A Longitudinal Study of Children’s Attitudes Regarding Physical Activity

A multiple longitudinal sample of 58 boys and 56 girls’ attitudes about six subcategories of physical activity were measured from Grades 4 to 6. Children’s attitudes towards physical activity (CATPA) were generally positive for both gender es, with – eirls showing more favourable opinions towards the aesthetic subdomain than boys, consistent with previous studies. The males, on the other hand, demonstrated much more positive sentiments towards physical activity as a source of pleasure and catharsis. Neither the among-grade nor the gender -by-grade comparisons reached statistical significance, showing that group attitude scores were stable. Correlational analyses, on the other hand, demonstrated a lack of CATPA stability within people across the grades investigated. Factor analysis offered more evidence that CATPA is not a permanent behavioural tendency. The findings are examined in light of past cross-sectional studies, and implications for future study are drawn.