Validation of the Canadian Assessment of Physical Literacy among college students in Ghana: An exploratory factor analysis

Despite growing interest in evaluating physical literacy across diverse populations, limited research has explored the topic outside of child populations and Western contexts. The objective of this study was to check the validity and reliability of the Canadian Assessment of Physical Literacy instrument among college students (18+ years old) in Ghana to assess its relevance in a different cultural setting and age group. Data were collected from 239 college students in Ghana using an online questionnaire. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted to examine the factor structure, followed by confirmatory factor analysis to assess the model fit. Discriminant validity and multicollinearity were also evaluated. The original four-factor model showed weak fit indices due to two problematic items within the “motivation” domain. Removing these items improved the model fit to acceptable levels. The shared variance values exceeded the highest correlation coefficient, confirming discriminant validity. No multicollinearity issues were found as all correlation coefficients remained below .7. These findings support the applicability of the Canadian Assessment of Physical Literacy in the Ghanaian context and highlight the importance of cultural adaptation when applying the assessment tool in other populations and age groups. This study broadens research on physical literacy assessment beyond children and Western settings, providing a foundation for future cross-cultural validation studies among older youth and adults.