J O U R N A L OF SPORT PSYCHOLOGY, 1980, 2, 137-147.
Children's Attitudes Toward Physical Activity:
A Longitudinal Analysis
Frank L. Smoll
Robert W. Schutz
University of Washington
University of British Columbia
Attitudes toward six subdomains of physical activity were assessed across
Grades 4 t o 6 for a multiple longitudinal sample consisting of 58 boys and 56
girls. The children's attitudes toward physical activity (CATPA) were
generally positive for both sexes; and consistent with preGious research, the
eirls showed more favorable attitudes toward the aesthetic subdomain than
the boys. However, the boys evidenced significantly more positive attitudes
toward physical activity as the pursuit of vertigo and as catharsis. Neither the
among-grade comparisons nor sex-by-grade comparisons attained statistical
significance, indicating stability in group attitude scores. However, correlational analyses revealed the lack of stability of CATPA within individuals
across the grades studied. Factor analysis provided further evidence negating
the assumption of CATPA as a n enduring behavioral disposition. The
findings are discussed in relation to previous cross-sectional studies, and
implications are derived for future research.
-
The concept of attitudes is not only a focal point of inquiry in social
psychology, but likewise interest in the study of attitudes is prevalent in sport
psychology. This concern is reflected by the design and construction of
instruments to assess attitudes toward a variety of attitude objects, including
sportsmanship, intense competition, and physical fitness and exercise (see
Albinson, 1975). A major advance in attitude research resulted from Kenyon's
(1968b, 1968c) construction of an inventory to assess attitudes toward physical
activity (ATPA) based on a conceptual model characterizing physical activity as
a multidimensional phenomenon (Kenyon, 1968a). The six subsets or dimensions
identified were physical activity as a social experience, as health and fitness, as
the pursuit of vertigo, as an aesthetic experience, as catharsis, and as an ascetic
experience. In the last several years, Kenyon's inventory has been used with
adults and high school students for numerous studies concerning ATPA and
their relationship with various situational and dispositional variables (e.g.,
Alderman, 1970; Dorfman, 1968; Lockhart, 1971; Mullins, 1969; Straub &
Felock, 1974; Zaichkowsky, 1975).
Appreciation is extended t o Joan K. Cunningham for assistance in data collection and
to Donald L. Mickey, Director of Research, Bellevue School System, for cooperation
throughout the study.
Reprint requests should be sent to Dr. Frank L. Smoll, Department of Kinesiology,
DX-10, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195.
138
SMOLL AND SCHUTZ
Although there may be some potential value in knowing people's ATPA,
Martens (1975) emphasized that "the important function of studying attitudes is
to learn how these attitudes are formed, how they may be changed, and how they
relate to actual behavior" (p. 137). In this regard, the period of middle childhood
is particularly salient as this is the time when basic attitudes are being formed
(Ausubel& Sullivan, 1970; Geoghegan, Pollard, &Kelly, 1963; Lee& Lee, 1958).
It should be noted that of the multitude of definitions available, the notion of an
enduring behavioral disposition is a common element in conceptualizations of
the attitude concept (e.g., Kenyon, 1968b; Krech, Crutchfield, & Ballachey, 1862;
Leventhal, 1974; Rokeach, 1968). It follows that ATPA is assumed to be a
relatively stable attribute. However, very little is known about the nature and
characteristics of ATPA during the time of their formation. In view of this, the
present study is devoted to a longitudinal analysis of children's attitudes toward
physical activity (CATPA) in order to determine their degree of stability during
middle childhood.
Method
Design
To date, cross-sectional and longitudinal methods have been the most
commonly used designs in studying age-functional relationships. However,
because of the inadequacies of cross-sectional and pure longitudinal designs
(Baltes, 1968; Labouvie, Bartsch, Nesselroade, & Baltes, 1974; Schaie, 1965;
Schutz, 1978), a multiple longitudinal design was employed. The term multiple
longitudinal refers to repeated measurements made on more than one intact
group or cohort over a period of time.' In the present study, three repeated
measurements (Grades 4, 5, and 6) were made for two birth cohorts (groups of
individuals born in the same time span, hereafter referred to as Cohorts '65 and
'66). As shown in Table 1, data collection for Cohort '65 began in the spring of
1975 (Grade 4) and was completed in 1977 (Grade 6). The data for Cohort '66
spanned the years 1976-1978 for Grades 4 through 6.
Subjects
Both cohorts attended the same elementary school in Bellevue, Washington.
