Preliminary Construct Validity of the Physical Activity and Sport Habits Questionnaire for Children (PASHQ-C) in Gipuzkoa

Developing reliable and valid instruments to assess habits and correlates of physical activity and sports (PAS) in children can contribute to generating scientific evidence for implementing effective public policies to promote PAS in children. There is a significant lack of questionnaires that assess the habits and correlates of PAS in a multidimensional way. Therefore, this study aimed to gather evidence on the construct validity of the PASHQ-C, which was designed to assess the habits and correlates of PAS in schoolchildren aged 8 to 12 years in Gipuzkoa. In total, 306 schoolchildren (153 girls and 153 boys) completed the 20-item, 9-dimensional questionnaire online, which assessed general physical activity (PA), transportation from and to school, recreational screen time, family and friends’ support, spaces and facilities, sleep time, barriers, motivations, and current and future status of PA. Frequencies and percentages were calculated for each item of the questionnaire, as well as total values and values categorised by the variables of gender, course, type of school, and population. The evidence obtained in the present study demonstrates good preliminary construct validity, as the overall results align with those found in previous studies, and the differential evidence discriminates according to gender, grade, school, and municipality. However, further studies are needed using more robust psychometric techniques and in other contexts to verify and extend these findings.