Association between Actual and Perceived Motor Competence in School Children

Abstract

(1) Background: The association between actual and perceived motor competence (MC) is one of the underlying mechanisms that influence the practice of physical activity. This study mainly aimed to analyze the structure and correlations between actual and perceived MC in schoolchildren and to compare actual and perceived MC between girls and boys. (2) Methods: A total of 467 fifth and sixth graders (43.9% girls, M = 11.26, SD = 0.70) participated. Actual and perceived MC were assessed. To examine the proposed four factor models, structural equation models (factor analyses, latent correlations, invariance testing for gender) were conducted. Student t-test for independent samples was used to compare boys and girls. (3) Results: Proposed models achieved acceptable fit values with moderate correlation between the factors according to the type of MC in actual and perceived MC. Invariant factor structure in boys and girls was revealed. Boys performed and perceived themselves higher in object control than girls; whereas girls showed higher actual and perceived self-movement than boys. (4) Conclusions: The association between actual and perceived MC exists both globally and separately by gender, despite the differences between boys and girls. It is important to consider the role of gender and type of MC in the development of motor competencies, as well as in the strengthening of the children’s sense of competence.

Psychometric Properties of a French Version of the Perceived Motor Competence in Childhood Questionnaire

“…Likewise, and also supporting previous results (e.g., Dreiskämper et al., 2018) there were no age-related differences on any of the PMC-C factors. Furthermore, there were no significant differences on any of the PMC-C factors in relation to children’s BMI, and involvement in physical activities and sports, generally contradicting previous research conducted with other types of measures (e.g., Carcamo-Oyarzunet al, 2020 ; Famelia et al., 2018 ). However, this lack of associations may be due in part to the limited number of children in this sample who were not involved in physical activities or sports outside of school, possibly resulting in a slight reduction in BMI variability among this sample.…”

“…In addition, and supporting results previously reported by Dreisk€ amper et al ( 2018), and others (e.g., Carcamo-Oyarzun et al, 2020;Clark et al, 2018;Estevan et al, 2018;Morano et al, 2020), boys presented slightly higher scores than girls on the throwing, catching, kicking, and global motor competence factor. Likewise, and also supporting previous results (e.g., Dreisk€ amper et al, 2018) there were no age-related differences on any of the PMC-C factors.…”

“…Unfortunately, despite their report of analyses focused on the identification of an age or sex difference in PMC-C scores, Dreisk€ amper et al (2018) did not report evidence of measurement invariance or lack of DIF of children's responses to the PMC-C as a function of these two characteristics. More generally, although the role of a variety of common attributes or characteristics (e.g., age, body mass-index or BMI, physical activity/sport involvement and sex) are frequently assessed in studies examining children's perceived motor competence (e.g., Carcamo-Oyarzun et al, 2020;Clark et al, 2018;Estevan et al, 2018;Morano et al, 2020), there is no current evidence that the PMC-C can reliably (i.e., without biases) investigate associations between perceived motor competencies and these characteristics. Previous research has reported mean differences in perceived motor competence as a function of: (a) age (i.e., older children tended to present significantly higher scores than younger children; e.g., Estevan et al, 2018;Morano et al, 2020); (b) BMI (i.e., children having higher BMI tended to present lower scores than those with a lower BMI; e.g., Carcamo-Oyarzun et al, 2020); (c) physical activity/sport involvement (i.e., physically active children tended to score higher than inactive children; e.g., Famelia et al, 2018); and (d) sex (i.e., boys tended to present significantly higher scores than girls; e.g., Carcamo-Oyarzun et al, 2020;Clark et al, 2018;Estevan et al, 2018;Morano et al, 2020).…”

Effects of an Intervention for Promoting Basic Motor Competencies in Middle Childhood

“…Further longitudinal studies would be desirable, not only as a means of validating the results, but also with a view to developing evidence-based recommendations for promoting basic motor competencies to provide children with the best possible support in their development. In light of recent studies on the relationship between actual and perceived motor competencies [ 7 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 68 ], we also recommend including self-perception in future studies.…”

“…Furthermore, girls tend to achieve poorer performances on object movement and boys on self-movement than their opposite-sex peers [ 6 ] (cf. [ 7 ]). Second, it is critical with regard to the assumption that motor deficits are responsible for the lack of physical activity [ 2 , 8 ] that the WHO recommendation of 60 min per day for health-related physical activity [ 9 ] is met by just a third of three- to seventeen-year-olds (girls: 22.4%, boys: 29.4%; [ 10 , 11 ]).…”