Work

Deriving and validating a short version of the Physical Literacy in Children Questionnaire

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: OBJECTIVES: Physical literacy encompasses individual capabilities for lifelong physical activity. The Physical Literacy in Children Questionnaire (PL-C Quest) is a 30-item pictorial tool designed to measure children's physical literacy across four domains (physical, psychological, social, cognitive). However, a shorter version may be desirable for research and practice. Therefore, the study goal was to derive a short version of the PL-C Quest. DESIGN: Observational/cross-sectional. METHODS: The PL-C Quest was completed by children aged 8-12 years (N = 620) via digital tablet. To select the most indicative items, we calculated a self-developed aggregate score consisting of nine indicators: factor loading, internal consistency, item difficulty, item-total correlation, univariate and multivariate associations with proxy-reported physical activity, eligibility for boys and for girls (test fairness/subgroup validity), and cross-cultural generalisability. Items with the highest scores in each domain (points [pts]) were selected for the short version. We analysed the association between the sum scores of the short and long version. RESULTS: The items 'speed' (22pts), 'cardiovascular endurance' (20pts), 'muscular endurance' (20pts), and 'movement skills' (5pts) were selected for the physical domain; 'motivation' (20pts), 'engagement/enjoyment' (19pts), and 'confidence' (14pts) for the psychological; 'relationships' (15pts) and 'society/culture' (14pts) for the social; 'strategy/planning' (20 pts), 'tactics' (18pts), and 'content knowledge' (17pts) for the cognitive domain. The domain-specific aggregate scores of the short version were strongly related to the respective scores of the long version (0.74 ≤ r ≤ 0.84). CONCLUSIONS: The 12 items cover diverse yet central elements of children's physical literacy and empirically informed a short version of the PL-C Quest.

Source: Journal of science and medicine in sport

DOI: 10.1016/j.jsams.2025.11.018