Table of Contents
Abstract
The Early Childhood Educators Confidence in Outdoor Movement, Physical Activity, Sedentary and Screen Behaviors Questionnaire (ECE-COMPASS), also known as the ECE Confidence in Outdoor Movement, PA, and Sedentary and Screen Behaviors questionnaire, was created by Bruijns et al. (2023) to address the importance of measuring the self-efficacy of Early Childhood Educators (ECEs) in facilitating related programming. The development of the questionnaire’s items was informed by a review of relevant literature, including works by the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology (2017) and Bandura (2006), and underwent expert consensus to confirm its face validity. Initial data for psychometric evaluation were gathered from a sample of Canadian ECEs. Subsequent analysis, which included factor analysis, prompted a revision of the initial questionnaire. This revision involved the removal of one item, the introduction of two new items, and language modifications to three existing items. The final version of the instrument consists of 31 items, for which factor analysis confirmed a two-factor structure. The study also reported findings supporting the instrument’s reliability and validity.
Keywords
Task Self-Efficacy; Early Childhood Educators; Screen-Time; Sedentary Behavior; Outdoor Play; Physical Activity Promotion; Barrier Self-Efficacy; Face Validity; Factorial Validity
Authors
Bruijns, Brianne A.; Johnson, Andrew M.; Burke, Shauna M.; Tucker, Patricia
Purpose
The ECE-COMPASS instrument is designed to assess the self-efficacy of early childhood educators regarding their ability to promote physical activity and outdoor play, as well as to minimize sedentary behaviors, within the childcare environment.
Validity
Factorial Validity: The structural validity of the measure is supported by the results obtained from the factor analysis.
Face Validity: To establish face validity, the development of the self-efficacy items was meticulously guided by Bandura’s Guide for Creating Self-Efficacy Scales (2006). Furthermore, all items in both the original and the revised versions of the questionnaire were thoroughly reviewed by a panel of experts, specifically mid-career researchers specializing in young children’s physical activity and health psychology.
Reliability
Internal consistency: For the finalized 31-item version of the questionnaire, the internal consistency was high. Cronbach’s alpha was calculated to be .94 for the task self-efficacy factor and 0.92 for the barrier self-efficacy factor.
Test-retest reliability: A test-retest assessment was conducted over a 4-day interval. The resulting temporal stability statistics for task self-efficacy (0.62) and barrier self-efficacy (0.69) indicate a modest level of temporal stability for the measure.
Factor Analysis
An Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was conducted, which resulted in several modifications to the instrument: one item was removed, two new items were added, and the language of three items was altered.
When assessing the factorial validity of the initial item pool, an examination of the Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) indicated that a 2-factor solution was the most parsimonious model for the data, explaining 44% of the total variance. An analysis of the oblimin-rotated factor solution revealed that all items within the questionnaire were highly intercorrelated. Despite this, a distinct second factor emerged, comprising three items primarily related to appropriate role modeling and the avoidance of screen-viewing by educators. One item concerning barrier self-efficacy loaded evenly across both factors. A significant majority of the factor loadings (86.7%) were greater than 0.50.
For the revised version of the questionnaire, the data also suggested a two-factor solution; however, this updated model explained a greater portion of the variance, at 54%.
Instrument
Test Type: This is an Original instrument, categorized as an Inventory/Questionnaire designed to measure the construct of Teacher Self-Efficacy and Physical Activity Promotion. Its acronym is ECE-COMPASS.
Format: Respondents rate 31 items using a scale that ranges from 0, defined as “Not confident at all,” to 10, defined as “Completely confident.” The test is administered electronically.
Language Available: English.
Population Group: Human; Male; Female; Genderqueer.
Age Group: Adulthood (18 years and older).
Population Details: The respondents for this instrument are Early Childhood Educators located in Canada.
Test Methodology: The psychometric properties of the instrument were evaluated using Test Validity, Test Reliability, Internal Consistency, Test-Retest Reliability, Factor Analysis, and Exploratory Factor Analysis.
Keywords
Task Self-Efficacy; Early Childhood Educators; Screen-Time; Sedentary Behavior; Outdoor Play; Physical Activity Promotion; Barrier Self-Efficacy; Face Validity; Factorial Validity
Authors
Bruijns, Brianne A.
Affiliation: University of Western Ontario
Johnson, Andrew M.
Affiliation: University of Western Ontario
ORCID Identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7269-3016
Burke, Shauna M.
Affiliation: University of Western Ontario
Tucker, Patricia
Affiliation: University of Western Ontario
ORCID Identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8392-9418
Email addresses: [email protected]
Correspondence Address: Tucker, Patricia: Western University, School of Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, 1201 Western Road, Elborn College, Room 2547, London, Ontario, Canada, N6G 1H1, [email protected]
Permissions & Fee and Test Year
Permissions: Contact Publisher
Commercial: No
Fee: No
Test Year: 2023
reference’s
Bruijns, B. A., Johnson, A. M., Burke, S. M., & Tucker, P. (2023). Educators’ self-efficacy to promote physical activity and outdoor play and minimize sedentary behaviors in childcare: A tool validation study. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 37(1), 39–48. https://doi.org/10.1080/02568543.2022.2053006
Items of the ECE-COMPASS Questionnaire
The full list of the 31 items for this measure is available. The items can be found within the supplemental material (Pages 1-2) of the source publication by Bruijns et al. (2023).
