Athletes’ perceived satisfaction of their training is an important psychological determinant of their competing performance as well as overall well-being. Previous research shows that there are multiple influential factors underlying an athlete’s level of perceived satisfaction. However, studies on Chinese collegiate athletes’ perceived satisfaction are limited. As shown in the existing research literature, most current Chinese studies either adopted a translated instrument from a different language (e.g., English, Spanish) without much modification or examined athletes’ perceived satisfaction without taking into account the multi-dimensionality of the construct. To facilitate future research on this topic, monitor and enhance athletes’ perceived satisfaction, this study aimed to develop and validate an instrument entitled as the Chinese Collegiate Athletes’ Training Satisfaction Scale(CCATSS).
Method:
The development and validation of the CCATSS consisted for four steps. First, an extensive search of current research literature in both Chinese and English was conducted to locate relevant dimensions of athletes’ perceived satisfaction. Second, college athletes, coaches, and team officials of various competing levels and schools were interviewed to construct specific question items as well as factors. Third, experts’ opinions were gathered to develop the content validity of the initial items of the CCATSS. Fourth, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and then confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were conducted among 330 college athletes and 310 athletes, respectively, to test the scale’s construct validity. Sixth, two weeks upon the initial testing, 122 athletes were asked to complete the scale again to examine test-retest reliability.
Analysis/Results:
Three competing CFA models emerged. The final reduced model had acceptable model fit indices (χ2/df =1.99, RMSEA = .07, CFI=.94) with all but three factor loadings (λs=.61, .67, and .69) lower than the threshold value of .70. The final CCATSS includes four factors with 24 items (six items per factor): (a) satisfaction of training status, (b) satisfaction of the coaching staff, (c) satisfaction of personal factors, and (d) satisfaction of logistics. The test-retest reliability of the scale was .69 (p<.01).
Conclusions:
The above findings indicated that the CCATSS has good validity and reliability. The scale proves to be a desirable and applicable instrument to measure Chinese athletes’ perceived satisfaction. This study bears significant implications to future research and practice aimed at facilitating athletes’ perceived satisfaction of their regular training, competing performance, and over all well-being.