Development and validation of the Behavioral FAmily Sport SupporT (BFaSST) Scale

The present study spotlights the positive sport support behaviors enacted by Latinx families to facilitate the sports participation of Latina adolescent athletes through the development and validation of the Behavioral FAmily Sport SupporT (BFaSST) Scale. We adopted a modified exploratory sequential design to develop a scale that provided contextually relevant insight of family sport support dynamics with Latina athletes. Grounded in the voices of Latina athletes and guided by House's support typologies as a guiding framework, we generated 20 initial sport-specific items for the BFaSST. Using a split-sample approach, exploratory factor analysis (EFA; n = 152) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA; n = 152) supported a two-factor model, which included a Booster support subscale (nine items) and Team Manager support subscale (seven items) in a sample of 304 ninth and 10th-grade Latina student-athletes recruited through CloudResearch, a research panel platform. In providing evidence for the culturally-bound validation of the BFaSST, we affirm a narrative where Latinx family sport support is culturally and sport compatible, contrasting discourses that portray Latinx families as disengaged or unsupportive of Latina adolescent athletes. With the BFaSST, we provide an assessment tool that offers coaches and stakeholders an opportunity to expand on how family sport support can be conceptualized broadly and use it as an entry to inform ways to integrate family sport support.