Actual motor competence, perceived motor competence and organized sports participation in 8-to 12 year-old Belgian children

Introduction: Actual motor competence (AMC) is considered an important prerequisite of organized sports participation (OSP). Special attention should be paid to children displaying low levels of AMC and perceived motor competence (PMC) as this combination is found to be disadvantageous in terms of OSP. Therefore, the aim of this study was to establish profiles in children based on AMC, PMC and OSP, while using aligned motor competence measurement instruments. Methods: The AMC of all participating children (N = 206; 112 boys; Mage = 10.83 ± 0.92 years) was measured with the Korperkoordinationstest fur Kinder. An adapted version of the Physical Self-Confidence Scale was used to assess their PMC. OSP was measured using sections of the Flemish Physical Activity Questionnaire. Cluster analyses were applied to analyze the collected data. Results: Cluster analyses identified six different profiles based on AMC, PMC and OSP: three profiles were characterized by corresponding levels of AMC, PMC and OSP (i.e., low-low-low, average-average-average, high-high-high) and three profiles were characterized by divergent levels of AMC, PMC and OSP (i.e., low-low-high, average-low-low, high-high-average). Combined Pearson correlations between AMC and PMC revealed that five out of these six profiles (86,4%, n = 172) showed moderate associations between both variables (i.e., r=0.555, p<0.01 in the aligned clusters, and r=0.579, p<0.01 in the less-aligned clusters). In addition, a high Pearson correlation was found between AMC and OSP in the aligned clusters (r=0.750, p<0.01). Conclusion: Children’s perception of their motor competence might be estimated more accurately because they seem to use product-oriented feedback to provide additional relevant information about their perceived skill, and therefore presented a stronger correlation between the product-oriented AMC and PMC in the current study. PE teachers should take into account that children seem to attach greater importance to product-oriented self-assessment in terms of motor skill.