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Adapting the Sport Commitment Questionnaire-2 for

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Article
Perceptual and Motor Skills

Adapting the Sport 0(0) 1–19

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Spanish Usage

Pedro A. Sánchez-Miguel1 , Graig M. Chow2,

Catarina Sousa3, Tara K. Scanlan3,
Francisco J. Ponseti4, Larry Scanlan3, and
Alejandro Garcı́a-Mas4

Abstract
This study translated, adapted, and validated the Sport Commitment Questionnaire-
2 (SCQ-2) for the Spanish language and cultural context. We utilized a cross-sec-
tional design with 747 athlete participants (436 males, 311 females), ranging in age
from 11–24 years (M ¼ 16.04; SD ¼ 2.57). Participants were involved in a variety of
individual and team sports and were from various autonomous regions of Spain.
Participants completed the Spanish-language version of the SCQ-2 developed for
this study. Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated acceptable fit of the
proposed factor structure and gender invariance for the new Spanish language
scale. Test subscales were internally consistent, and the Spanish language version
of the SCQ-2 was found to be a valid and reliable instrument for assessing the
level of sport commitment in young athletes in the Spanish cultural context.

Keywords
enthusiastic commitment, constrained commitment, decentering, athletes

1
Faculty of Teaching Training. University of Extremadura, Cáceres, Spain
2
Faculty of Education and Learning Systems, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA
3
Faculty of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
4
University of Balearic Islands, Palma, Spain
Corresponding Author:
Pedro Antonio Sánchez-Miguel, Department of Didactics of Musical, Plastic and Body Expression.
Faculty of Teaching Training. University of Extremadura, Avenida de la Universidad, S/N. 1003, Cáceres,
Spain.
Email: pesanchezm@unex.es
2 Perceptual and Motor Skills 0(0)

Introduction
Sport commitment is a psychological construct that has been studied since the
1990s to identify the contributors to athletes’ continued involvement in sport,
even under challenges or obstacles that may present themselves, such as poor
competitive results or the need to dedicate attention to other life demands
(Carpenter, Scanlan, Simons, & Lobel, 1993; Scanlan, Carpenter, Schmidt,
Simons, & Keeler, 1993). Given the benefits of sport involvement to physical
and psychosocial health (Garcı́a-Hermoso & Marina, 2017), a better under-
standing of those factors that contribute to greater sport commitment among
young athletes is a timely and relevant area for study. Furthermore, an under-
standing of individuals’ motives for continued sport involvement could help to
reduce dropout from sport and contribute to the maintenance of positive out-
comes from this involvement (Sousa, Torregrosa, Viladrich, Villamarı́n, & Cruz,
2007). From an historical perspective, the roots of the study of sport commit-
ment can be traced to Scanlan, Carpenter, et al. (1993) who developed the ori-
ginal Sport Commitment Model (SCM). In the absence of existing knowledge
about commitment in sport, Scanlan et al. adapted Rusbult’s (1980) investment
model to the sport context. This model had largely been developed to explain
commitment to social relationships. According to Rusbult (1980), three factors
were considered to be heavily influential in shaping commitment. First, commit-
ment was believed to be influenced by the individual’s level of satisfaction with
the extent to which they felt that their personal needs were being satisfied. A
second consideration involved the perceived quality of alternative possibilities to
the current relationship. A third form of influence pertained to the individual’s
perceptions of the magnitude and importance of what would be lost if the
relationship be terminated. The SCM (Scanlan, Carpenter, et al., 1993) included
two additional predictors of sport commitment which were involvement alterna-
tives, considered to be the inherent benefits that accompany the practice of the
activity, and social constraints, regarded as the perceptions of athletes relative to
the influence, or pressure, exerted by significant others to maintain involvement.
The Sport Commitment Questionnaire (SCQ; Scanlan, Simons, Carpenter,
Schmidt, & Keeler, 1993) scale was developed to assess commitment from this
theoretical perspective and consists of 28 items that assess level of sport com-
mitment as well as the five commitment sources (sport enjoyment, personal
investments, social constraints, involvement alternatives, and valuable
opportunities).
Over time, researchers have posed a variety of research questions that can be
addressed through the framework provided by the SCM. For example, various
lines of research have examined changes to commitment over time (Carpenter &
Coleman, 1998; Carpenter & Scanlan, 1998; Weiss & Weiss, 2006); sources of
commitment to physical activity (Alexandris, Zahariadis, Tsorbatzoudis, &
Grouios, 2002; Wilson et al., 2004); the relationship between commitment
type and subsequent sport dropout or continuance in sport (Weiss & Weiss,
Sánchez-Miguel et al. 3

