Aquatic Perceived Competence in Children: Development and Preliminary Validation of a Pictorial Scale

The aim of this study was to develop and validate a scale for measuring perceived motor competence of children in the water (also known as aquatic perceived competence). One hundred boys and girls four and five years old took part in the study and were given a picture questionnaire featuring a series of images of children engaged in a variety of water tasks. Factor analyses were conducted to test whether the ten-item scale is made up of two major dimensions, the first of them referring to willingness (predisposition or attitudes of the children toward the water) and the second to the perceived skill competence in water. This instrument was shown to have suitable psychometric properties both on the overall scale ( = .92) and on the two subscales: attitude ( = .93) and perceived water skill ( = .85), with the eldest participants registering the highest scores. The Aquatic Perceived Competence Pictorial Scale (APCPS) for children is recommended as an instrument for both researchers and swimming instructors to use for assessing the aquatic perceived competence of their students.