The adapted French version of the Academic and Athletic Identity Scale (AAIS-FR): Evidence of validity and reliability and relationships with sport well-being

Abstract

Background Effectively managing their athletic and academic projects is a major challenge for student-athletes. The salience of the identity they develop in each of these contexts can affect their well-being and is therefore an important variable to consider. Examining these mechanisms in countries and student-athlete support systems other than the United States is also important. Aim This study aims to both translate and evaluate the psychometric properties of a French version of the Academic and Athletic Identity Scale, the AAIS-FR, and to examine the additive and interactive relationships of the two identities with sport burnout and engagement. Methods Participants were 359 French student-athletes (50.42% female) who were competing at various levels (ranging from regional to international). Results Results from analyses using a slightly modified version of the original scale provided evidence of construct (i.e., factor structure) and concurrent (i.e., expected relationships between both identities and several correlates identified in previous work) validity, as well as reliability (i.e., internal consistency) and invariance across gender and sport competition levels of the AAIS-FR. In addition, regression analyses revealed a favourable relationship between athletic identity and sport well-being (i.e., positive with engagement and negative with burnout), no relationship between academic identity and sport well-being, and no interaction between the two identities. Conclusion While further research is needed to provide additional evidence for the validity of the AAIS-FR, researchers can still use this tool to measure the salience of the two identities of French-speaking student-athletes.