Preliminary development of a questionnaire to assess peer athlete mentoring functions: the Athlete Mentoring Questionnaire (AMQ)

Abstract

ABSTRACTUsing a multiphase approach, the purpose of the present study was to develop a psychometrically sound questionnaire to measure protégés’ perceptions of peer athlete mentoring functions. Phase 1 consisted of three stages: (a) item development, (b) assessment of content validity via think-aloud interviews with peer mentored athletes, and (c) assessment of content validity via an expert rating panel. In phase 2, 377 Canadian National team and varsity athletes who were peer mentored completed an initial 42-item version of the Athlete Mentoring Questionnaire (AMQ) and its factor structure was examined using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM), and hierarchical ESEM (ESEM-within-CFA). Measurement invariance testing was also performed in phase 2. The final version of the AMQ contains 34 items that measure six peer athlete mentoring functions. It is hoped that the development of the AMQ will spur research in the emerging area of peer athlete mentoring.