Validity and Reliability of the Physical Literacy in Children Questionnaire (PL-C Quest) for Primary School Children Aged 8 to 11 Years

Objectives: The study aimed to provide evidence for validity and reliability of the Physical Literacy in Children Questionnaire (PL-C Quest).
Design: Cross-sectional
Methods: Data were obtained from 664 primary school children (52.3% girls; aged 10.0 ± 0.9 years; 80.6% white British). Children completed the PL-C Quest: 30 pictorial dichotomous items relating to four Physical Literacy (PL) domains (physical, psychological, social, and cognitive). A convenience sub-sample (n = 66, 54.4% girls; aged 10.1 ± 0.9 years) completed the PL-C Quest again within 10-days. Construct validity (Confirmatory Factor Analysis) and internal consistency (Polychoric Ordinal Alphas) were assessed on the full sample and test-retest reliability (Intraclass Correlation) was assessed on the sub-sample.
Results: Goodness of fit values for construct validity showed good model fit. All items (PL elements) significantly loaded on domains and all domains significantly loaded on to PL (higher order factor). Nearly all items (28 out of 30) loaded on close or above the standard of λ = 0.3. Removing these two items did not significantly improve model fit. The model was sex- and age-invariant showing evidence of validity for both sexes and school years 4, 5, and 6. The PL-C Quest also showed evidence of good test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.94) and internal consistency (Pα = 0.90).
Conclusions: This evidence supports the use of the PL-C Quest to assess perceived PL in school children in England/UK.