Detailed Assessment of the Speed of Handwriting – 2nd Edition (DASH-2): Factor Structure and Measurement Invariance Across Age and Sex

The Detailed Assessment of the Speed of Handwriting-2 combines and extends previous versions of the test. This study examined the factor structure and presents the first analysis of measurement invariance across two age groups (8–16, 17–25) and sex. The normative sample comprised 762 examinees from the UK, Australia, and New Zealand who completed five tasks: Copy Best (CB), Alphabet Writing (AW), Copy Fast (CF), Free Writing (FW), and Graphic Speed (GS). As there were no significant between-country differences, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed on the combined data set. This supported the two-factor model corresponding to the test structure of four core tasks (CB, AW, CB, and FW) reflecting handwriting ability, with a separate measure of grapho-motor ability (GS). Multigroup CFA indicated full configural, metric, and scalar invariance for age groups and sex. The findings provide support for the test structure and reliability of the test across age and sex.