Analysis of Perceived Physical and Motor Competence in 10- to 13-year-old Spanish Children

Abstract

It was our objective toanalyze the perceived physical and motor competence in 10-to 13-year-old Spanish childrenand to validate to the Spanish language and context the questionnaire of Scrabis-Fletcher and Silverman (2010).The perception of competence was analyzedin 27 schools of Albacete (Spain), with a total of 389 boys and 391 girls, whose age ranged from 10 to 13 (average=11.08 and SD=0.43). Different analyses were performed, starting with a forward analysisof the items, using graphics and statistics. After this, an internal consistencystudy was performed, through Cronbach's alpha, using a multilevel package, version 2.3. Finally, the constructs structure was analyzedthrough a factorial confirmatory analysis (FCA), which used a Lavaan package, version 0.5-11. The consistencywas high as a whole (Cronbach's alpha: 0.74). There was a high correlation between all items, even those from different factors.Regardingthe analysis of students ́ perceived physical and motor competence, the best values were obtainedin the perceptions they had about their teachers and classmates, although they had worse values about their personalexperiences.Two questionnaires of 2 and 3factors, using 7 and 14 items, respectively were established. Therefore, the instrument Perception of Competence in Middle School Physical Educationwas validatedwithin the Spanish social context. The main practical application is the possibility of using this questionnaire in the PE lessons in Spain to know and increase the perceived physical and motor competence of the children.