Background/Purpose: Children tend to engage in physical activities they enjoy and with which they feel competent (Dishman et al., 2005). However, children's self-efficacy, enjoyment and rate of perceived exertion (RPE) in exergaming remain unanswered. This study examined the relationships between children's self-efficacy, enjoyment and RPE in an exergaming program, and grade and gender differences of these outcomes.
Method: Participants were 219 third through fifth graders enrolled in a suburban elementary school. They participated in a 50-minute exergaming class (e.g., Wii Fit, Wii Resort, DDR) per week in 2010-2011. By the end of school year, participants responded to a battery of standardized questionnaires measuring their self-efficacy, enjoyment and RPE in exergaming at the end of class.
Analysis/Results: Correlation analysis indicated self-efficacy, enjoyment and RPE were positively related to one another (r=.14 to.45). Regression analysis further revealed that self-efficacy was the significantly positive predictor for RPE (ß = .21, p <.01). Two-way MANOVA revealed a main effect for grade only, Wilks' lambda = .93, F(6, 422) = 2.51, p<.05. Follow up tests indicated fifth graders reported significantly lower RPE than third and fourth graders, F(2, 213)=4.56, p<.01. No other significant differences were found.
Conclusions: The results indicated children who felt more competent in and enjoyed exergaming were more likely to exert more effort when playing exergaming. Additionally, the lower graders tended to exert more effort than the upper graders (i.e., fifth graders). One implication is that professionals need to enhance student self-efficacy if they desire to implement exergaming among elementary children.
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