Differences between Young Children's Actual, Self-perceived and Parent-perceived Aquatic Skills

Area of Science:

• Pediatric injury prevention
• Child development
• Aquatic safety

Background:

• Drowning is a major cause of unintentional death in children globally.
• Accurate assessment of children's aquatic skills is crucial for preventing drowning incidents.
• Perceptions of aquatic competence by children and parents can influence risk-taking behavior and supervision levels.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate discrepancies between children's actual, self-perceived, and parent-perceived aquatic skills.
• To analyze how these perceptions differ across age groups and by gender.
• To contribute to the validation of the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Water Competence (PSPWC) in assessing aquatic skills.

Main Methods:

• A study involving 134 child-parent dyads.
• Utilized the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Water Competence (PSPWC) for both perceived and actual skill assessment (Actual Aquatic Skills Test - AAST).
• Employed a three-way repeated measures ANCOVA, controlling for swimming experience.

Main Results:

• Both children and parents tended to underestimate children's actual aquatic skills compared to the AAST.
• The gap between perceived and actual skills was larger for parents than for younger children (6-7 years).
• This perception gap was similar between parents and older children (8-9 years) and consistent across genders.

Conclusions:

• The study validates the PSPWC as a tool for comparing actual and perceived aquatic competence.
• Findings underscore the need for objective assessment of children's water skills to enhance drowning prevention strategies.
• Future research should explore diverse aquatic environments and include other caregivers' perspectives.