Validating a scale of youth sport coaching effectiveness

Abstract

Coaching in youth sport has been recognized to have tremendous impact on the beliefs and behaviors of the athletes. Although coaching behavior is mediated by the perceptions of youth sport participants (Horn, 2008; Smith & Smoll, 2002), coaching effectiveness is typically measured through either the self-assessment of coaches or the objective recording of behaviors. One scale that was designed to assess coaching from the athlete perspective is the Coaching Behavior Scale for Sport (CBS-S; Côté et al., 1999). However, the scale has not been used much in the research literature and does not appear to have been validated as a measure of coaching effectiveness. The current study investigated the psychometric properties and validity of the CBS-S with a sample of 315 youth sport participants. Analyses examined the assumptions of multivariate data analysis (i.e., multicollinearity), convergent validity, and factor structure of the scale. These procedures resulted in a modified 24-item CBS-S that measures coaching effectiveness with respect to four interrelated factors – physical training and conditioning, technical skills, mental preparation, and competition strategies. The scale shows acceptable factor structure (CFI = .933, RMSEA = .044), and internal consistency (Cronbach's alphas ranging from .72 - .88). The result is a simple, valid and reliable instrument to assess youth sport coaching effectiveness from the athletes' perspective.

Acknowledgments: This research was funded by the Social Sciences Research Council of Canada (SSHRC)