Construction and validation of the Sport Sense of Community in Adolescence Questionnaire (SSCAQ)

The purpose of the present study was to develop and psychometrically evaluate a measure of sport sense of community (SoC) for adolescents grounded in McMillan and Chavis’ framework: the Sport Sense of Community in Adolescence Questionnaire (SSCAQ). A calibration sample of 256 and a validation sample of 257 adolescent athletes voluntarily participated in the study. Data were analyzed pertaining to reliability, confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs), and multigroup CFAs as well as with correlational analyses. Results showed that the 5-factor, 19-item hierarchical model of the SSCAQ fit the data adequately on the calibration and validation samples. Multigroup CFAs showed that the SSCAQ scores were invariant across sex of the participants and type of sport (individual versus team sports). Furthermore, both convergent and discriminant validity of the SSCAQ scores were established by finding interrelations between perceived autonomy support from the coach, future sport intentions, and the SSCAQ subscales. The SSCAQ is a measure that will be useful for research on sport SoC.