2003); the relationship between sport commitment and motivational character-

istics (Garcı́a-Calvo, Sánchez-Miguel, Leo, Sánchez-Oliva, & Amado, 2012;
Garcı́a-Mas et al., 2010) including the relationship with self-determined motiv-
ation in sport (Pulido, Sánchez-Oliva, Sánchez-Miguel, Amado, & Garcı́a-
Calvo, 2018; Zahariadis, Tsorbatzoudis, & Alexandris, 2006); commitment char-
acteristics in physical education (Cuevas, Garcı́a-Calvo, González, &
Fernández-Bustos, 2018); and commitment to coaching (Raedeke, Warren, &
Granzyk, 2002). The growing interest in the study of sport commitment has
resulted in the translation of the SCQ to different languages, including
Spanish (Sousa et al., 2007), Portuguese (Sousa, Viladrich, Gouveia,
Torregrosa, & Cruz, 2008), and Greek (Alexandris et al., 2002).
During recent years, sport researchers have endeavored to provide additional
depth of understanding to the commitment process through the SCM and to
develop a revised instrument that will assess additional sources of commitment
as warranted. In general, research findings have tended to indicate that sport
enjoyment seems to be the most important contributor to commitment (i.e.,
Sousa et al., 2007, 2008; Wilson et al., 2004) although certain findings have
also been incongruent with expectations proposed in the model. For example,
although social constraints have been hypothesized to be positively associated
with commitment, certain research studies have found no link between social
constraints and sport commitment (Scanlan, Russell, Beals, & Scanlan, 2003;
Sousa et al., 2007) or have even found a negative, albeit weak, relationship with
sport commitment (Carpenter & Scanlan, 1998). Other research reveals that it is
necessary to include additional perspectives on commitment, such as the possible
inclusion of obligatory forms of commitment (Wilson et al., 2004; Young &
Medic, 2011). Scanlan et al. have continued to explore additional sources of
commitment and have desired to further refine our understanding of commit-
ment in sport. The initial model was developed through qualitative interviews
with rugby athletes in order to obtain ecologically valid knowledge and to gain
the greatest possible depth of knowledge of each component (Scanlan et al.,
2003). However, the initial model may have been somewhat sport specific and
additional potential sources of commitment to sport have been further explored
(Scanlan, Russell, Scanlan, Klunchoo, & Chow, 2013). A modified model of
sport commitment has emerged from the qualitative and quantitative methods
that were subsequently employed for these purposes (Scanlan, Chow, Sousa,
Scanlan, & Knifsend, 2016).
It is important to highlight that the revised and expanded SCM now includes
two types of commitment that have been labeled as Enthusiastic Commitment
and Constrained Commitment. Enthusiastic Commitment refers to positive
aspects of commitment and involves the voluntary, or ‘‘want to,’’ elements of
an individual’s commitment decision. On the other hand, Constrained
Commitment, on the other hand, reflects a form of commitment in which athletes
feel obligated, or feel that they ‘‘have to’’ continue their involvement in sport.
4 Perceptual and Motor Skills 0(0)

