Reliability and validity of a brief assessment tool measuring children’s energetic play in early childhood education and care

Background: Measuring young children’s movement behaviours while attending early childhood education and care (ECEC) services is important for evaluating the effectiveness of physical activity interventions and adherence to ECEC national quality standards. This study evaluated the inter-rater reliability and concurrent validity of a short educator-reported energetic play assessment tool. Methods: Educators from 10 ECEC services reported on energetic play levels across the childcare day for 80 children. Inter-rater reliability was examined using Kappa statistics and intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs). Concurrent validity was assessed against device-measured physical activity data using partial Peason correlations. Results: Inter-rater reliability for the four time periods across the childcare day ranged from fair for the morning tea to lunch time period (0.39) to substantial for the lunch to afternoon tea period (0.71). The ICC for combined time periods was good at 0.75 (95% CI 0.64, 0.83). Energetic play ratings were not correlated with device-measured energetic play but were positively correlated with total physical activity (rating 1: r =0.24, p =0.046; rating 2: r =0.30, p =0.012). Conclusion: The educator-completed brief energetic play assessment tool had moderate evidence of inter-rater reliability, however, modest correlations with device-based physical activity were observed for total physical activity but not energetic play. Refinements to the tool could improve validity and provide important feedback to inform strategies to meet and exceed ECEC national quality standards around promoting and supporting children’s physical activity.