Document Type
Article
Publication Date
6-2009
Department
Kinesiology and Physical Education
Abstract
The purpose of the current study was to initiate the development of a psychometrically sound measure of cohesion for youth sport groups. A series of projects were undertaken in a four-phase research program. The initial phase was designed to garner an understanding of how youth sport group members perceived the concept of cohesion through focus groups (n = 56), open-ended questionnaires (n = 280), and a literature review. In Phase 2, information from the initial projects was used in the development of 142 potential items and content validity was assessed. In Phase 3, 227 participants completed a revised 87-item questionnaire. Principal components analyses further reduced the number of items to 17 and suggested a two-factor structure (i.e., task and social cohesion dimensions). Finally, support for the factorial validity of the resultant questionnaire was provided through confirmatory factor analyses with an independent sample (n = 352) in Phase 4. The final version of the questionnaire contains 16 items that assess task and social cohesion in addition to 2 negatively worded spurious items. Specific issues related to assessing youth perceptions of cohesion are discussed and future research directions are suggested.
Recommended Citation
Eys, Mark A.; Lougheed, Todd; Bray, Steven R.; and Carron, Albert V., "Development of a Cohesion Questionnaire for Youth: The Youth Sport Environment Questionnaire" (2009). Kinesiology and Physical Education Faculty Publications. 3.
https://scholars.wlu.ca/kppe_faculty/3
Comments
This article was originally published in Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 31(3): 390-408. (c) 2009 Human Kinetics Inc.