Perceived and Real Aquatic Competence in Children from 6 to 10 Years Old.

Aldo M Costa,Nuno D Garrido,Mario J Costa,Sandra S Ferreira,Alexandra Frias,António J Silva

doi:10.3390/ijerph17176101

Abstract

This study aimed to analyze the relationship between perceived aquatic competence (PAC) and real aquatic competence (RAC) in 6 to 10 year old children in skills identified as relevant for surviving an aquatic accident. The study sample consisted of 105 children (8.2 + 1.3 years old). Two age groups were examined separately [G1, 6 to 7 years (n = 53); G2, 8 to 10 years (n = 52)]. Children’s aquatic competence was evaluated twice for skills linked to the risk of drowning: Firstly, using a common swimsuit (simple condition) and secondly wearing a t-shirt (complex condition). The PAC was assessed by questionnaire interview. Pearson correlation coefficients, pairwise, and independent t-test comparisons were performed with a significance level of 5%. Similar levels of PAC were found among both age groups for all measured skills, excepted for breath control during swimming (p < 0.05). However, PAC differs significantly (p < 0.001) from RAC (in simple and complex conditions) only in G1. Correlations between PAC and RAC were modest for all measured skills in both age-groups. Significant differences were found between RAC in simple and complex conditions in both groups (p < 0.01). Age contributes to a higher perceived aquatic competence in skills related to the risk of drowning.

Highlights

Accidents have been reported as the principal cause of death in children [1], with pedestrian behaviour [2,3,4] and drowning [5,6,7] taking higher attention
The differences between perceived aquatic competence (PAC) and real aquatic competence (RAC) were most notorious in the youngest group
Significant differences were found between RAC in simple and complex conditions in the Sk1, Sk3, and Sk4a skills for the youngest group

Summary

Introduction

Accidents have been reported as the principal cause of death in children [1], with pedestrian behaviour [2,3,4] and drowning [5,6,7] taking higher attention. In most of the drowning or near-drowning episodes, victims have a history of inadequate or insufficient aquatic skills for safety [8] which includes the inability to displace themselves into a safer zone, change body position, and swim in open water [9]. As swimming activity (as well as drowning). Public Health 2020, 17, 6101; doi:10.3390/ijerph17176101 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph

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