ScholarOne - TEST-RETEST RELIABILITY OF THE PICTORIAL SCALE OF WATER COMPETENCE AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH ACTUAL WATER COMPETENCE

The Pictorial Scale of Perceived Water Competence (PSPWC) has been recently de-veloped and the first psychometric studies confirmed good face and construct validi-ty. Additional research is needed for the ongoing validation, including test-retest reliability and the relationship with actual water competence. For that aim the PSPWC was administered to 124 children, aged from 5 to 8 years. A subtotal of 55 children repeated the PSPWC procedure one week later for test-retest reliability, while the other 69 children performed the fully aligned Actual Aquatic Skills Test (AAST) in an indoor swimming pool in order to investigate the relationship with actual water competence. The results revealed good test-retest reliability, both at the global level (ICC = 0.81, n = 55) and at individual skill level (Weighted kappa coef-ficients from 0.58 to 0.90 ), without any significant difference between the two test occasions. The relationship between PSPWC and AAST total scores was moder-ate (r = 64, n = 69) and there was no significant difference between total scores of actual and perceived water competencies. However, children overestimated their competence in three specific skills: the back star, swimming on the front and diving in deep water. These results underline specific situations in which a higher self-perception of one’s actual water competence level is a risk factor which could have consequences on children’s water safety. These results confirm that the PSPWC is reliable and opens new research perspectives for aquatic education and drowning prevention.