Psychometric proprieties of the test of gross motor development – third edition in a large sample of Italian children

Magistro, Daniele, Piumatti, Giovanni, Carlevaro, Fabio, Sherar, Lauren B., Esliger, Dale W., Bardaglio, Giulia, Magno, Francesca, Zecca, Massimiliano and Musella, Giovanni (2020) Psychometric proprieties of the test of gross motor development – third edition in a large sample of Italian children. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 21 (9), 860-865. (doi:10.1016/j.jsams.2020.02.014).

Abstract

Objectives
The Test of Gross Motor Development-3 (TGMD-3) evaluates fundamental gross motor skills across two domains: locomotor and ball skills. This study aimed to perform a full psychometric assessment of this test in a large sample of Italian pre- and primary school children.
Design
Cross-sectional and test-retest study design.
Method
Children N = 5210; mean age years = 8.38, SD = 1.97; % females = 48 completed three trials, including one practice. Only the scores of the two latter ‘formal’ trials were recorded for the evaluation. Factorial validity and measurement invariance of TGMD-3 across age and gender groups and test-retest reliability for the overtime measure consistency were tested. Item response theory analysis further tested single items’ performances.
Results
Explorative and confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the two-factor structure of the TGMD-3. Multi-group confirmatory factor analyses indicated that there were no significant reductions in model adjustments between the configural, metric and structural invariance solutions for gender and age groups. Test-retest results ranged between 0.967 and 0.990 for both skill sets across age groups. Item response theory analysis using a graded response model showed low standard error and high-test information levels covering a wide spectrum range of both locomotor and ball skills.
Conclusions
These results highlight the strong construct validity and reliability of the TGMD-3 to measure gross motor skills in children across gender and age groups. Item response theory analysis evidenced how the performance criteria included in this test cover a wide range of gross the motor skills spectrum. The use of TGMD-3 may inform motor development programs and support curricular decisions in schools.

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Contributors

Author: Daniele Magistro

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