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A Causal Pathway of Physical Activity to Motor Competence in Childhood:Evidence from a School-based Intervention

ABSTRACT This study aimed to examine whether changes in physical activity (PA) after an 8-week pedometer-based intervention would result in changes on motor competence through competence beliefs towards physical education (PE). The study also evaluated whether the hypothesized causal pathway differed by gender. Participants were 259 children (Mean age = 10.88, SD =.78), randomly allocated to three intervention groups. Children’s PA, competence beliefs towards PE, and motor competence were measured at pre- and post-tests. Significant relationships between PA and competence beliefs towards PE were found at pre- and post-tests. The magnitude of the relationship between competence beliefs towards PE and motor competence was larger at post-test than at pre-test (.33 vs.20). The structural invariance test suggested that the differences between boys and girls for the hypothesized models were insignificant (CMIN = 15.97, df = 12; p =.193). In general, the results suggest that changes on PA may cause changes in competence beliefs towards PE, which could result in changes on motor competence in middle to later childhood, regardless of gender. These data offer the possibility of using competence beliefs towards PE as a mediator in PA interventions designed to increase motor competence in childhood.