Construct validity and reliability of the Talent Development Environment Questionnaire in Caribbean youth track and field athletes

Abstract

Caribbean nations stand to benefit significantly from the potential insights that can be gained from the assessment of their athlete talent development environments; which in turn can lead to the formulation of evidence-based strategies and improvements to their sport development pathways. The principal aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the 25-item TDEQ-5 to determine its validity to assess the development environments of talented youth track and field athletes from six English-speaking Caribbean countries. As a secondary aim, we sought to examine athletes' perceptions of their talent development environment within this context. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed adequate model fit of a re-specified model and good overall internal reliability of the scale, therefore offering support for its use within this context. Furthermore, adequate construct validity and internal reliability was found within three subscales (i.e., communication, holistic quality preparation and support network) with subpar scores within two subscales (i.e., long-term development focus and alignment of expectations). Preliminary findings on athletes' perceptions of their environment revealed key strengths in coaches' long-term development focus and communication, however deficiencies were noted in the accessibility and availability of sport-related support and preparation of athletes. In conclusion, the re-specified TDEQ-5 with 25 items appears to be a reliable and valid measure within the Caribbean context. However, it is recommended that the scale be used with some caution with regard to the interpretation of results for the 'long-term development focus' and 'alignment of expectations' subscales.Editor: Javier Brazo-Sayavera, Universidad de la Republica, URUGUAY

Reviewing the role of the environment in the talent development of a professional soccer club

“…To summarize, this French-adaptation of the TDEQ-5 appears to be a valuable instrument for assessing the effectiveness TD processes, even though some difficulties/problems with the cross-cultural adaptation occurred, as in previous research on Caribbean and Spanish athletes [ 43 , 46 ].…”

“…Future studies that use the TDEQ should focus on a set of athletes embedded in the same TDE, as did Thomas et al [ 46 ] with Caribbean athletes, and should assess athletes’ perceptions according to the age-group or stage of development. This would undoubtedly lead to a more in-depth understanding of the good practices experienced by athletes along their development pathways.…”

“…Although the TDEQ has already been used with English-, Chinese-and Spanish-speaking athletes [43][44][45][46], it has never been used in a French-speaking population. Yet, French is the official language of 300 million people living in 32 countries (fifth most spoken language in the world) according to the International Organization of La Francophonie (2018 report).…”

“…However, other studies sought to refine it and facilitate its use [ 44 ]. The result was a revised version with five factors and a 25-item scale [ 45 , 46 ]. The five factors are long-term focus (F1: LTF), alignment of expectations (F2: AOE), communication (F3: COM), holistic quality preparation (F4: HQP) and support network (F5: SN).…”

“…Their confirmatory factor analysis revealed adequate model fit of the scale and supported internal reliability (α = .66 to .89). The second one [ 46 ] examined the psychometric properties of the TDEQ-5 in talented youth track and field athletes coming from six English-speaking Caribbean countries. Although their first confirmatory factor analysis did not meet all of the thresholds of good fit (i.e., several items had relatively weak standardized loadings), the model fit of the re-specified model was improved, especially by adding covariances between some items.…”