Testing the validity of the griffin/keogh model for movement confidence by analyzing self-report playground involvement decisions of elementary school children

In this study, the interaction of such factors as competence, potential for enjoyment, and potential for harm as postulated in the Model for Movement Confidence was studied by analyzing responses of 250 fifth-grade children in the Omaha Public Schools·to a Playground Movement Confidence Inventory (PMCI). The PMCI was designed to assess movement confidence and the bases for performance decisions. Multiple discriminant analyses and analytical cross-validation were used to determine an index of discriminatory power, stability of the instrument, and a validity coefficient for scale classification power. All three model factors were found to influence the confidence of children in performing the playground tasks in the inventory. The PMCI successfully classified 85.16% of total cases representing a.5726 proportional reduction in error over chance. The factor analysis model accounted for 54% of the total variance with 90% of this variance explained by the competency subscale. The enjoyment and harm subscales combined to account for the remaining 10%. Two categories of harm variables were also depicted by the factor analysis in this study. Findings of this study represent a significant step in the validation and elaboration of the Model for Movement Confidence. Identity, separability, and measurability of the factors postulated in the model were demonstrated and the probably multivariate nature of the harm factor identified. Specific response pattern profiles of low and high confidence groups as a priori predictions of the movement confidence model were obtained. The theoretical formulations of the model sustained as factors of enjoyment and harm, as well as competence, were found to modify confidence perceptions of tasks. In this study the discriminating variables operated with a high degree of task specificity.