Testing the Psychometric Properties and Measurement Invariance of the Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire (PMCSQ-2): Online Assessment

Abstract

Athletes’ perception of competence and success can be influenced by the motivational climate created by the coach. The Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire (PMCSQ-2) assesses this. Although its reliability and validity have been analyzed in previous studies, this has never been done for the online version. This type of evaluation can be beneficial for data collection, sustainability, speed, and generating larger samples. Therefore, the aim of this study is to analyze the psychometric properties of the PMCSQ-2 in its online version. The sample consisted of 1637 participants (37.8% men and 62.2% women) from 18 to 68 years of age (M = 24.39, SD = 6.51) who practiced physical-sport activities regularly. A second-order confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) model and its invariance for gender were studied from a 24-item version obtained from the MenPas 1.0 platform. The analyses provided an adequate fit for the CFA (CFI = 0.91, TLI = 0.90, RMSEA = 0.07, SRMR = 0.07, df = 224, B-S p = 0.02–0.07) when an alternative model was realized (χ2 = 1858.89, χ2/df = 8.30), as they also did for the women (χ2 = 1356.90, χ2/df = 6.06), men (χ2 = 883.58, χ2/df = 3.95) individual sports (χ2 = 1153.55, χ2/df = 5.15), and team sports (χ2 = 1008.92, χ2/df = 4.05) items. The data were also suitable for invariance analysis. Similarly, appropriate values were obtained for convergent and discriminant validity and for composite reliability. Therefore, the results obtained show appropriate psychometric properties for the online version of the PMCSQ-2 using an alternative model, suggesting that its use is suitable for research and showing the importance of the subscales.

The Online Assessment Tools of the MenPas 1.0 Platform, a Reliable and Sustainable Alternative for Psychosocial Research: A Literature Review

“…As can be seen, the total for the online version reached a sample size of 5866 for all five studies, while for the paper-and-pencil version, a total of 5628 was reached using eleven studies. Taking into account the five online version studies, a total of 5866 participants were collected: 2320 for the first article [41], 1050 for the second [42], 1637 for the third [43], 705 for the fourth [38], and 154 for the last [39]. This amount was considered in the application of the equation offered by González Ruiz [31], which allows for calculating the percentage of paper savings.…”

“…Areas that have already been validated include assessments of hypnosis, motivation, and attention. These areas have been shown to hold significance in the context of sports and physical activity [38][39][40][41][42][43]. Regarding the reliability of online tools compared to their paper-based counterparts, the studies by Franquelo et al [38,39], which validated the online version of the Valencia Scale of Attitudes and Beliefs toward Hypnosis (therapist version and client version), found that online measures were equivalent in terms of reliability to paper-based versions.…”

“…Among all the questionnaires and instruments contained in the platform, five of its questionnaires have been validated in recent years. These questionnaires include two areas of sport psychology motivation (Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire (TEOSQ), Psychological Needs Satisfaction in Exercise Scale (PNSE) and Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire-2 (PMCSQ-2)), and hypnosis (Valencia Scale of Attitudes and Beliefs Towards Hypnosis (client version) (VSABTH-C) and Valencia Scale of Attitudes and Beliefs Towards Hypnosis (therapist version) (VSABTH-T)) [38,39,[41][42][43] These questionnaires were validated from previous paper-and-pencil versions, and all showed good properties. The TEOSQ is composed of 13 items and 2 dimensions that assess Task and Ego orientation in sport; the PNSE includes 18 items in 3 dimensions that evaluate competence, autonomy, and relatedness; the PMCSQ-2 has 24 items in 2 dimensions of ego and task involvement; and the VSABTH has two versions (client and therapist) with 37 items and 8 dimensions (Help, Control, Magical Solution, Interest, Collaboration, Fear, Memory/Trance, and Marginal).…”