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Article Title: How Important is Physical Activity Training Participation for Children with Higher or Lower Athletic Competence Beliefs?
by Giulia Bardaglio, Danilo Marasso, Emanuela Rabaglietti, Enrique Ortega, and Silvia Ciairano

Abstract:
Some studies have investigated the relationship between children's athletic competence beliefs and actual motor competence while engaged in physical activity. However, it is not clear whether or not participation in physical activity training has lesser or greater effectiveness for children with higher or lower beliefs of their own athletic competence. This knowledge would allow for the implementation of different kinds of physical activity trainings, tailored around the children's beliefs, in order to get the highest possible improvement of motor skills. This study investigated whether children's levels of athletic competence beliefs would interact with their increase in coordinative motor skills proficiency after a specific physical activity training. The participants in the training were 116 children (7-10 years old), randomly divided into an experimental (53% females) and control group (49% females). We collected pre- and post-test measures of the children's coordinative motor skills and we also assessed their athletic competence beliefs at the pre-test. The physical activity training increased the children's motor skills, and children with lower athletic competence beliefs benefited more than their classmates with higher athletic competence beliefs. When the athletic competence beliefs are low, good physical activity training can overcome its negative effect on actual motor skills, both in boys and girls.

Keywords: childhood, athletic competence beliefs, coordinative motor skill, physical education, primary school

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