Two additional commitment sources have also been identified and have been
labeled Desire to Excel and Social Support. Each source also includes two com-
mitment-related influences and these individual types have been labeled as
Desire to Excel-Mastery Achievement and Desire to Excel-Social Achievement
and Social Support-Emotional and Social Support-Informational.
The revised SCM proposed that Enthusiastic Commitment can be explained
by five sources of commitment. Four of these commitment sources are proposed
to have a positive association with Enthusiastic Commitment and include Sport
Enjoyment, Involvement Opportunities, Personal Investments, and Social Support.
The additional commitment source, now labeled as Other Priorities (formerly
identified as Involvement Alternatives), is now considered to be negatively asso-
ciated with Enthusiastic Commitment. As a consequence of knowledge gained
from previous research (Scanlan et al., 2003; Scanlan, Russell, Magyar, &
Scanlan, 2009), the new model explains Constrained Commitment to be the con-
sequence of Social Constraints, Other Priorities, and Personal Investments. Table
1 provides definitions of each of the constructs present in the revised SCM.
The new SCM-2 is now assessed through the SCQ-2 (Scanlan et al., 2016).
This instrument comprises 58 items that include the 10 commitment sources as
well as the 2 sport commitment types. To address recent advances in sport
commitment knowledge and to continue knowledge development across varied
cultural contexts, such as in Spain and other Spanish language speaking coun-
tries (Sousa et al., 2007), the adaptation and validation of the SCQ-2 to the
Spanish language is necessary. Accordingly, the purpose of this investigation
was to adapt and validate the new SCQ-2 (SCQ-2 Scanlan et al., 2016) to the
Spanish language and cultural context. The adaptation of this instrument was
completed with athletes competing in a wide array of team and individual sports
that are most common in Spain.

Method
Participants
Participants in this study were 747 athletes, including 436 males (58.40%) and
311 (41.60%) females. These athletes were 11–24 years of age (M ¼ 16.04 years;
SD ¼ 2.57 years) and were from the autonomous regions of Extremadura,
Catalonia, and the Balearic Isles. However, 97.7% of the sample was of
Spanish nationality. These athletes practiced their sports an average of 3.77
days per week (SD ¼ 1.39) and were athletes in the sports of swimming
(n ¼ 230; 30.7%), football or soccer (n ¼ 186; 24.9%), basketball (n ¼ 183;
24.0%), futsal or indoor soccer (n ¼ 60; 8.0%), field hockey (n ¼ 32; 4.3%),
track and field (n ¼ 28; 3.70%), gymnastics (n ¼ 16; 2.10%), and triathlon
(n ¼ 12, 1.60%). The sample was designed to include athletes from individual
sports as well as athletes participating in team sports that varied in their
Sánchez-Miguel et al. 5

Table 1. SCQ Construct Names and Definitions.

Construct Definition

Enthusiastic commitment The psychological construct representing the desire and

Constrained commitment
Sport enjoyment
Valuable opportunities
Other priorities
Personal investments-loss
Personal investments-quantity
Social constraints
Social support-emotional
Social support-informational
Desire to excel—Mastery
Desire to excel—Social
Note. Terms developed by Scanlan et al. (2016).
resolve to persist in a sport over time.
The psychological construct representing perceptions of
obligation to persist in a sport over time.
The positive affective response to a sport experience
that reflects generalized feelings of joy.
Important opportunities that are only present through
continued involvement in a sport.
Attractive or pressing alternatives that conflict with
continued sport participation.
Personal resources put into a sport that cannot be
recovered if participation is discontinued.
The amount of personal resources put into a sport.
Social expectations or norms that create perceptions of
obligation to remain in a sport.
The encouragement, caring, and empathy received from
significant others in a sport.
The provision of useful information, guidance, or advice
received from significant others in a sport.
Wanting or striving to improve and achieve mastery in a
sport.
Wanting or striving to win and establish superiority over
opponents in a sport.

extent of interdependence (Feltz, Short, & Sullivan, 2008). However, 61.70% of

the athletes were participants in sports that could be classified as highly
interdependent.

