Preliminary validation of the Portuguese Edinburgh Handedness Inventory in an adult sample

ABSTRACT

The Edinburgh Handedness Inventory (EHI) is persistently the most used inventory to evaluate handedness, being neuropsychological investigation and clinical practice. Despite this, there is no information on how this instrument functions in a Portuguese population. The objective of this study was therefore to examine the sociodemographic influences on handedness and establish psychometric properties of the EHI in a Portuguese sample. The sample consisted of 342 adults (157 men and 185 women), assessed with a battery of neuropsychological tests. The mean EHI Laterality Quotient was 63.52 (SD = 38.00). A much high percentage of ambiguous-handedness compared to left-handedness was detected. An inconsistency was found between the preference for formal education activities (writing-drawing-using scissors) and the remaining EHI activities. From sociodemographic variables, only age, area, and regions of residence showed significant influence on EHI scores. The reliability and temporal reliability of EHI were adequate. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated a one-factor model (χ²/df = 2.141; TLI = 0.972; CFI = 0.979; RMSEA = 0.058). The inconsistency between formal education and nonformal activities could be an indicator of social pressure. The present data give support for the notion that handedness measured by EHI is potentially sensitive to sociodemographic and cultural influences.

KEYWORDS:

• Edinburgh Handedness
• hand preference
• handedness
• inventory
• psychometric properties

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Corrigendum

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Alexandra Mós, Débora Domingues, and Inês Pessoa for their help with recruitment and coding the data. The authors would also like to thank Rita Carvalho, Diogo Oliveira and Bruno Carvalho for their help in the translation and translation review of the article.

Notes

¹The Portuguese school system comprises the first cycle of basic education which includes the 1st to 4th grade; the second cycle of basic education that includes the 5th to 6th grade; the third cycle of basic education with 7th to 9th grades; secondary education with the 10th to 12th grade; and higher education that corresponds to university or college.

²In the Portuguese educational system (pre-Bologna, 2005), high school took 12 years, a college degree 4 to 6 years (depending on the course), a master’s degree 2 years, a doctoral degree 4 years, and a post-doctoral degree 3 years. Before 2005, it was not uncommon to take 3–4 years to get a master’s degree and more than 4 years to a doctoral degree, and that is why two participants have 28 years of education. After 2006, a full education can still take 23 years without failing.