ABSTRACT Although fear in early childhood is an emotion that permits survival of danger, fear of water can block and limit children's adaptive development towards this very fear. Aquatic competence is an important milestone in the improvement of general health in childhood, but there are no scales that measure how fear of water can hinder a child's development in the aquatic environment. This study aimed to design and analyze the validity of a Scale to Measure Fear of the Aquatic Environment (SFAE) to evaluate the perceived fear of the aquatic environment in three- to six-year-old children. Construct validity was also evaluated by verifying its relation to aquatic competence. The exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses support the use of five dimensions of influence on the perception of fear of the aquatic environment: social context, equipment/installations, attitude, experiences, and competence. The correlation pattern also supports construct validity showing negative and significant relations between fear and aquatic competence. The SFAE shows a promising initial validity for its use in the aquatic environment during early childhood.

This study sought to analyze how creating a task-oriented motivational climate through intervention affects various motivational variables, enjoyment, and the importance people attribute to physical education. A sample of sixth-grade elementary school students was used. Ages ranged from 11 to 12 years-old (M = 11.53, SD = .50). Groups were divided into an experimental group (n = 20), where a task-oriented climate was transmitted, and a control group (n = 20) that received no manipulation. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted on the data collected at the pretest. To detect intra-group differences between pre and posttest measures, a t-test for related samples was conducted in each group. Results revealed that the experimental group improved significantly more than the control group in social responsibility and social relationship goals, and scored higher on approach-mastery goals, basic psychological needs, intrinsic motivation, enjoyment, and importance attributed to physical education. They also exhibited lower external regulation and amotivation. The control group, conversely, had significantly lower intrinsic motivation posttest than the experimental group. We discuss the importance of transmitting a task-oriented motivational climate in physical education to accomplish positive motivational effects that favor enjoyment and interest in physical education.

Esta pesquisa teve por objetivo analisar a relação entre as crenças implícitas de habilidade e a motivação autodeterminada. A amostra foi composta por 775 atletas competidores espanhóis nacionais de 12 a 17 anos de idade. Os participantes preencheram, em versão espanhola, o Questionário Crenças Implícitas de Habilidades (CNAAQ-2) e a Escala de Motivação Esportiva (SMS). Os resultados do modelo de equações estruturais revelaram uma correlação positiva e significativa entre as crenças de habilidade estável e as crenças de aprendizagem, e entre a motivação autodeterminada e a competência no esporte. Do contrário, a crença incremental estável correlacionou-se negativamente com a motivação autodeterminada. A competitividade no esporte é predita de forma positiva pela motivação autodeterminada, e essa, por sua vez, é predita significativamente pela crença de aprendizagem e negativamente pela crença de entidade estável.

This investigation examined the relationship between implicit ability beliefs and self-determined motivation. The sample was comprised of 775 young athletes between the ages of 12 and 17 competing at national level in Spain. The participants completed the Spanish version of the Conceptions of the Nature of Athletic Ability Questionnaire (CNAAQ-2) and the Sport Motivation Scale (SMS). The results revealed a positive and significant correlation between stable ability beliefs and learning ability, and between self-determined motivation and perceived sports ability. To the contrary, stable entity beliefs were negatively correlated with self-determined motivation. Competitiveness in sports was significantly predicted by self-determined motivation, and the latter, in its turn, was positively predicted by learning belief and negatively by stable entity beliefs.