The Predictive Utility of the Children??s Physical Activity Correlates (CPAC) Scale Across Multiple Grade Levels

Abstract

0360 PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to test the predictive utility of a battery of psychosocial correlates on physical activity in children and adolescents. METHODS: A total of 2072 youth (1069 males, 1003 females) ranging in age from 10 to 20 participated in the study. There was a relatively even distribution among elementary (24%), middle (36%) and high school (39%) youth. Each participant completed the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Children (PAQ-C) and the Children's Physical Activity Correlates (CPAC) scale. The CPAC includes subscales of attraction to physical activity (Attract), perceived athletic competence (PAC) and parental influence (ParInf). All surveys were completed during the participant's physical education class. Univariate ANOVAs were conducted on the three correlate variables and the outcome measure of physical activity to test for differences across grade level. Stepwise regression analyses were performed to determine the relative importance of the three correlate variables on the prediction of physical activity. RESULTS: ANOVA results confirm typical declining patterns of physical activity with age and parallel trends for the psychosocial correlates. For each measure, younger students scored higher (p < .001) than the older students. Males scored higher (p < .001) than females on all scales except for the ParInf scale, in which scores were about equal. Stepwise regression analyses indicate Attract accounted for the largest amount of variance in physical activity in all three grade levels (elementary school: 23%, middle school: 33%, high school: 28%). The ParInf and PAC subscales accounted for smaller amounts of the variance (4%, 3%, 2%, and 2%, 1.4%, and .8%, respectively) but both were significant predictors for all three age groups. Overall, the models accounted for 29%, 38% and 30% of the variance in activity for elementary, middle, and high school students, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The patterns of declining involvement and interest in physical activity are consistent with previous research findings. The results of this study show that the CPAC has good predictive validity across this broad age range.