Schwery, Joséphine; Vetter, Martin; Truxius, Lidia; Sägesser, Judith; Eckhart, Michael (2025). Relations between graphomotor self-concept and graphomotor skills: A longitudinal study in early school age. Learning and Instruction (101), p. 102229. 10.1016/j.learninstruc.2025.102229

Text Schwery_Klingele_et_al.__2025_Learning_and_Instruction.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons: Attribution (CC-BY). Download (775kB)

Background: While the positive impact of self-concept on writing is well established in proficient writers, its role in early handwriting development remains unclear.
Aims: By focusing on the graphomotor self-concept, this longitudinal study aimed to investigate the relations between the graphomotor self-concept, graphomotor skills, and handwriting legibility from the beginning of first grade to mid-second grade.
Sample: This study included 361 first-grade children (49 % girls) aged 6–8 years.
Methods: A graphomotor self-concept questionnaire and paper-and-pencil tasks were used to assess graphomotor skills and handwriting legibility.
Results: The results of the cross-lagged structural equation model revealed that after controlling for age, gender, and socioeconomic background, the graphomotor self-concept predicted graphomotor skills, whereas graphomotor skills predicted handwriting legibility.
Conclusions: These findings highlight the importance of promoting the graphomotor self-concept and graphomotor skills in early school-aged children. Both contribute substantially to handwriting development and thus to a successful start in school.

Interest & Impact

Downloads

20 since deposited on 20 Oct 2025
20 in the past 12 months

Citations

5 Citations in Web of Science ®
6 Citations in Scopus

Search

in Google Scholar™

Services

Actions (login required)

Edit item

Actions (login required)

Edit item