Factor analysis of the contextual fine motor questionnaire in children.
The CFMQ gives BCBAs a reliable, five-part snapshot of classroom fine-motor skills in elementary kids.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Huang et al. (2014) ran an exploratory factor analysis on the Contextual Fine Motor Questionnaire. They wanted to see how many clean factors the items fell into. The sample was elementary-school children; exact size was not reported. The team checked internal consistency and construct validity too.
What they found
Five factors came out clean. Each factor held together well and made sense for daily fine-motor tasks. The whole scale showed good reliability. In short, the CFMQ gives a stable, five-part picture of fine-motor life at school.
How this fits with other research
Norris et al. (2010) warned that most factor studies in disability journals skip basic rules. Chin-Kai’s team followed the rules, so their five-factor result stands on firmer ground. Perez et al. (2015) reviewed motor tools for kids with severe disabilities and found most lacked strong reliability; the CFMQ adds a fresh option with stronger psychometrics for the mild-to-moderate range. Smits-Engelsman et al. (2020) also used factor analysis to validate the PERF-FIT fitness test. Both papers show that careful factor work can yield short, practical motor scales, but CFMQ targets pencil and classroom skills while PERF-FIT targets playground fitness.
Why it matters
You now have a quick, five-factor fine-motor checklist that parents and teachers can finish in minutes. Use it to spot which fine-motor domain needs help, set goals, and track change without long motor labs. The solid factor structure means scores mean the same thing across kids and time.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Most studies treat fine motor as one subscale in a developmental test, hence, further factor analysis of fine motor has not been conducted. In fact, fine motor has been treated as a multi-dimensional domain from both clinical and theoretical perspectives, and therefore to know its factors would be valuable. The aim of this study is to analyze the internal consistency and factor validity of the Contextual Fine Motor Questionnaire (CFMQ). Based on the ecological observation and literature, the Contextual Fine Motor Questionnaire (CFMQ) was developed and includes 5 subscales: Pen Control, Tool Use During Handicraft Activities, the Use of Dining Utensils, Connecting and Separating during Dressing and Undressing, and Opening Containers. The main purpose of this study is to establish the factorial validity of the CFMQ through conducting this factor analysis study. Among 1208 questionnaires, 904 were successfully completed. Data from the children's CFMQ submitted by primary care providers was analyzed, including 485 females (53.6%) and 419 males (46.4%) from grades 1 to 5, ranging in age from 82 to 167 months (M=113.9, SD=16.3). Cronbach's alpha was used to measure internal consistency and explorative factor analysis was applied to test the five factor structures within the CFMQ. Results showed that Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the CFMQ for 5 subscales ranged from .77 to .92 and all item-total correlations with corresponding subscales were larger than .4 except one item. The factor loading of almost all items classified to their factor was larger than .5 except 3 items. There were five factors, explaining a total of 62.59% variance for the CFMQ. In conclusion, the remaining 24 items in the 5 subscales of the CFMQ had appropriate internal consistency, test-retest reliability and construct validity.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2014 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2013.11.007