Are children's psychological self‐concepts predictive of their self reported activity preferences and leisure participation?

BACKGROUND/AIM: Participation in leisure and play activities is recognised as an important outcome in occupational therapy for children. To investigate whether children's psychological self-concept are predictive of their activity preferences and leisure participation. METHOD: A group of 38 healthy children aged 10-14 years from Victoria, Australia completed the Piers-Harris Self Concept Scale (Piers Harris-2) and the Children's Assessment of Participation and Enjoyment/Preferences for Activities of Children (CAPE/PAC). Correlation and regression analyses were completed to investigate the predictive relationships between the Pier Harris-2 and the CAPE/PAC. RESULTS: The Piers Harris-2 Intellectual and School Status subscale was found to be predictive of children's Overall Enjoyment of Participation as measured on the CAPE, explaining 21.9% of the total variance (β = 0.566, P < 0.01). The Piers Harris-2 Freedom from Anxiety subscale made a unique contribution to children's preferences for skill-based activities as measured by the PAC, explaining 18.9% of the total variance (β = -.435, P < 0.01). Children's gender accounted for 22.7% of the total variance of the PAC Physical Activities subscale (β = -.476, P ≤ 0.01) and 14.6% of the PAC Preferences for Skill-Based Activities subscale (β = 0.382, P ≤ 0.05) while age made unique contributions to the PAC Social Activities subscale (β = -0.418, P ≤ 0.01) explaining 17.5% of its total variance. CONCLUSION: This study provides evidence that children's psychological self-concept, age and gender are predictive of components of children's activity preferences and leisure participation. In particular, participation enjoyment is influenced by their perceived self-esteem and how well they do at school. Further investigation of this topic is recommended.