Development, validity and reliability of the systematic screening for handwriting difficulties tool

Background The purpose of this study was to develop an Arabic handwriting screening test and establish its psychometric properties. Methods Handwriting quality was evaluated using seven criteria from the Systematic Screening for Handwriting Difficulties Arabic (SOS-ARB) and writing speed were measured by counting the number of letters produced in 5 minutes. Construct validity was evaluated using hypothesis testing (learning disabilities, sex and age differences). Convergent validity was examined using data from 106 children with dysgraphia who were also administered the French version of the “Concise Assessment Methods of Children’s Handwriting” (BHK). Intrarater, interrater, and test-retest reliability were established for total and item scores. Results Handwriting test data were collected from 1274 children (6–10 years) in regular education, of whom 194 were diagnosed with Learning Disabilities (LD). The SOS-ARB scores differed between children with and without LD (F (1, 1273) = 330.90, p <.001, η2 = 0.209), males and females, and different age groups. In addition, significant differences in writing speed were shown between children with and without LD (F (1, 1273) = 60.26, p <0.001, η2 = 0.046), between females and males (F (1, 1273) = 7.57, p =0.01, η2 = 0.006), and between the different age groups (F (4, 1270) = 21.762, p <0.001, η2 = 0.065). A correlation coefficient of 0.72 for the quality score between the SOS-ARB and BHK confirmed convergent validity. Intrarater and interrater reliability were excellent in terms of quality scores (ICC coefficients = 0.988 and 0.972, respectively) and letter speed (ICC coefficients = 0.993 and 0.990, respectively). The quality score and letter speed had excellent and good test-retest reliability (ICC co-efficient = 0.968 and 0.784, respectively). Conclusions Results indicate that the SOS-ARB is a valid and reliable tool for scoring Arabic handwriting abilities in elementary school children.