Children with high actual and perceived motor skill competence are more physically active: A pooled latent profile analysis of cross-sectional data

The aim was to determine profiles according to actual and perceived motor competence and provide a comparison of profiles according to moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA) in children. Cross-sectional data were pooled from four Australian studies (481 children, 54.5% boys; 3.5 to 11.7 years). Motor skill competence, total, object control and locomotor (Test of Gross Motor Skill Development [TGMD)]), perceived motor skill (pictorial scale of Perceived Movement Skill Competence [PMSC]) and MVPA (ActiGraph data) were assessed. Latent profile analyses identified actual and perceived skill profiles and covariate-adjusted associations with MVPA were then assessed for all children, for boys and girls. For total skills, the two-profile solution was the best fit for all children (81% '<i>high aligned</i>', i.e., high perception, high skills; 19% '<i>low aligned</i>, i.e., low perception, low skills') and for girls (71% '<i>high aligned</i>'; 29% '<i>low aligned</i>'). For boys, a three-profile solution was the best fit (49% '<i>under perceiver</i>'- low perception, high skills; 42% '<i>over perceiver</i>' - high perception, low skills; 9% '<i>low aligned</i>'). For the total skill, children in the '<i>high aligned</i>' profile (65.3 minutes) were 14.6 minutes/day more active than the "low aligned" profile (50.8 minutes). Intervention efforts should focus on the "<i>low aligned</i>" profile to increase physical activity.