Perceptual and Motor Skills, 2010, 110, 2, 522-530. © Perceptual and Motor Skills 2010 DOI 10.2466/PMS.110.2.522-530 ISSN 0031-5125 RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN PHYSICAL SELF-CONCEPT AND PHYSICAL FITNESS IN ITALIAN ADOLESCENTS 1 ATTILIO CARRARO Department of Educational Sciences University of Padua STEFANO SCARPA Department of Educational Sciences University of Padua LAURA VENTURA Department of Statistics Sciences University of Padua Summary.—Physical self-concept exerts a central role in adolescence. In this phase of life, individuals experience many physical, mental, and emotional changes, and sex diferences become evident. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between physical self-concept and actual indicators of physical ftness among youth in early adolescence. A total of 103 Italian boys and girls, ages 12 to 15 years (M = 13.2, SD = 0.7) were studied. Physical self-concept was assessed using the Physical Self-Description Questionnaire, EUROFIT tests were used to measure physical ftness, and BMI was calculated based on height and weight measure- ments. Results showed several signifcant correlations between the variables, re- vealed some sex diferences on physical self-concept and ftness, and indicated sig- nifcant correlations between EUROFIT scores and physical self-concept variables. Despite the fact that the adoption of a generally shared defnition of physical self-concept appears to be difcult, it is reasonable to assert that it concerns the whole knowledge, feelings, memories, and experiences which an individual ascribes to being connected with his body (Fox, 1998). Physical self-concept is considered to be a multidimensional subdomain of overall self-concept that incorporates diferent characteristics such as ftness, health, appearance, and physical activity (Marsh, Richards, John- son, Roche, & Tremayne, 1994). Physical self-concept is considered to play a crucial role during adolescence; in this phase of life individuals experi- ence many changes in their own bodies, sex diferences become evident, and boys reach higher performances on most physical abilities. Diferent studies (e.g., Klomsten, Skaalvik, & Espnes, 2004; Maїano, Ninot, & Bi- lard, 2004) revealed sex diferences in physical self-concept also: boys rate their bodies higher than girls for most subdomains, such as appearance, body fat, sport competence, physical activity, endurance, strength, coordi- nation, and health. 1 Address correspondence to Prof. Atilio Carraro, Department of Educational Sciences, University of Padua, via Beato Pellegrino 28, 35137 Padova, Italy or e-mail (atilio.carraro@ unipd.it).