as visual-perceptual skills, orthographic coding, motor planning and execution, kinesthetic feedback and visual-motor coordination. To date, there is no specific assessment tool for to assess preschool children's handwriting ability in Mainland China. Our study aimed to develop a tool to assess the handwriting ability of children aged 5-6 years old in Mainland China and to analyze its reliability and validity.

METHODS

The investigation comprised three phases: 1) original tool generation, 2) tool revision, 3) reliability analysis (i.e., interrater, test-retest) and validity analysis (i.e., content, criterion).

RESULTS

The sample included a total of 482 children. The internal consistency (Cronbach alpha) was 0.74. The test-retest correlation coefficients ranged from 0.38 to 0.80. As expected, our data showed an improving trend in handwriting, and differences in respect to age and gender. When compared with the 'handwriting difficulty' group, each subtest score of children in the 'normal' group showed significant differences (p < 0.05). The correlation validity, compared with the visual-motor integration development test (VMI), was 0.17-0.52.

CONCLUSION

The Handwriting Test for Preschool Children (HT-PRE), which is a newly developed handwriting screening tool for preschool children aged 5-6 years old in Mainland China, has displayed a very good internal consistency, acceptable test-retest reproducibility, and good criterion-based validity, and has also shown good application prospects for handwriting difficulty screening in a clinical setting.

Psychometric Properties of Screening Questionnaires for Children With Handwriting Issues

Dysgraphia (D) is a complex specific learning disorder with a prevalence of up to 30%, which is linked with handwriting issues. The factors recognized for assessing these issues are legibility and performance time. Two questionnaires, the Handwriting Proficiency Screening Questionnaire (HPSQ) for teachers and its modification for children (HPSQ-C), were established as quick and valid screening tools along with a third factor - emotional and physical well-being. Until now, in the Czechia, there has been no validated screening tool for D diagnosis. A study was conducted on a set of 294 children from 3rd and 4th year of primary school (132 girls/162 boys; M age 8.96 ± 0.73) and 21 teachers who spent most of their time with them. Confirmatory factor analysis based on the theoretical background showed poor fit for HPSQ [χ2(32) = 115.07, p < 0.001; comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.95; Tucker-Lewis index (TLI) = 0.93; root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.09; standard root mean square residual (SRMR) = 0.05] and excellent fit for HPSQ-C [χ2(32) = 31.12, p = 0.51; CFI = 1.0; TLI = 1.0; RMSEA = 0.0; SRMR = 0.04]. For the HPSQ-C models, there were no differences between boys and girls [Δχ2(7) = 12.55, p = 0.08]. Values of McDonalds's ω indicate excellent (HPSQ, ω = 0.9) and acceptable (HPSQ-C, ω = 0.7) reliability. Boys were assessed as worse writers than girls based on the results of both questionnaires. The grades positively correlate with the total scores of both HPSQ (r = 0.54, p < 0.01) and HPSQ-C (r = 0.28, p < 0.01). Based on the results, for the assessment of handwriting difficulties experienced by Czech children, we recommend using the HPSQ-C questionnaire for research purposes.