Reliability of Sargent Jump Test in 4- to 5-Year-Old Children

Abstract

We assessed the test–retest reliability of the Sargent jump (VJ) for vertical jumping performed by 4 and 5 years old pre-schoolers. The VJ was administered three times (familiarization, test, and retest) to 163 children (mean age: 4.48 ± 0.5 years; 55.8% girls). The results were compared with those obtained in the standing long jump (SLJ) and in the 25 -m dash test to identify how its performance correlated with other measures of leg power. Systematic change in the mean and retest correlations with these other measures were used to help analyze VJ test–retest reliability. Additionally, Pearson correlation coefficients were used to examine the degree of association between the test and retest trials of the VJ. The VJ showed a higher correlation and agreement in the 4-year-old, compared with the 5-year old, group (rc = 0.956 vs. 0.796; α = 0.95 vs. 0.84; ICC: 0.828; 95% CI: 0.730–0.891 vs 0.739; 95% CI: 0.589–0.834). Effect sizes were small ( d ≤ 0.285) for all the VJ tests performed. Fair to poor significant relationships were established between the VJ (test), VJ (retest), and the SLJ. No significant association was observed between the VJ and the 25 -m dash tests. Our findings suggest that the Sargent jump test is reliable when executed by 4- and 5-year-olds. The lack of a strong association with other measures of leg power should be taken into account at the time of selecting the most appropriate test to assess this strength dimension.