Instruments
Sport commitment. The SCQ-2 was utilized to assess the sources and types of
commitment. The Spanish language version of this instrument is titled the
Cuestionario de Compromiso Deportivo-2. The SCQ-2 (Scanlan et al., 2016) com-
prises a total of 58 items that reflect 12 different subscales and include 10 sources
of commitment to sport as well as two commitment types (Enthusiastic
Commitment and Constrained Commitment). The subscale labels with associated
subscale sample items include Enthusiastic Commitment (six items: ‘‘I am
6 Perceptual and Motor Skills 0(0)

dedicated to keep playing this sport’’), Constrained Commitment (5 items: ‘‘I feel
trapped in this sport’’), Sport Enjoyment (five items: ‘‘Playing this sport is fun’’),
Valuable Opportunities (4 items: ‘‘I would really miss the competition in this
sport if I no longer played’’), Other Priorities (five items: ‘‘Other things in my
life make it difficult to play this sport’’), Personal Investments-Loss (five items:
‘‘The physical effort that I have put into this sport makes it difficult to stop
playing’’), Personal Investments-Quantity (four items: ‘‘I have spent a lot of time
in this sport’’), Social Constraints (four items: ‘‘People would be disappointed if
I didn’t keep playing this sport’’), Social Support-Emotional (five items: i.e.,
‘‘People who are important to me are there for me after I perform poorly in
this sport’’), Social Support-Instrumental (four items: ‘‘I have a mentor who
provides guidance in this sport’’), Desire to Excel-Mastery Achievement (six
items: ‘‘In this sport, I am constantly trying to improve my skills’’), and
Desire to Excel–Social Achievement (five items: ‘‘I try to dominate in this
sport’’). The responses were provided in relation to a 5-choice Likert-type
format (1 ¼ strongly disagree to 5 ¼ strongly agree).

Procedure
Translation of the SCQ-2. The decentering1 method (Brislin, 1970) was used for the
purpose of translating and adapting the instrument to a different language and
cultural setting. The decentering process involves various steps, and the goal of
the process is to provide a translation that maintains equivalence of mean-
ing rather than solely equivalence in word choice. Throughout the process, an
international bilingual researcher collaborated in the translation and adaption
process. The process followed the steps recommended by the International
Test Commission for the translation and adaptation of measurement tools in
educational and psychological contexts (Hambleton, 2005). There were five
phases to the process of translation of the SCQ-2 to Spanish. These steps
involved: (a) Generating items: Guidelines for the generation of items, as pro-
posed by Werner and Campbell (1970), were closely adhered to. In each case,
negatively phrased items were avoided and the name of the construct or factor
associated with the item was not included in any of the associated questions on
the corresponding subscale. In addition, no colloquial or slang phrases were
included, and repetitive words and phrases were avoided (see Scanlan et al.,
2016). (b) Decentering: In this phase, the researchers made sure that each of
the words and phrases in the original English language version of the SCQ-2
had an actual equivalent in the Spanish language. The international bilingual
collaborator examined whether each question had an equivalent form of expres-
sion and communicated any issues to the rest of the group who then decided
whether the item should be maintained or eliminated. (c) Equivalent translation:
Four additional experts were invited to participate in this stage of the project for
the purpose of adapting the SCQ-2 (Hambleton, 2001). These individuals first
Sánchez-Miguel et al. 7

