The Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale (PACES): Portuguese Translation, Validity, Reliability, and Sex Invariance

Research has repeatedly demonstrated that enjoyment is a relevant predictor of physical activity (PA) adherence. Accordingly, adequate enjoyment measurement is necessary for the proper advancement of PA adherence research, with the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale (PACES) commonly fulfilling this role. However, no European Portuguese version of the original PACES has been developed so far, limiting enjoyment research in this language. As such, this study aimed to translate and validate the first 18-item European Portuguese version of the PACES. A total of 360 participants (192 males), with ages ranging from 19 to 73 years old (M = 37.54; SD = 13.76), participated in this study. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the psychometric properties with the SPSS v. 27.0 and AMOS 23.0 software. Composite reliability, convergent and concurrent validity, and sex invariance analyses were also conducted. The model demonstrated an adequate fit adjustment for the study’s sample. Additionally, composite reliability and both convergent and concurrent validity were achieved. Sex invariance was also confirmed, assuring adequate measurement with both males and females. The 18-item European Portuguese PACES is a valid, reliable, and sex-invariant instrument to measure enjoyment in PA. It is expected that this questionnaire will enable research towards PA adherence. Future studies should further test the psychometric properties of the PACES, particularly with different samples and in more comprehensive explorations of the enjoyment construct.