Validation of modified youth experience survey for sport (MYES-S) using multidimensional Rasch model

ABSTRACT

Youth sports provides the foundation for successful dynamics and organization within a sports ecosystem. Thus, it is necessary to explore the experiences of youth who either drop out of or persist in a sport. The study’s main goal is to provide empirical evidence of the validity and reliability of the modified Youth Experiences Survey for Sport (MYES-S), which assesses the personal experiences of youths in sports activities using the multidimensional Rasch model. The present study is a first-of-its-kind attempt to introduce a multidimensional Rasch measurement approach into the sports psychology field while still addressing the limitations of the classical test theory approach. A total of 1,199 athletes from ninth through 12th grade participated in the survey. The findings support a six-dimensional model of the MYES-S. The person separation reliability estimates for each dimension were close to the acceptable range. Most student-athletes’ logit scores were above the range of the item endorsibilities except in cognitive skill (CS); thus, more items need to be added to better capture the youth experience in sports. Future research directions include addressing differential functioning items across gender and race groups and having more appropriate response categories. The significance of this study lies in its potential to contribute to the investigation and the calibration of the MYES-S to provide practical and meaningful guidance to sports psychology researchers and practitioners vis-à-vis the understanding of the youth sports experience.

KEYWORDS:

• Youth sports
• sport experience
• positive youth development
• YES-S
• multidimensional Rasch model

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to express their gratitude to the Hospital for Special Surgery and the Aspen Institute’s Project Play for funding and organizing the Healthy Sport Index, the overarching project from which this manuscript and the data presented herein were derived.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).