Author(s): SCARPA, S.1, NART, A.2, LUCCHETTI, C.3, BIANCALANA, V.3, Institution: UNIVERSITY 'GIUSTINO FORTUNATO' OF BENEVENTO , Country: ITALY, Abstract-ID: 1245

In the sport and physical activity (PA) field, enjoyment is (Scanlan & Simons, 1992) and it can also be considered an important factor in promoting active lifestyles and regular PA among school-aged children (Carraro, Young, & Robazza, 2008). Although PA enjoyment depends primarily on intrinsic factors, sport competence may influence PA enjoyment (Carroll & Loumidis, 2003). We investigated here the effects of perceived sport competence on PA enjoyment, initially, expecting that perceived sport competence could be predictive of high levels of PA enjoyment. This study was carried out to increase the existing body of knowledge about the relationship between perceived sport competence and enjoyment.
Participants were 794 pupils (403 boys and 391 girls) aged between 12 and 14 years (M = 13.2; SD = .86) and recruited from a randomized number of schools located in a northeastern region of Italy. They completed an Italian version of the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale (PACES; Carraro et al., 2008) and the Physical Seld-description Questionnaire-Short (PSDQ-S; Marsh, 1996). The Italian version of the PSDQ-S (Scarpa, Gobbi, Paggiaro, & Carraro, 2010) contains five factors of physical self-concept which are used to assess perceived sport competence: endurance, flexibility, strength, coordination, and sport skill.
Questionnaires were completed in groups in the classroom. All respondents and their parents gave their informed consent and were assured that individual data would be kept confidential.
Pearson’s correlation test was used to measure the association between variables. Multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to investigate the correlation between PSDQ-S scores (independent variables) and PACES total score (dependent variable). Pearson’s correlation test revealed the following positive associations between PSDQ-S variables and PACES total score: endurance (r = .828, p < .0001); flexibility (r = .507, p < .001); strength (r = .665, p < .0001); coordination (r = .427, p < .001); sport skill (r = .546, p < .001). Multiple linear regression analysis showed the following score indices: SE = 8.86; t = 22.81; R2 = .455; F(1, 794) = 64.13; p < .001. Our results highlighted positive associations between physical self-concept scales and PA enjoyment, and our hypothesis that perceived sport competence can be considered a good predictor of PA enjoyment was confirmed. The results could contribute to our understanding of the processes involved in the promotion of active lifestyles and regular PA among young people.