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. (C) 2015 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.