Associations Between Domains of Physical Literacy In 8-12 Year-Old Children, by Weight Status

Abstract

To date, only a small number of studies have examined the results of physical literacy (PL) assessments using the Canadian Assessment of Physical Literacy (CAPL). Among these studies, none have evaluated the correlations between the four domains of PL assessed within the CAPL, nor have they evaluated whether these correlations differ depending on weight status. The current study aimed to determine the strength of associations between the four domains of PL, and compare the correlation coefficients between healthy weight and overweight/obese children. Children aged 8-12 years (n=456) were assessed using the CAPL protocol and partial correlations (controlling for age, sex, and other domain scores) were calculated between domains, for healthy weight (n=275) and overweight/obese children (n=181) separately. The results of this study show that the domains of physical competence, daily behaviour, and motivation and confidence correlate significantly with one another at similar low-to-moderate levels in both body weight groups examined (r = 0.15 to 0.38). The domain of knowledge and understanding did not correlate significantly with other domains in healthy weight participants, and only correlated significantly with physical competence in overweight/obese children (r = 0.22). Overall, the low level of correlations seen between domains in this study lends support to the psychometric architecture of the CAPL and suggests that the four domains of CAPL measure different constructs. Furthermore, the results of this study suggest that interventions aimed at improving PL in children should assess multiple domains, and do not necessarily need to be tailored based on a child’s weight status.