Cross-replicating findings on unique motor impairments of children with ASD using confirmatory factor analysis and a novel SPARK study sample.
Use the DCD-Q total score for quick motor screening in ASD, but rely on the five finer subdomains—not the original three—to pinpoint specific motor deficits.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team took the DCD-Q, a parent checklist about motor skills.
They ran it on the kids from the SPARK autism database.
They checked if the old 3-factor model still fit, or if a new 5-factor model worked better.
What they found
The 5-factor model fit the data well.
It also worked the same way for boys and girls.
So the DCD-Q total score is fine for quick screening, but the five sub-scores give sharper detail.
How this fits with other research
Papageorgiou et al. (2008) did the same kind of cross-check in Greece. They showed the RRBI domain splits into two clear parts across cultures. Anjana et al. now show the same cross-replication idea works for motor skills in the U.S.
Kaplan-Kahn et al. (2026) also used CFA to fix a parent survey. They tossed the old 3-factor PSI-SF and kept a 6-factor version for parents of preschoolers with ASD. Anjana et al. mirror that move by replacing the 3-factor DCD-Q with a 5-factor one.
Hickey et al. (2021) warn that autism screening must weigh harms like false positives. Anjana’s cleaner 5-factor model may cut false alarms by giving clearer, more specific scores.
Why it matters
When you screen motor skills at intake, use the DCD-Q total score for a fast yes/no. Then flip to the five sub-scores to plan goals. If a child scores low on “fine motor/handwriting,” you can target that skill right away instead of guessing.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
A series of recent reports have shed light on the pervasive nature of motor impairments in children with ASD (Bhat, 2020, 2021, Bhat et al., 2022), underscoring the importance of providing ASD clinicians efficient and accurate tools for motor screening. The Developmental Coordination Disorder-Questionnaire (DCD-Q) is a widely used motor screening tool, yet scant evidence exists regarding its psychometric properties in children with ASD. In a recent Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) of the 15-item DCD-Q in a large sample of children with ASD (SPARK study), we found a 5-factor latent structure that identified unique motor impairments in a large sample of children with ASD (Bhat et al., 2022). In the current study, we extend this work by cross-replicating the EFA findings of unique ASD-related motor issues using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) in a new, more recent wave of children with ASD from the SPARK study (N = 9721). The fits and interpretability of 11 hypothesis-driven CFA models, including 8 correlated-factors, 1 second-order, and 2 bifactor models were compared. Our findings supported the previous 5-factor model with 2 gross motor subdomains, 1 fine motor domain (similar to the original DCD-Q) and 2 general coordination subdomains. This model demonstrated acceptable fit in the new sample as well as superior fit compared to several other parsimonious correlated-factors models. However, the second-order and bifactor models fit slightly better and supported the presence of a general motor skills factor, although 38% of the common variance in the DCD-Q items remained attributable to the 5 subdomains. Using one of the bifactor models, measurement invariance was also supported for DCD-Q across sex, race, and co-occurring conditions of language disorder and intellectual disability. Only partial invariance was supported when testing DCD-Q scores across different age groups. These findings reveal a more complex dimensional picture of the DCD-Q in children with ASD. Results suggest that the DCD-Q can be used in two ways, total scores adequately assess general motor skills for brief screening and subdomain scores offer unique information on the multidimensional motor problems of children with ASD. If subdomain data are of interest, our findings call into question the practice of relying on 3 original subscales of the DCD-Q when screening for ASD-related motor difficulties, whereas 4 out of 5 subscale scores may better highlight domain-specific motor problems. Future studies should continue to further validate DCD-Q's ability to screen for multidimensional motor problems.
Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research, 2023 · doi:10.1002/aur.2904