Cohort '65 initially consisted of 45 boys and 43 girls who were in Grade 4 during
the 1974-1975 school year. Attrition due to change in residence after the first or
second year of the study resulted in a final sample size of 58 (30 boys, 28 girls)
with complete data for Grades 4, 5, and 6. Of the 75 Grade 4 students who
initially comprised Cohort '66, complete data were obtained on 56 (28 boys,
'Kemper and van't Hof (1978) introduced the term multiple longitudinal in place of
the term mixed longitudinal because the latter has been used inconsistently in the
literature t o describe several different designs. Specifically, the term mixed longitudinal
has been used for designs in which subjects leave and join the study during the period of
measurement as well as for designs of longitudinal studies with cohorts overlapping ages
during the study.
CHILDREN'S ATTITUDES
139
Table 1-Multiple Longitudinal Design Giving Grades
of Cohorts at Each Measurement Time
Cohort
Time of measurement
1975
1976
1977
1978
28 girls). Thus 66% and 75% of Cohorts '65 and '66, respectively, comprised the
sample for the study.
For Cohort '65, means and standard deviations of chronological age for the
boys and girls at Grade 4 were 123.3 (f4.2) and 121.9 (k4.8) months,
4.0) and
respectively. Those for the boys and girls of Cohort '66 were 124.4 (f
123.0 ( f 4.2) months, respectively. Cohorts '65 and '66 participated in the same
physical education programs taught by the same elementary school specialists
throughout the course of the study. Parental permission was obtained for the
children's participation in the study.
Instrumentation and Procedures
Simon and Smoll's (1974) semantic differential inventory, which is an
adaptation of Kenyon's (1968~)instrument, was utilized for assessing CATPA.
In developing the CATPA inventory, the format and content of Kenyon's scales
were closely followed, but substantial changes in wording made the instrument
appropriate for the reading competencies of elementary school children in
Grades 4 through 6. CATPA with respect to each subdomain are quantified
through use of a 7-point semantic differential scale for each of eight bipolar
adjectives, thus yielding scores ranging from 8 to 56 for each of the six
subdomains. The CATPA inventory has shown high internal consistency (Hoyt
reliabilities ranging from .80 to .89) and test-retest reliabilities (6-week time
interval) of approximately .60 (Simon & Smoll, 1974).
The CATPA inventory was administered during half-hour classroom
sessions following standard procedures (Simon & Smoll, 1974). The data
collection was conducted by the same person during the month of May for each
of the 4 years.
Results
A 2 X 2 MANOVA, sex by sample (dropouts vs. survivors), was performed to
test if the attrition was random with respect to attitudes-that is, whether
selective drop-out occurred. The dependent variables were the six CATPA scores
obtained at Grade 4. The nonsignificant sample and sex by sample effects
indicated that the subjects on which complete data were obtained (survivors)
were not different from those who were lost after 1 or 2 years (dropouts). Thus it
140
SMOLL AND SCHUTZ
can be concluded that the causes of attrition were independent of the dependent
variables under investigation (i.e., CATPA).
Internal consistency, measured by Hoyt reliabilities, ranged from .70 to .92
for boys (median = .84) and from .67 t o .91 for girls (median = .85). These values
compare favorably with those from previous studies (Simon & Smoll, 1974;
Smoll, Schutz, & Keeney, 1976). No change in internal consistency across grades
was noted for either sex.
Table 2 shows the mean attitude scores and standard deviations for each
subdomain separately by cohort, sex, and grade. The relatively large standard
deviations for the boys' aesthetic scores are the result of the existence of a few
very low scores in this.subdomain. Specifically, there were eight cases of the
minimal score (a value of 8) in the total data set, and all of these occurred in the
aesthetic subdomain (six boys and two girls).
As it was desirable to collapse across cohorts in order to create sufficient
sample sizes for subsequent multivariate analyses, a test of cohort equivalence
was performed. A 2 X 2 MANOVA (cohort by sex) on the 18 dependent
variables (six CATPA scores at each of the three grades) yielded a significant
cohort effect, F(18, 93) = 2 . 7 3 , ~< .001. The significant cohort difference was
primarily due to the Grade 4 aesthetic variable, for which the only significant
univariate F ratio was obtained, F(1, 93) = 6.48, p < .02. Despite a nonsignificant cohort by sex interaction, this between-cohort difference seems entirely
attributable to the boys' data, with Cohort '65 having a mean of 42.4 versus a
mean of 32.2 for Cohort '66. Between-cohort differences on the aesthetic
subdomain for the remaining five sex-grade comparisons all have values of less
than 2.2. The nonsignificant cohort by sex effect, along with the fact that the
significant cohort effect can be attributed to a large difference in one specific
sex-grade comparison (out of 36 such possible comparisons), provides sufficient
evidence for assuming that Cohorts '65 and '66 are equivalent with respect to the
CATPA scores. Thus, all further analyses were performed on the data collapsed
across cohorts.
