Development and initial psychometric evaluation of the sport interference checklist

Area of Science:

• Sports Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Performance Psychology

Background:

• Athletes face unique cognitive and behavioral challenges impacting performance.
• Concurrent assessment of these issues is crucial for effective intervention.
• Existing tools may not comprehensively address training and competition-specific problems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate the Sport Interference Checklist (SIC) for assessing athlete mental health.
• To concurrently evaluate problems in sports training (PSTS) and competition (PSCS).
• To assess athletes' desire for sport psychology assistance (DSPS).

Main Methods:

• Factor analysis was used to identify underlying dimensions of the scales.
• The Sport Interference Checklist (SIC) was developed with 141 athletes.
• Internal consistency, convergent, and discriminative validity were assessed.

Main Results:

• The PSCS yielded six factors, explaining 64% of variance.
• The PSTS and DSPS yielded four factors each, explaining 59% and 63% of variance, respectively.
• Scales demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties and were not influenced by gender or athlete type.

Conclusions:

• The SIC provides a valid and reliable tool for assessing athlete cognitive and behavioral problems.
• It aids in identifying specific areas of concern for targeted sport psychology interventions.
• The SIC can inform the development of tailored support for athletes in training and competition.