Reliability and validity of a parent questionnaire on childhood motor skills

Objective. As the consequences of clumsiness in children become better unde rstood, the need for valid measurement tools is apparent. Parent report has the potential for providing historical knowledge of the child's motor skil ls, as well as perceptions of their children's motor difficulties. The obje ctive was to develop a parent questionnaire to identify, motor difficulties in children. Method. A sample of 306; children participated in the development of a 17-i tem Parent questionnaire, called the Developmental Coordination Disorder Qu estionnaire (DCDQ). internal consistency, concurrent and construct validity were examined Results. The DCDQ proved capable of distinguishing children who had motor p roblems las measured by standing ardized tests) from children without motor problems. Correlations with standardized tests were significant. Two other studies confirmed the construct validity of the DCDQ. Factor analysis reve aled four distinct factors, useful in defining the nature of the difficulti es. Conclusion. The DCDQ is a succinct and useful measure for we by occupationa l therapists.