provided their consent to participate in the study and then received a written
document that explained the purpose of the study and the proposed steps
involved in the translation work. Items that had previously been identified as
potentially problematic were highlighted in the drafts of the questionnaires that
had been provided to these individuals. In this case, the experts were asked to
determine whether a similar word or equivalent expression existed in the Spanish
language that could substitute for the potentially problematic word or phrase.
One example would be in relation to the word ‘‘love,’’ which is frequently
used in English to express personal feelings in social relationships but also in
relation to preferred activities or outcomes. In other cultures, however, the
word ‘‘love’’ only refers to strong personal feelings in intimate relationships,
which is to say that the connotation of the word can differ substantially
across cultural contexts. As a consequence, the word ‘‘encanta’’ (which
would translate directly as ‘‘enchanted’’ in English) was preferred in this
situation. The experts independently translated each of the items and also
provided comments related to any issues or concerns that may have arisen.
The bilingual investigator examined the three separate translations and, in
situations in which there were any discrepancies, collaborated with the fourth
expert to resolve these issues and to make a final decision on the translation
to be used. (d) Back translation: During the fourth stage of the process, an
additional expert back translated the Spanish language items that had
been developed. The back translated version was then sent to the expert.
(e) Development of the consensus version: In the fifth phase, the authors of
the SCQ-2 and the bilingual researcher collaborated to examine the differ-
ences between the original version and the back translated version that had
been developed in the previous phase. The primary purpose of this step
was to identify any differences that may have existed in the two versions
of the instrument with special attention devoted to the identification of any
possible changes in the meaning of an item. Differences in word choice
between the two versions were acceptable given inherent cultural differences
provided that there was no accompanying change in the meaning of the
associated phrase.
All procedures for data collection were conducted in accordance with the eth-
ical recommendations of the American Psychological Association (2009). The
SCQ-2 was administered three months after the start of each sport season to
assure that sufficient time had passed in the athlete’s season for them to develop
a clear sense of their level of commitment to that sport. Prior to any involvement
in the study, informed consent forms were obtained from the parents of all ath-
letes younger than 18 years of age and from the athletes who were older than 18
years of age. All questionnaire administrations were completed in the presence of
one of the researchers. Questionnaires were typically completed in 15–30 minutes
by the respondents at each club’s facility, and the coaches, directors, and parents
of the athletes were not present at the time of data collection.
8 Perceptual and Motor Skills 0(0)

Data Analysis
Descriptive statistics were obtained at the first phase of the data analysis, includ-
ing an examination of the univariate normality of each of the items.
Subsequently, an examination of the psychological properties of each scale
was conducted using confirmatory factor analysis through the program Mplus
and in accordance with the recommendations of Rı́os and Wells (2014).
To determine the fit of the proposed theoretical model and the observed data
matrix, various indices were used including: 2/gl (chi-square/degrees of free-
dom), CFI (comparative fit index), Tucker Lewis Index, root mean square error
of approximation, and the standardized root mean residual. In addition, the
Akaike Information Criterion was used to compare model fit estimates. Model
invariance was also examined in relation to gender. Mean variance extracted was
also calculated, and reliability was assessed though the internal consistency
values obtained for each subscale. The reliability of the instrument was assessed
through the Spearman–Brown value. All statistical analyses were conducted
through the SPSS 21 program.

Results
Descriptive Statistics and Subscale Reliability
Table 2 provides the relevant descriptive statistics, which include the bivariate
correlations among the individual items, the reliability of the scale as
expressed by Cronbach’s alpha value, and the number of items for the indi-
vidual subscales. It can be noted that Enthusiastic Commitment was positively
and significantly related to each of the sport commitment sources, with
the exception of Other Priorities, as had been anticipated. Constrained
Commitment was negatively related to Sport Enjoyment and positively
linked to Other Priorities, Personal Investments-Loss, and Social Constraints.
The overall descriptive findings also revealed that the participants’ sport
involvement was more characterized by Enthusiastic Commitment than by
Constrained Commitment. The reliability analysis resulted in Cronbach
alpha values that exceeded .70 for every subscale except Constrained
Commitment (a ¼ .62) and Social Constraints (a ¼ .68). These subscales were
retained and included in further analysis as these Cronbach alpha values tend
to be lower in circumstances where relatively few items comprise a scale
(Lowenthal, 2001).

Confirmatory Factor Analysis

Table 3 provides the standardized factor loadings, error variances, and the
R2 results from the final model which indicated that an adequate model
fit was obtained: 2 (1711) ¼ 3188.192, p < .001; CFI ¼ .910; Tucker Lewis
 Table 2. Descriptive and correlations analysis among the studied variables.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