Specific contrasts applied to the set of 18 dependent variables allowed for
tests of relevant preplanned comparisons within the 2 X 2 MANOVA. Averaged
over grades, there was a significant sex effect, F(6, 105) = 1 5 . 7 7 , ~< .001, with
the follow-up univariate F ratios being significant for the vertigo (p < .01),
aesthetic (p < .01), and catharsis (p < .04) subdomains. The boys evidenced
more positive attitudes toward physical activity as the pursuit of vertigo and as
catharsis, whereas the girls showed a more favorable attitude toward the
aesthetic dimension. A nonsignificant multivariate F ratio for the set of amonggrade comparisons, F(12, 99) = 1.01, p = .45, and sex by grade comparisons,
F(12, 99) = 1.19, p = .30, indicates the absence of any grade differences in
CATPA.
Although the preceding analysis suggests a stability of attitudes across
grades, it should be noted that this is a group stability and does not permit
inferences with respect to the stability of attitudes within individuals. The
between-grades correlations presented in Table 3 do provide the necessary
Table 2-Means and Standard Deviations for Each Attitude Subdomain Separately by Cohort, Sex, and Grade
Subdomains
Boys
Girls
Grade 4
Grade 5
Grade 6
Grade 4
Grade 5
Grade 6
Social
Cohort '65
Cohort '66
Total
44.9f8.3
46.0f6.9
45.4f7.6
47.7 k5.3
44.4f5.8
46.1 f5.6
44.6 k7.0
46.3 f6.8
45.4 f6.9
45.0 f7.1
46.9f7.1
45.9 f7.1
45.8f6.9
45.0 f7.0
45.4 f6.9
46.4f6.2
48.2f5.4
47.3f5.8
Health & Fitness
Cohort '65
Cohort '66
Total
48.0f5.6
47.5f8.4
47.7f7.0
47.9f6.8
48.3 f6.6
48.1 f6.7
47.1 f6.6
49.9f5.6
48.5k6.3
47.5f5.6
49.6f5.5
48.6 f5.6
46.8 f5.2
46.3 f6.3
46.5f5.7
46.7f7.4
48.6f5.8
47.6f6.7
Vertigo
Cohort '65
Cohort '66
Total
37.8f9.1
42.4f9.9
40.0f9.7
43.9 f8.0
40.6 f8.3
42.3 f8.2
42.3 f9.0
41.6f7.6
42.0f8.3
35.8f11.9
37.2f8.2
36.5f10.2
38.2f11.7
35.4f10.5
36.8f1 1 .l
38.0 +9.7
39.3f7.4
38.6f8.6
Aesthetic
Cohort '65
Cohort '66
Total
42.4f9.8
32.2f13.8
37.4f12.7
35.1 f13.2
36.6 f15.0
35.8 f14.0
37.3f12.4
35.1 f14.6
36.2f13.5
47.3f5.9
48.0 f9.4
47.7f7.8
49.8 f6.0
48.1 k8.3
49.0f7.2
49.9f6.3
48.8k7.5
49.3 f6.9
Catharsis
Cohort '65
Cohort '66
Total
43.2-17.1
45.9 f8.8
44.5 k8.0
46.9 f9.8
43.5 f8.3
45.3 f9.2
46.4f8.6
47.4k9.2
46.9f8.8
41.8f9.7
40.3 f9.3
41.0f9.5
45.0f8.5
43.1 f7.3
44.1 f7.9
44.8+I 1.1
44.1 f7.4
44.5f9.3
Ascetic
Cohort '65
Cohort '66
Total
41.2f7.7
40.1 f10.7
40.7f9.2
38.9f10.8
42.2f8.5
40.5f9.8
38.6f11.2
40.8f10.3
39.6f10.7
35.5f11.4
40.8f9.6
38.2f10.8
39.1 f10.4
40.4f10.4
39.7f10.3
40.5f6.1
41.1 f6.2
40.8f6.1
"
g
2
h
24
c
i3
-E
SMOLL A N D SCHUTZ
142
Tabie 3-Between-Grades Correlations for Each Subdomain
Separately by Sex
Subdomains
Social
Sex
Grades 4-5
Grades 5-6
Boys
.18
.33
Girls
.44
.44
Health & Fitness
Boys
.45
.44
Girls
.16
.35
Vertigo
Boys
.38
.56
Girls
.39
.32
Aesthetic
Boys
.43
.43
Girls
.52
.58
Catharsis
Boys
.06
.12
Girls
.32
.35
Ascetic
Boys
.29
.52
Girls
.16
.21
Note: Critical values at p= .01, boys' r (56) = .30, girls' r (54) = .31.
