Physical literacy in children and youth - a construct validation study

John Cairney*, Heather Clark, Dean Dudley, Dean Kriellaars

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    34 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Purpose: Physical literacy (PL) has been proposed as a key construct for understanding participation in physical activity. However, the lack of an agreed-upon definition and measure has hindered research on the topic. The current study proposed and analyzed the construct validity of a PL model comprised of motor competence, perceived competence, motivation, and enjoyment. Method: The authors tested three different models in two samples: Grade 5 (N = 1,448) and Grade 7 students (N = 698). Results: The PL construct was best represented as a hierarchical model in both the Grade 5, X 2 (295) = 791.90, p < .001; root mean square error of approximation = .035; and comparative-fit index = .97, and the Grade 7 samples, X 2 (295) = 557.21, p < .001; root mean square error of approximation = .036; and comparative-fit index = .98, samples. Discussion: Future work is needed to design and evaluate a PL measure consistent with our model. Such work will help generate further research and understanding of PL.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)84-90
    Number of pages7
    JournalJournal of Teaching in Physical Education
    Volume38
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Apr 2019

    Keywords

    • bifactor model
    • hierarchical model
    • structural equation modeling
    • single-factor model

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