Group versus individual administration of the Movement Imagery Questionnaire for Children yields different movement imagery scores

Abstract

The recently developed Movement Imagery Questionnaire for Children (MIQ-C) (Carter, Yoxon, Ste-Marie, Cumming, & Martini, 2013) underwent psychometric testing using one-on-one administration of the questionnaire.  Researchers, however, can often be more efficient in their testing of children using group settings. Our research question concerned whether administration of the MIQ-C in a group format would yield similar imagery scores as those obtained using the individual administration format. To address this, 309 children between the ages of 7-12 years were administered the MIQ-C in either a group (n = 105) or in an individual (n = 204) format. Results showed that the same pattern of significant differences in imagery scores was obtained for both Conditions with external visual imagery (EVI) being highest (M = 5.9), followed by internal visual imagery (IVI; M  = 5.4), then kinesthetic imagery (KI; M = 5.0). This was supported by a main effect for MIQ-C subscale, F(2, 614) = 83.5, p < .001, η²_p = .21. A main effect for Administration Condition was also obtained,  F(1, 307) = 34.2, p < .001, η²_p = .10. This showed that the imagery scores for those in the group format (EVI M = 6.2; IVI M = 5.8; KI M = 5.4) were consistently higher than those in the individual format (EVI M = 5.7; IVI M = 5.2; KI M = 4.8). Such differences imply that researchers need to consider the purpose of the administration of the MIQ-C to determine whether group administration is a viable option.     

Acknowledgments: This research was supported by a New Research Initiatives of the Faculty of Health Sciences from the University of Ottawa awarded to the first and last authors as well as a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council grant awarded to the second author.