Relationship between Product and Process Characteristics of Handwriting Skills of Children in the Second Grade of Elementary School

• Published in: Children (Basel) 2023-02, Vol.10 (3), p.445
• Main Authors: Coradinho, Helena, Melo, Filipe, Almeida, Gabriela, Veiga, Guida, Marmeleira, José, Teulings, Hans-Leo, Matias, Ana Rita
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age; Digitization; dysgraphia; Elementary schools; Evaluation; Gender differences; Handwriting; handwriting quality and speed; kinematic analysis of handwriting; Middle class; Penmanship; product and process; school-age children; Skills; Software; Velocity
• ISSN: 2227-9067; 2227-9067
• DOI: 10.3390/children10030445

The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship between the quality and speed of handwriting and the process characteristics of the handwriting of children in the second grade of elementary school considered as a function of age and gender. A sample of 57 children (mean age 7.25 years, SD 0.43) participated in the study. The Concise Assessment Method for Children's Handwriting (BHK) was used to assess the quality and speed of handwriting. The characteristics of the process of handwriting were assessed using MovAlyzeR software. The handwriting of boys showed a significantly greater number of strokes and slanted more to the right than the handwriting of girls. Handwriting quality and speed significantly correlated with several process characteristics: the number of strokes, reaction time, duration, relative pen-down duration, average pen pressure, vertical size, horizontal size, road length, and average absolute velocity. This research contributes to the construction of normative values in the process characteristics of the handwriting of elementary school children and provides a promising step towards the early identification of difficulties that can lead to dysgraphia, thus preventing later difficulties in handwriting.