Psychometric properties of a Psychological Safety Scale for Competitive Sports (PSSCS)

Abstract

Psychological safety plays an important role in achieving high performance while supporting better mental health in athletes. Therefore, understanding psychological safety in competitive sports is essential. This study aimed to develop a reliable and valid Psychological Safety Scale for Competitive Sports (PSSCS) in Student-Athletes. First, through a comprehensive literature review of scales that measure psychological safety in competitive sports, we explain the challenges of tools that measure this type of psychological safety in detail. Next, through three empirical studies, we develop a scale to measure this concept and verify its reliability and validity. As a preliminary survey, we created items for the PSSCS from an existing scale with modifications and semi-structured interviews with 16 student-athletes (SA). In Study 1, we examined the factor structure and model fit of the scale, its internal consistency, and its validity as a group variable for 444 SA engaged in 10 sports. In Study 2, we examined construct validity (discriminant, convergent, and criterion-related validity) using data from 327 SA engaged in 41 different sports. In Study 3, we investigated the test-retest reliability of the PSSCS using data from SA who played handball (n = 21) and archery (n = 20). Through these surveys, we developed the PSSCS, consisting of 17 items grouped into 5 subscales: mental health literacy, positive listening, low stigma, mutual understanding of playing styles and voice possibility. We strongly recommend further research related to the antecedents of psychological safety, the impact process at the team level, cross-cultural comparisons and fluctuations over time.