An investigation of motor competence and perceived competence in 9-14 years old girls according to biological maturation status

The aim of this study is to examine motor competence and perceived competence in girls aged 9-14 in relation to biological maturation, sports participation experience, body mass index (BMI), and chronological age. A total of 909 girls (mean age=11.76, SD=1.66 years) participated in this s. Motor competence was assessed using the "Movement Assessment Battery for Children (MABC)" and perceived competence was evaluated using the "Perceived Motor Competence Questionnaire for Children" for ages 9-11 and the "Physical Self-Perception Profile - Short Form" for ages 12-14. Biological maturation was determined using the peak height velocity (PHV) formula by Mirwald. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) revealed a significant interaction effect between PHV status and biological maturation in motor competence (p<0.01). One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and pairwise comparisons indicated that early-maturing girls demonstrated lower motor competence (p<0.05). The interaction effect between PHV status and sports participation experience in motor competence was also significant, with sports participants showing higher motor competence compared to non-participants (p<0.05). Girls who matured later had lower perceived object control scores based on biological maturation at ages 9-11 (p<0.01). Perceived competence scores were lower for girls who did not participate in sports at ages 9-11 and 12-14 compared to those who did participate (p<0.01). The chi-square test revealed that late-maturing girls tended to perceive themselves under, while early-maturing girls tended to have an over perception (p<0.05). BMI values were lower in the under-perception profile, and chronological age was lower in the over-perception profile compared to other perceived motor competence profiles (p<0.05). The results indicate that biological maturation affects motor competence in the 9-14 age group and perceived competence in the 9-11 age group, and sports participation experience influences both motor competence and perceived competence. Furthermore low BMI and late-maturing girls had lower perception, while older and early-maturing girls tended to have an exaggerated perception.