Open AccessValidation of the Athletic Identity Measurement Scale in Youth Academy Soccer Players
Author(s) -
Thomas P. Mitchell,
Fieke Rongen,
John L. Perry,
Martin Littlewood,
Kevin Till
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of athlete development and experience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2642-9276
DOI - 10.25035/jade.03.03.04
Subject(s) - psychology , confirmatory factor analysis , identity (music) , psychological intervention , scale (ratio) , athletes , applied psychology , elite , social psychology , structural equation modeling , physical therapy , computer science , medicine , physics , quantum mechanics , machine learning , psychiatry , politics , acoustics , political science , law
The Athletic Identity Measurement Scale (AIMS) is a popular measure of Athletic Identity (AI). The purpose of the present study was to investigate the factor structure (7-item single factor and 3 factor model; Social Identity, Exclusivity and Negative Affectivity) of the AIMS within youth academy soccer players. A total of 259 male youth academy soccer players aged 12-18 years completed the AIMS. A series of confirmatory factor analyses, independent cluster modelling indicated support for the 7-item single-factor (AI) and the three-factor models but not within the same analysis. The results support the use of AIMS for the measurement of AI in elite male youth soccer players. Practitioners seeking to explore AI in youth soccer populations should use the three-factor model to glean further insight from the three subscales to support the design of more specific interventions where appropriate.