Investigating the Age-Related Association between Perceived Motor Competence and Actual Motor Competence in Adolescence

Conor Philpott, Brian Donovan, Sarahjane Belton, Diarmuid Lester, Michael Duncan, Fiona Chambers and Wesley O’Brien
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Conor Philpott: School of Education, Sports Studies and Physical Education Programme, University College Cork, T12 KX72 Cork, Ireland
Brian Donovan: School of Education, Sports Studies and Physical Education Programme, University College Cork, T12 KX72 Cork, Ireland
Sarahjane Belton: School of Health and Human Performance, Dublin City University, D09 Y5N0 Dublin 9, Ireland
Diarmuid Lester: School of Education, Sports Studies and Physical Education Programme, University College Cork, T12 KX72 Cork, Ireland
Michael Duncan: Research Centre for Applied Biological and Exercise Sciences, Coventry University, Priory Street, Coventry CV1 5FB, UK
Fiona Chambers: School of Education, Sports Studies and Physical Education Programme, University College Cork, T12 KX72 Cork, Ireland
Wesley O’Brien: School of Education, Sports Studies and Physical Education Programme, University College Cork, T12 KX72 Cork, Ireland

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 17, 1-18

Abstract: Irish adolescents have been found to possess high perceptions of motor competence. However, there is an evidential value to investigating the strength of the relationship between adolescent perceptions of motor competence and their low levels of actual motor competence. The purpose of this research was to gather data on the fundamental, functional, and perceived motor competence in adolescents, differentiated by year group, to discern if participants could assess their perceptions of ability. Data were collected on adolescents ( N = 373; mean age: 14.38 ± 0.87 years; 47.7% female) across six second-level schools in Ireland, including measurements of fundamental movement skills, functional movement, and perceived motor competence. Poor levels of fundamental and functional movement were observed, with significant differences between year groups detected. Participants in 1st year scored the highest in overall fundamental movement skills; however, for overall functional movement, 3rd-year participants scored highest. High levels of perceived motor competence were reported across the entire sample. These scores did not align with actual motor competence, nor did any alignment between these measurements improve with aging, countering theorized age-related associations. Future research should target low levels of actual motor competence while emphasizing the cognitive aspects of movement to ensure greater accuracy between actual and perceived motor competence.

Keywords: functional movement; fundamental movement skills; motor competence; cognition; motor skills (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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