ABSTRACT

Children’s positive perceived motor competence (PMC) provides motivation for physical activity. Theoretically young children (<8 years) have inflated PMC but as children cognitively develop, perceptions are hypothesized to decrease. This study investigated strength of PMC association over time, whether any change was negative (i.e. PMC decreased) and sex differences. A total of 198 children participated, 88 (44.4%) girls and 110 (55.6%) boys, aged 8.37–11.3 years at time point one (T1). Test–retest reliability using intraclass correlation was moderate for locomotor and moderate-to-good for object control perception. Hierarchical regression analysis showed PMC at T1 positively predicted significant variance one year later (T2) for locomotor (23.1%) and object control skill (5 items: 37.7%; 7 items: 39.9%). Whilst boys and girls differed on perception level there was no interaction between PMC and sex. Incongruent with previous theoretical perspectives this study identified stability in children’s PMC across an important developmental period.

摘要

儿童积极的感知运动能力（PMC）为体育锻炼提供了动力。从理论上讲，年龄小于8岁的儿童PMC膨胀，但是随着儿童认知能力的发展，人们的知觉会下降。这项研究调查了随时间变化的PMC关联强度，是否有任何负面变化（即PMC降低）和性别差异。在第一时间点（T1），共有198名儿童参加，其中88名（44.4％）女孩和110名（55.6％）男孩，年龄为8.37–11.3岁。使用类内相关性进行的重测信度对于运动能力是中等的，对于对象控制感知是中等到良好。分层回归分析显示，T1时的PMC预测一年后（T2）的运动能力（23.1％）和对象控制技能（5项：37.7％； 7项：39.9％）有显着差异。虽然男孩和女孩在知觉水平上存在差异，但PMC和性别之间没有相互作用。与以前的理论观点不一致，本研究确定了儿童PMC在重要发展时期的稳定性。