Background: This study examined the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Attitude toward Physical Activity Scale (APAS) using a cross-sectional design. Methods: The sample consisted of 692 primary students in China (boy 52.6%, girl 47.4%). The mean age of the participants was 9.4 years (SD = 0.92). Psychometric properties of the 57-item APAS was examined using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Results: The hypothesized seven factors model was supported by CFA (CFI = 0.912, TLI = 0.901, SRMR = 0.041, RMSEA = 0.029) after 22 items were removed and the inclusion of seven residual covariance for items loaded on the same factor. Cronbach's alphas of the scales ranged between 0.50 and 0.76. The composite reliability (CR) was between 0.50 and 0.75. All inter-factor correlation coefficient was less than 0.85. Conclusions: Findings provided empirical evidence that the Chinese version of the APAS has adequate psychometric properties for assessing attitudes of primary school children in China toward physical activity.
Keywords: Chinese children; attitude; confirmatory; physical activity; psychometric.