1. Enthusiastic commitment
2. Constrained commitment .072
3. Sport enjoyment .816** .134*
4. Valuable opportunities .844** .135 .717
5. Other priorities .361* .315** .215* .234
6. Personal investments-loss .697** .507** .508** .793 .126
7. Personal investments-quantity .755** .052 .660** .791 .168 .742*
8. Social constraints .443** .466** .186* .453 .123 .526* .437**
9. Social support-emotional .461** .052 .382** .489 .285 .385* .480** .550**
10. Social support-informational .491** .097 .405** .517 .162 .449* .563** .604** .700**
11. Desire to excel—Mastery .796** .080 .754** .718 .274 .614 .879** .342 .495* .533**
12. Desire to excel—Social .735** .161 .617** .665 .592* .298* .828** .367** .371** .392** .904**
Mean 4.30 2.94 4.60 4.25 2.53 4.03 4.33 3.50 4.12 3.95 4.44 3.92
Standard deviation .68 .90 .58 .66 .97 .75 .55 .82 .76 .71 .54 .65
a .876 .616 .885 .686 .829 .778 .710 .676 .781 .741 .846 .795
Number of scale items 6 5 5 4 5 5 4 3 4 5 6 5
Note. a ¼ Cronbach’s alpha value.
*p < .05. **p < .01.

9
10 Perceptual and Motor Skills 0(0)

Table 3. Factor Loadings, Reliability Estimates and Variance Extracted.

Factor
Item loading Rel VarEx

Enthusiastic commitment 12 .697 .90 .60

31 .744
46 .791
49 .675
53 .762
58 .767
Constrained commitment 7 .398 .70 .32
21 .482
32 .383
39 .573
43 .624
Sport enjoyment 1 .697 .90 .62
11 .833
28 .836
45 .733
55 .798
Oportunidades 8 .548 .70 .40
14 .442
30 .654
50 .699
Other priorities 3 .654 .86 .55
9 .769
26 .657
36 .806
40 .632
Personal 6 .564 .82 .50
investments—Loss 10 .574
23 .724
42 .640
56 .717
Personal 2 .509 .81 .50
investments—Quantity 17 .641
34 .596
48 .706
(continued)
Sánchez-Miguel et al. 11

Table 3. Continued

Factor
Item loading Rel VarEx

Social constraints 15 .520 .65 .40

18 .546
52 .774
20 .595
Social 22 .645 .82 .52
support—Emotional 25 .653
51 .832
19 .435
Social 27 .540 .78 .42
support—Informational 35 .634
54 .769
57 .682

Desire to excel—Mastery 5 .706

13 .672 .90 .59
24 .642
38 .726
41 .719
44 .713

Desire to excel—Social 4 .573

16 .754 .84 .51
29 .710
33 .593
47 .673
Note. REL ¼ reliability estimates; VarEx ¼ mean variance extracted.

Index ¼ .902; Incremental Fit Index (IFI) ¼ .911; standardized root mean resi-
dual (SMRM) ¼ .052; root mean square error of approximation [90% CI] ¼ .038
[.037, 0.40]; and Akaike Information Criterion ¼ 99488.880. As can be observed
in Table 3, all factor loadings exceeded .40 (with the exception of Item 32 which
had a factor loading of .383 and was retained). In the initial validation process,
Item 37 (Because people that are important to me also play this sport, it is assumed
that I will keep playing) had a factor loading of only .29 and the decision was
made to eliminate this item. Each subscale thus comprises at least four items
which were sufficient to examine the factor structure of the Spanish language
SCQ-2. The final model is shown in Figure 1.
12 Perceptual and Motor Skills 0(0)

Table 4. Multigroup Analysis of Gender Invariance.

Models 2 gl 2/gl
2 p
gl CFI TLI SRMR RMSEA

Model 1 5,233.802 3,036 1.724 – – – .883 .873 .070 .031

Model 2 5,338.806 3,082 1.732 105.004 .000 46 .880 .872 .074 .031
Model 3 5,534.577 3,158 1.753 300.775 .000 122 .874 .868 .083 .032
Model 4 5,917.506 3,229 1.833 683.704 .000 193 .875 .854 .082 .033
Model 1 ¼ unrestricted; Model 2 ¼ weighted mean; Model 3 ¼ structural covariance; Model 4 ¼ mean
residuals; CFI ¼ comparative fit index; TLI ¼ Tucker Lewis Index; SRMR ¼ standardized root mean residual;
RMSEA ¼ root mean square error of approximation.

