Development of the Children and Adolescents Physical Activity and Sedentary Questionnaire (CAPAS-Q): Psychometric Validity and Clinical Interpretation

Alicia Fillon (1) , Bruno Pereira (2) , Jérémy Vanhelst (3) , Joanna Baran (4) , Julie Masurier (5) , Terry Guirado (1) , Yves Boirie (6, 7, 8, 9) , Martine Duclos (2, 9, 10) , Valérie Julian (8) , David Thivel (1, 10)

1 AME2P - Laboratoire des Adaptations Métaboliques à l'Exercice en Conditions Physiologiques et Pathologiques
2 DRCI - Direction de la recherche clinique et de l’innovation [CHU Clermont-Ferrand]
3 EREN [CRESS - U1153 / UMR_A 1125] - Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team | Equipe de Recherche en Epidémiologie Nutritionnelle
4 Rzeszow University
5 UGECAM
6 CRNH A - Centre de Recherche en Nutrition Humaine Auvergne [CHU Clermont-Ferrand]
7 UNH - Unité de Nutrition Humaine
8 CHU Clermont-Ferrand
9 UCA - Université Clermont Auvergne
10 ONAPS - Observatoire national de l’activité physique et de la sédentarité

Background: Pediatricians’ clinical practice and health interventions in youths require instruments with adequate psychometric properties to assess physical activity (PA), sedentary behaviors (SB), and their subdomains. Objective: To assess the psychometric properties of the Children and Adolescents Physical Activity and Sedentary-Questionnaire (CAPAS-Q) in healthy French children and adolescents. Methods: The CAPAS-Q has been developed through a rigorous collective procedure and consists of a 31 items self-administered questionnaire evaluating children’s 7-day PA and SB dimensions and subdomains. Participants (n = 103, aged 8–18 years old) completed the questionnaire twice (7 days apart) and wore an ActiGraph GT3X + accelerometer for 7 days. Anthropometric measurements and body composition were assessed. Results: Cronbach alpha for PA and SB dimensions were 0.71 and 0.68, respectively. Reproducibility was found moderate to good, with Lin’s coefficients of 0.69 and 0.68 for PA and SB dimensions, respectively. Reproducibility was higher for adolescents compared to children. PA dimension was positively correlated with moderate PA, vigorous PA, moderate to vigorous PA, and total PA times and negatively correlated with SB time (p < 0.05). SB dimension and screen time were positively correlated with SB time and negatively correlated with LPA, MPA, MVPA, and total PA times (p < 0.05). Spearman correlation coefficients were fair to moderate, ranging between 0.23–0.45. Conclusion: The CAPAS-Q proposes a reliable and valid evaluation of French children and adolescents’ PA and SB, providing clinicians with potential intervention levels to improve youth movement behaviors.

Mots clés: physical activity sedentary behaviors children adolescents questionnaire; physical activity; sedentary behaviors; children; adolescents; questionnaire

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]

Alicia Fillon, Bruno Pereira, Jérémy Vanhelst, Joanna Baran, Julie Masurier, et al.. Development of the Children and Adolescents Physical Activity and Sedentary Questionnaire (CAPAS-Q): Psychometric Validity and Clinical Interpretation. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2022, 19 (21), pp.13782. ⟨10.3390/ijerph192113782⟩. ⟨hal-03875250⟩