Please indicate, on a scale from 0 (not confident at all) to 10 (completely confident), how confident you are in your ability to perform the following during your childcare day:
Rating Scale:
0 = Not confident at all
5 = Moderately confident
10 = Completely confident
TASK Self-Efficacy
| Item |
| Program opportunities for at least 120 min/day of physical activity at any intensity |
| Facilitate higher intensity physical activity (i.e., activities that induce sweating and heavy breathing) for children in my care everyday |
| Lead activities that promote children’s development of physical literacy (e.g., including running, jumping, balancing, throwing, catching) |
| Adapt physical activities for different developmental abilities |
| Support children’s motivation to move through verbal encouragement |
| Incorporate movement into your curriculum (e.g., literacy and numeracy) |
| Facilitate opportunities for unstructured (i.e., child-directed) active play each day |
| Lead structured (i.e., educator-facilitated) physical activity each day |
| Create an environment that supports children’s active play |
| Teach children about the health benefits of physical activity |
| Communicate about children’s physical activity and physical literacy with families |
| Develop organizational policies for physical activity |
| Serve as a positive role model for children’s physical activity by participating in movement-based activities |
| Develop organizational policies for screen time |
| Serve as a positive role model for children’s sedentary behaviours by limiting your own sitting during care hours |
| Serve as a positive role model for children’s screen behaviours by limiting your own screen use during care hours |
| Minimize long periods (>60 minutes) of sitting time among the children in my care |
| Incorporate physical activity opportunities (e.g., active breaks and transitions) to minimize prolonged sitting time |
| Avoid children’s use of screen-based technology during childcare hours |
| Engage children in age-appropriate risky play (i.e., adventurous play that tests children’s limits but involves a chance of minor injury; e.g., play at heights, high speeds) |
| Provide children with multiple outdoor play opportunities everyday |
BARRIER Self-Efficacy
| Item |
| Lead structured physical activities in a small/limited space |
| Encourage physical activity when my colleagues/superiors do not value it |
| Program opportunities for physical activity even when there are time constraints |
| Minimize children’s sedentary behaviour when they are tired |
| Provide outdoor playtime even when the weather conditions are not favourable, but not extreme |
| Facilitate children’s active play indoors when extreme weather prevents outdoor play |
| Facilitate opportunities for age-appropriate risky play even when met with resistance from parents/other educators |
| Facilitate outdoor active play opportunities even when I am tired |
| Facilitate outdoor active play opportunities even when transitions are difficult |
| Facilitate outdoor active play opportunities even when it takes additional time to get children dressed |
Cite this article
Mohammed looti (2026). Early Childhood Educators Confidence in Outdoor Movement, Physical Activity, Sedentary and Screen Behaviors Questionnaire (ECE-COMPASS). PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES. Retrieved from https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/early-childhood-educators-confidence-in-outdoor-movement-physical-activity-sedentary-and-screen-behaviors-questionnaire-ece-compass/
Mohammed looti. "Early Childhood Educators Confidence in Outdoor Movement, Physical Activity, Sedentary and Screen Behaviors Questionnaire (ECE-COMPASS)." PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES, 6 Apr. 2026, https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/early-childhood-educators-confidence-in-outdoor-movement-physical-activity-sedentary-and-screen-behaviors-questionnaire-ece-compass/.
Mohammed looti. "Early Childhood Educators Confidence in Outdoor Movement, Physical Activity, Sedentary and Screen Behaviors Questionnaire (ECE-COMPASS)." PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES, 2026. https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/early-childhood-educators-confidence-in-outdoor-movement-physical-activity-sedentary-and-screen-behaviors-questionnaire-ece-compass/.
Mohammed looti (2026) 'Early Childhood Educators Confidence in Outdoor Movement, Physical Activity, Sedentary and Screen Behaviors Questionnaire (ECE-COMPASS)', PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES. Available at: https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/early-childhood-educators-confidence-in-outdoor-movement-physical-activity-sedentary-and-screen-behaviors-questionnaire-ece-compass/.
[1] Mohammed looti, "Early Childhood Educators Confidence in Outdoor Movement, Physical Activity, Sedentary and Screen Behaviors Questionnaire (ECE-COMPASS)," PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES, vol. X, no. Y, ص Z-Z, April, 2026.
Mohammed looti. Early Childhood Educators Confidence in Outdoor Movement, Physical Activity, Sedentary and Screen Behaviors Questionnaire (ECE-COMPASS). PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES. 2026;vol(issue):pages.