A Cross-Cultural Adaptation of the Czech Version of the Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire: The Content Validity Part

The Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire (DCDQ) is a widely used parent questionnaire for screening motor coordination disorders in children aged 5-15 years. Despite increasing motor difficulties in children, a validated version is lacking in Central Europe. In addition, previous studies pointed out that several DCDQ items were shown to be problematic in different cultural environments. We found that the majority of these studies did not assess the item's content validity approach for keeping the semantic form and linguistic intelligibility of the original items. Therefore, this study aimed to translate the DCDQ, determine the content validity of items, and adapt the DCDQ for Czech children aged 6-10 years, where the identification of motor difficulties is crucial. Back-translation was employed, and face validity was consulted with linguistic experts and occupational therapists. A sample of 25 bilingual parents and practitioners evaluated the translated version, with content validity assessed using the Content Validity Ratio coefficient (CVR). Initial CVR scores ranged from 0.6 to 1.0. Lower scores were found for items 14 and 15, which were shown to be problematic in previous studies. The reason for the lower content validity in these items was due to double negation. Following linguistic modifications, the CVR values improved (range: 0.87-1.0), indicating content and semantic stability. Our findings underscore the importance of considering content validity and language specificity, including issues like double negation, during cross-cultural questionnaire validation to mitigate potential psychometric concerns in the future. The adapted Czech version exhibits significant content validity, thereby warranting further validation of its psychometric properties.

Factor Validity and Generic Reliability of the Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire in the Czech Population

The Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire (DCDQ) is widely used as a brief parent questionnaire designed to screen for motor coordination in children, aged 5 to 15 years. There is no validated version of the DCDQ for the Central Europe, which could help for first catch of children with motor difficulties, whose amount has been seriously raised. In addition, the World Health Organization recommends the cross-cultural validation of existing instruments, for Loir costs and time consuming, and the availability of instruments in several languages enables therapists to use validated tools with non-English speaking clients. The aim of this study was to validate the DCDQ in the Czech culture in a population of Czech parents whose children were aged six to ten. Using data from 651 Czech parents of children (six to ten years; 7.8 ± 0.8 years), confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) were used. The goodness-of-fit indices CFI = 0.94, TLI = 0.93, and RMSEA = 0.08 supported the original three-factor model of the DCDQ. In addition, the factor loadings of each question discovered in Czech DCDQ were non-significantly different from the original DCDQ. Furthermore, we also found strong between factor correlation; general coordination and control movement r = 0.87 probably measure the same underlying construct. Even though this is in conformity with original DCDQ structure, we suggest that responses in these two DCDQ factors might have violated the local independency and, therefore, could bias the final score. The generic reliability of the individual factors was acceptable and ranged from McDonald ω 0.83-0.88. Results from this study suggest that cross-validated version of the original DCDQ can be considered as sufficiently valid and reliable clinical screening tool for children who have coordination challenges for Czech children aged six to ten.

Developmental coordination disorder is more than a motor problem: Children describe the impact of daily struggles on their quality of life

Introduction

Affecting 5–6% of children, developmental coordination disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by poor motor coordination and difficulty learning motor skills. Although quantitative studies have suggested that children with developmental coordination disorder experience reduced quality of life, no known qualitative studies have reported what daily life is like from their perspective.

Method

Guided by an inductive realistic approach and using semi-structured, individual interviews, 13 children (8–12 years) were asked to describe what life is like in their own words. Three researchers coded interviews manually to identify relevant content. An experienced qualitative researcher conducted a second, in-depth thematic analysis using NVivo to identify patterns and themes.

Findings

Two themes – milestones as millstones and the perils of printing – illuminated participants’ challenges in completing everyday activities at home and at school. The third theme – more than a motor problem – revealed the social and emotional impact of these struggles and from being excluded from play. The fourth theme – coping strategies – described their efforts to be resilient.

Conclusion

Parents, educators, physicians, and therapists working with children with developmental coordination disorder must recognize how their quality of life is affected by the physical and emotional toll of their efforts to participate successfully in daily activities.