Physical Literacy in Children and Youth—A Construct Validation Study
in Journal of Teaching in Physical EducationClick name to view affiliation
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, X2(295) = 791.90, p < .001; root mean square error of approximation = .035; and comparative-fit index = .97, and the Grade 7 samples, X2(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.
Cairney and Clark are with the University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dudley is with Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Kriellaars is with the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
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