Grades 4-6
.19
.30
.15
.14
.29
.25
.35
.47
.20
.08
.20
-.20
information for examining the degree of intra-individual variability. If a
significance test was applied separately to each of these 36 correlation
coefficients, it would show that of the 18 coefficients for girls, 10 of them are
significantly different from zero (p < .01), and 9 of the 18 values for the boys
achieve significance. Furthermore, these statistically significant correlations
account for only 10% (r = +.32) to 34% (r = +.58) of the total variance in any
one attitude subdomain at a particular grade.
Canonical correlations were calculated in order to examine the relationships
between the sets of variables (CATPA scores) for each grade pairing, that is, to
examine the grade-to-grade stability of the composite CATPA domain. The
canonical correlation coefficient indicates the strength of the relationship
between two canonical variates, these variates being the linear combination of
the set of variables which maximizes the strength of the relationship (Harris,
1975). The coefficients associated with each variable in the canonical variate
indicate the relative contribution that each variable within the set makes towards
the relationship between the two sets. For girls, a single significant canonical
relationship was obtained for each grade pair-Grades 4-5, Rc = .69, x2(36) =
7 9 . 3 , ~< .001; Grades 5-6, Rc = .63, x2 (36) = 6 1 . 8 , ~< .005; Grades 4-6, Rc =
.55, X2(36)= 51.0, p < .05. Examination of the coefficients for the canonical
variables revealed that these significant relationships were primarily attributable
to the aesthetic subdomains. In other words, for each grade pairing, the
relationship that does exist between the CATPA domains can be explained by
the stable (across grades) characteristic of the aesthetic subdomain (i.e., stable
relative to the other subdomains).
For the boys, several significant ( p < .05) canonical correlations were
obtained for each grade pair. However, the structure of these relationships was
not clear, which is contrary to what was found for the girls. Examination of the
CHILDREN'S ATTITUDES
143
coefficients revealed the absence of a pattern of any type insofar as any specific
subdomain contributing to the relationship. For example, the first significant
canonical correlation between Grades 4 and 5 seemed to be accounted for by a
relationship between the catharsis subdomain in Grade 4 and a combination of
the health and fitness and aesthetic dimensions in Grade 5 (Table 4). The
remaining significant canonicals were also due to a weighted combination of a
variety of subdomains, with different subdomains predominating in each case.
Table 4-Canonical
Coefficients for CATPA: Boys, Grades 4-5
Subdomains
Social
Health & Fitness
Vertigo
Aesthetic
Catharsis
Ascetic
Grade 4
.25
.21
-.25
.36
.55
.25
Grade 5
.31
.56
-.32
.52
-.I9
.10
In view of the lack of emergence of any pattern of stability of attitudes across
grades, factor analysis (principal components with varimax rotation) was
employed as an exploratory technique to determine if any alternate structure
existed. The factor structure and loadings were very similar for the boys and the
girls; thus the two groups were combined, yielding the factor analysis solution
reported in Table 5. This solution represents a very clear structure, analogous to
Thurstone's (1947) "simple structure," with virtually every variable having a
loading greater than .50 on one and only one factor. The ascetic subdomain,
Grade 5, was the only variable not being represented. It is readily apparent that
two factors (2 and 3) are attitude factors, accounting for a total of 25%of the total
variance. The remaining three are grade factors (1,4, and 5), accounting for 36%
of the total variance.
