Perceived Coach Attitudes and Behaviors Scale: Development and Validation Study

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to develop a scale, which will serve to determine how attitudes and behaviors of the coaches are perceived by the athletes. The scale, named as “Perceived Coach Attitudes and Behaviors Scale” (PCABS) was developed through various processes including exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Following the literature review process in the beginning stage, focus group interviews were conducted. As a result of literature review process and focus group interviews an item pool of 61 items was formed, and after gathering the opinions and critics of experts in the area of language and sports science, the final form of the scale was constructed. The exploratory factor analysis (EFA) on 200 athletes revealed a construct comprised of 25 items and 3 sub-dimensions. Subsequently, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) conducted on 266 athletes confirmed the structural validity of the scale composed of 24 items and 3 sub-dimensions. The first sub-dimension named "Characteristic Features ", with an internal consistency value of 0.88, consisted of items 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 18, 20, and 23. The second sub-dimension named "Knowledge and Skills Accumulation" consisted of items 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 21, 22, and 24 had an internal consistency value of 0.86. The final sub-dimension named "Being Fair" consisted of 5th and 12th items with an internal consistency value of 0.56. Items 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 18, 20 and 23 were reverse coded items of the scale.

As a conclusion, the analysis revealed that “Perceived Coach Attitudes and Behaviors Scale”, with its three sub-dimensions and 24 items, is a structurally valid and reliable scale, can be used to identify the athletes' perceptions about their coaches.