Does Perceived Competence Mediate between Ball Skills and Children’s Physical Activity and Enjoyment?

Abstract

The major purpose of this study was to examine the potential mediating role of perceived motor skill competence on relationships between actual ball skills and children’s physical activity (PA) and PA enjoyment. A total of 294 students (Mage = 10.96 ± 0.76; 51.7% boys) from three elementary schools completed validated questionnaires assessing their perceived competence, self-reported PA, and PA enjoyment. Students’ actual ball skills (i.e., basketball, overhand throwing, striking) were measured by PE MetricsTM. Correlation analyses showed positive relationships among the study variables (rs ranging from 0.12 to 0.56). The structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses demonstrated that the mediation model produces a goodness-of-fit to the data: χ2/df = 52.03/32; CFI = 0.96; NFI = 0.90; IFI = 0.96, RMSEA = 0.05, SRMR = 0.04. Path coefficients suggested that actual ball skill competence was strongly associated with perceived competence (β = 0.36, p < 0.01), which in turn significantly predicted PA (β = 0.29, p < 0.01) and PA enjoyment (β = 0.35, p < 0.01). The findings highlight that ball skills significantly impact students’ perceived competence, positively and indirectly affecting their PA and PA enjoyment. This study provides empirical evidence that recommends intervention strategies aimed at fostering elementary school students’ PA and PA enjoyment.

Physical Self-Concept and Motor Self-Efficacy Are Related to Satisfaction/Enjoyment and Boredom in Physical Education Classes

“…Navarro et al [51] highlighted that physical self-concept, especially the perception of physical fitness, was an essential factor for enjoyment in these classes. These perceptions are important and relevant; it has even been observed that the relationships between motor skills and the practice of PA are modulated by factors such as self-concept [52][53][54][55]. Therefore, it is possible that adolescents with adequate motor skills would not agree to engage in PA, or were not fully involved, due to a distorted perception of PA.…”

Students’ Motivational and Emotional Experiences in Physical Education across Profiles of Extracurricular Physical Activity: The Influence in the Intention to Be Active

“…Secondly, from a cognitive perspective, it is not yet known how the motivation and emotion experienced by adolescents in PE classes may be conditioned by the amount of extracurricular PA they perform. Recently, Zhang et al [ 42 ] highlighted that student’s ball skill competence predicted enjoyment of PA. However, they did not study whether students with high levels of ball skills were the same students with high enjoyment and level of PA.…”

Relation between Demographics and Physical Activity among Preschoolers Attending Head Start

“…These links become stronger across developmental periods, indicating the more motor skills a child develops, the more they prospectively engage/participate in PA. In fact, multiple school-based PA programs that target young children’s motor skill development to improve MVPA have been found to be effective (Kriemler et al, 2011 ; Lee et al, 2020a , b ; Zhang et al, 2021 ). Head Start programs need to consider integrating concepts of developing motor skills into their indoor and/or outdoor activity curricula.…”