Physical self-confidence levels of adolescents: Scale reliability and validity

Objectives: To establish reliability, content validity and concurrent validity of the physical self-confidence scale among adolescents. Demonstrate the use of this scale to assess the physical self-confidence of adolescents across genders at performing specific fundamental movement skills (FMS).

Design: Three hundred and seventy six adolescents were involved in this study. A 15 item scale was developed to assess physical self-confidence.

Methods: The scale was developed based on 15 specific FMS. Experts in the field reviewed the scale to ensure content validity. The reliability of the scale was assessed on a sub-sample of 67 participants who answered the scale 7-days apart. Concurrent validity was assessed on the sub-sample using the Physical Self-Perception Profile (PSPP) as a comparative tool. 376 adolescents completed the physical self-confidence scale (mean age=13.78, SD=±1.21, males n=193) to assess gender differences, and also their levels of physical self-confidence across all skills.

Results: An Intra Class Correlation indicated excellent test retest reliability for the scale with an overall r=0.92. Content validity and concurrent validity were also good, with the scale achieving a correlation coefficient of 0.72 with the PSPP. Males possess significantly higher physical self-confidence than females across all items.

Conclusions: This scale is the first reliable and valid tool which specifically measures physical self-confidence in performing FMS among adolescents. The results highlight gender differences in physical self-confidence and emphasise the importance of measuring this at skill level as differences were task specific. This scale will facilitate future research examining the relationship between self-confidence, FMS proficiency and physical activity participation.