Use of the Perceived Physical Competence Scale with adolescents with disabilities

The construct validity and reliability of the 1987 Perceived Physical Competence Scale of Lintunen were examined to assess the applicability of the instrument for use with adolescents with disabilities. Subjects were 51 girls and 34 boys (M age = 15.1 yr.) from several schools in central Finland. Principal component factor analysis with varimax rotation yielded the same two factors for adolescents with disabilities as reported for nondisabled adolescents in the related literature. Cronbach alphas for the two factors were .89 and .56. It was concluded that the scale is an appropriate measure for adolescents with disabilities. Statistical analysis indicated no gender differences for adolescents with disabilities. When compared with nondisabled groups in the related literature, these adolescents had perceived fitness similar to non-disabled peers but significantly lower than that of athletes without disabilities.