psychometric properties of the Persian version of Adolescent Motor Competence Questionnaire (AMCQ)

An adolescent’s level of motor competence is important to assess as can impact on a range of daily functions and participation in physical activities. Formal assessments of motor competence can be time consuming and costly. One alternative is to use self-report questionnaires to screen for level of motor competence.

This study examines the validity and reliability of the Persian version of the Adolescent Motor Competence Questionnaire (AMCQ) and differences between adolescent boys and girls.

Three evaluative stages were completed to translate the items into Persian, which included back translations by 4 native English and Persian speakers and 10 expert reviews. A total of 470 adolescents aged 12-18 years old (mean age 14.22 ± 1.64) from the Ray schools district completed the 26-item AMCQ. A subsample of 30 adolescents completed the AMCQ after 1 week for retest.

The content validity index (CVI=0.98) was strong. The results of exploratory factor analysis identified 4 factors and the results of the confirmatory factor analysis showed that items with a suitable factor load (0.95-0.65) on the four factors. The results revealed the AMCQ had high internal consistency (0.940), and acceptable test-retest reliability (r=0.885). When considering gender, boys had higher AMCQ scores compared to girls. The boy’s scores were related to the factors of ‘participating in physical activity and sport’ and ‘peer comparisons’.

The results of this study show that the Persian version of AMCQ can be used as a valid tool to assess Iranian adolescence motor competence.