Validation of the Athletic Identity Measurement Scale in Youth Academy Soccer Players

Authors

Tom Mitchell Dr., Leeds Beckett UniversityFollow
Fieke Rongen, Leeds Beckett UniversityFollow
John Perry, Mary Immaculate CollegeFollow
Martin Littlewood, Liverpool John Moores UniversityFollow
Kevin Till, Leeds Beckett UniversityFollow

Abstract

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.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.25035/jade.03.03.04

Recommended Citation

Mitchell, Tom Dr.; Rongen, Fieke; Perry, John; Littlewood, Martin; and Till, Kevin (2021) "Validation of the Athletic Identity Measurement Scale in Youth Academy Soccer Players," Journal of Athlete Development and Experience: Vol. 3: Iss. 3, Article 4.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.25035/jade.03.03.04
Available at: https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/jade/vol3/iss3/4

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License