Relationships between Athletic Motor Skill Competencies and Maturity, Sex, Physical Performance, and Psychological Constructs in Boys and Girls.

Ben J Pullen,Jon L Oliver,Rhodri S Lloyd,Camilla J Knight

doi:10.3390/children9030375

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between athletic motor skill competencies (AMSC), maturation, sex, body mass index, physical performance, and psychological constructs (motivation to exercise, physical self-efficacy, and global self-esteem). Two-hundred and twenty-four children aged 11–13 years old were included in the study and sub-divided by sex. The athlete introductory movement screen (AIMS) and tuck jump assessment (TJA) were used to assess AMSC, while standing long jump distance assessed physical performance. Online surveys examined participants’ motivation to exercise, physical self-efficacy, and self-esteem. Trivial to moderate strength relationships were evident between AMSC and BMI (boys: rs = −0.183; girls: rs = −0.176), physical performance (boys: rs = 0.425; girls: rs = 0.397), and psychological constructs (boys: rs = 0.130–0.336; girls rs = 0.030–0.260), with the strength of relationships different between the sexes. Higher levels of AMSC were related to significantly higher levels of physical performance (d = 0.25), motivation to exercise (d = 0.17), and physical self-efficacy (d = 0.15–0.19) in both boys and girls. Enhancing AMSC may have mediating effects on levels of physical performance and psychological constructs in school-aged children, which may hold important implications for physical activity levels and the development of physical literacy.

Highlights

The tuck jump assessment (TJA) demonstrated excellent reliability (ICC = 0.91) with individual performance criteria kappa statistic indicating poor to almost perfect agreement (k = 0.286 to 1.000) with the percentage agreement ranging from 50% to
This study examined the relationship between athletic motor skill competencies (AMSC) movement screen scores, sex, maturity offset, body mass index (BMI), physical performance, and selected psychological constructs in boys and girls
The findings indicate that the ability to perform AMSC in the athlete introductory movement screen (AIMS) are positively and significantly correlated to physical performance, motivation to exercise, and physical self-efficacy in both male and female children

Summary

Methods

To examine the relationship between AMSC and psychological constructs and lower body strength in school children, a cross-sectional design was implemented. The testing included movement screens assessing AMSC via the Athlete Introductory Movement. Screen (AIMS), physical performance via a standing long jump assessment to investigate lower limb strength and surveys to examine motivation to exercise, physical self-efficacy, and global self-esteem. Participants were recruited from two schools in areas of lower socioeconomic status in South Wales [43]. The school principal or head of physical education granted pupil consent via in-loco-parentis. Testing for the study was performed in a physical education lesson at each school, supervised by the primary researcher and assisted by three other paediatric exercise science PhD students

Results

Discussion

Conclusion