Developing a Scale of Perception of Sexual Abuse in Youth Sports (SPSAYS)

Abstract

A scale was developed to measure perceptions of sexual abuse in youth sports by assessing (a) the perceived prevalence of sexual abuse committed by pedophilic youth sport coaches, (b) the perceived likelihood that a coach is a pedophile, (c) perceptions on how youth sport organizations should manage the risk of pedophilia, and (d) media influence on participant perception. Two studies were conducted for (a) the formulation of the conceptual framework, (b) the development of preliminary items, (c) an exploratory factor analysis, and (d) a confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modeling. The first data set (n = 223) was used for exploratory factor analysis, and four factors (i.e., Management, Prevalence, Influence, and Likelihood) with 15 items emerged. With an independent sample (n = 209), confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were conducted and found strong support for the scale's psychometric properties, including, convergent validity, predictive validity, and reliability. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed along with study limitations and suggestions for future studies.