Discussion
In agreement with the findings of Kenyon (1968~)and Simon (1973), the
CATPA scores reflected positive attitudinal dispositions (mean values greater
than 32 units) for both sexes, extending across the grades studied. Simon
administered the CATPA inventory t o 922 4th-, 5th-, and 6th-grade children
from five elementary schools in the Bellevue, Washington School District-the
same community in which the present data were collected. The United States
subsample of Kenyon's cross-nationalqtudy involved the administration of the
ATPA inventory to 720 Grade I0 and 12 students in Cleveland, Ohio. It should
be noted that the equivalence of the CATPA and ATPA inventories has been
established (Schutz & Smoll, 1977), and therefore valid comparisons can be
made between studies which have used these inventories. For elementary school
children, the magnitude and direction of sex differences for the aesthetic
SMOLL AND SCHUTZ
144
Table 5-Factor
Analysis of CATPA: Boys and Girls, Grades 4 to 6
Subdomains & Grades
Factor Loadings
1
2
3
4
5
Social
6
.70
Health & Fitness
6
.78
6
.76
Catharsis
Ascetic
6
.57
Aesthetic
Aesthetic
Aesthetic
Health & Fitness
4
Vertigo
4
Vertigo
5
6
Vertigo
Social
5
Health & Fitness
5
Catharsis
5
Social
Catharsis
Ascetic
14%
13%
12%
12%
10%
Percentage of variancea
Note: Only loadings > .50 are presented.
"This value represents the percentage of total variance among the attitudinal
subdomains accounted for by the factor.
_+
subdomain were the only consistent findings between this study and that of
Simon. In both cases, the females scored much higher than the males a t all grade
levels (at least twice the magnitude of the difference which existed within any
other subdomain). However, between-sex comparisons on the remaining five
subdomains failed to completely replicate Simon's findings.
The absence of a significant grade effect in the present study is in general
agreement with Simon's (1973) findings. Her study revealed a significant grade
difference only for the health and fitness subdomain. But this difference was very
small (a maximum differential of 1.6 units between grades), and it was detected
by a univariate ANOVA in contrast t o the less powerful MANOVA used herein.
Both studies failed to reveal a significant grade by sex interaction. Such findings
might prompt one to conclude that CATPA is an attribute which exhibits
stability for children across Grades 4 to 6. However, the availability of
longitudinal data enables elucidation of the true nature of the stability of such
measures over time. Bloom (1964) defines a stable characteristic as one which
exhibits a correlation of greater than -50 for two measures obtained at least 1 year
apart. According to this criterion, only the aesthetic subdomain for girls can be
classified as showing year-to-year stability over the time span investigated (i.e.,
I
CHILDREN'S ATTITUDES
145
Grades 4-5 and 5-6). As shown by the Grade 4 to 6 correlations in Table 3, none of
the subdomains for either sex revealed stability over 2 years. (In fact, only one of
the 12 correlations exceeded .35.) Furthermore, it is quite probable that the
higher correlation for the aesthetic subdomains can be partially attributable to
the much larger interindividual variability for this subdomain. More specifically,
the few individuals who scored very low in this dimension tended to do so
consistently across grades, thus inflating the correlations. Both Kenyon's and
Simon's cross-sectional studies have inferred stability on the basis of nonsignificant grade effects. However, such findings pertain only to equivalence across
grades and provide no basis for drawing conclusions with respect to the stability
of individual characteristics. The correlational statistics from this longitudinal
study clearly indicate that CATPA is not a stable attribute across Grades 4 to 6 .
The results of the canonical analyses provide further evidence that CATPA and
the interrelationships among its subdomains are not constant over time (the
exception being the aesthetic subdomain for girls). In light of the absence of
stable grade-to-grade attitude relationships, it is not surprising that previous
research (Smoll et al., 1976) failed to detect a consistent across-grade pattern in
the relationship between CATPA and involvement in physical activities.
Final support for the claim of a lack of stability in CATPA is provided by the
factor analysis results. If these attitudes were stable, one would expect a sixfactor solution with one factor for each of the six subdomains. The results
presented in Table 5 show that this is true only for the aesthetic subdomain and,
to a lesser extent, the vertigo subdomain. The other three factors are clearly grade
dependent, supporting the notion of a grade-specific general ATPA.
What are the implications of these findings with respect to the assumption
that ATPA, and more specifically CATPA, are stable attributes? The findings of
the present study clearly negate the concept of CATPA as an enduring
characteristic for boys and girls in Grades 4 t o 6. Although one may conclude
that the average of a group is consistent across grades, this must not be
interpreted as reflecting individual stability. Because of this lack of stability, one
should not expect to find consistent CATPA-behavior relationships across grade
levels, nor should CATPA be used in any research focusing on individual
difference variables. On the other hand, the CATPA inventory can be a valuable
instrument for assessing group status. The current findings regarding CATPA
also raise serious questions concerning the assumption of ATPA stability.
Although the lack of stability of CATPA may hold true only for the elementary
school years, there is no evidence t o support the notion of ATPA as an enduring
entity for older populations. The assumption of the stability of ATPA at oIder
ages has yet to be tested.
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Manuscript submitted: 9120179
Revision received: 1/8/80