Split-Half Reliability
A split-half method was used to determine the reliability of the instrument.
The questionnaire was split into two equal parts and a Spearman–Brown coef-
ficient of .77 and a Cronbach alpha value of .87 were obtained for the
two halves. These findings indicated that individuals were consistent in their
response patterns.

Gender Invariance
We used a multigroup analysis to determine whether the two-factor structure of
the model was invariant across gender, using the data from the 436 males
and 311 females included in the analysis. This analysis revealed differences in
the 2 statistic across the different models. The unrestricted model showed CFI
differences of less than .01 among the four models, indicating that factor load-
ings were essentially equivalent across the items for males and females (see
Table 4).

Discussion
The purpose of this investigation was to adapt and validate the Spanish
language version of the SCQ-2 to the Spanish language such that the
instrument could be employed in research in the youth sport context across
additional Spanish cultural settings. We obtained good psychometric support
for the instrument, including good internal consistency indices for the instrument’s
subscales. Confirmatory factor analysis provided support of the proposed fac-
tor structure of the instrument and invariance across gender. The psychometric
properties we found were similar to previously reported findings (Scanlan et al.,
2016).
A major contribution of this research was the theoretical and psychometric
support this study provided for the role of Constrained Commitment to the
Sánchez-Miguel et al. 13

broader understanding of sport commitment. Constrained Commitment has been

identified and discussed by previous researchers in studies conducted by Scanlan
et al. (2009); Weiss, Weiss, and Amorose (2010); and Wilson et al. (2004). The
development of the SCQ-2 (Scanlan et al., 2016) has now enabled researchers to

Figure 1. Confirmatory factor analysis of the sport Commitment Model.

14 Perceptual and Motor Skills 0(0)

include this type of sport commitment in future investigations to further advance

our understanding and appreciation of it.
Regarding subscale reliability, each of the subscales, with the exception of
Valuable Opportunities and Social Constraints, achieved Cronbach alpha values
that exceeded the normally accepted minimum standard value of .70 (Nunnally,
1978). Thus, individual scale items loaded, as anticipated, on their associated
factor or subscale, reflecting psychological equivalence of the translated factors
or subscales to the Spanish sport context. These results suggest that the quality
of the items on the SCQ-2 is an improvement, relative to the original Spanish
language version of the SCQ, particularly with regard to Personal Investments,
Valuable Opportunities, and Other Priorities that were not formerly reliable
subscales (Sousa et al., 2007) Moreover, it is important to note that individuals
were consistent in their response patterns across the two halves of the instru-
ment. The revised instrument was also found to be invariant across gender,
making it useful with both males and females without concern for gender-related
influences in response patterns.
Our findings are quite similar to those obtained by Scanlan et al. (2016) with
the English-language version of the scale and provide additional support for the
results obtained in the initial adaptation of the SCQ to the Spanish cultural
context (Sousa et al., 2007), even strengthening the precision of the scale in
measuring the variables of interest. The new instrument contains an important
new commitment source that has been included for the first time; Desire to
Excel-Mastery was revealed as an important component associated with
Enthusiastic Commitment in that the stronger an athlete’s desire to excel and
improve, the greater the athlete’s desire to remain committed to a sport. The
relationship between social support and enthusiastic commitment is consistent
with previous findings (Scanlan et al., 2013, 2016; Weiss, Kimmel, & Smith,
2001; Weiss & Weiss, 2003).
Correlational analysis revealed a strong relationship between Social Constraints
and Personal Investments-Loss, consistent with recent work on the expanded SCM
and associated instruments that also found this positive association (Scanlan et al.,
2016). Similarly, Sport Enjoyment and Enthusiastic Commitment were positively
related, whereas Sport Enjoyment and Constrained Commitment had a negative
association. These findings provide additional evidence for the importance of
sport enjoyment to continued commitment to sport, and enthusiastic commitment
can also be considered a clear component associated with favorable health benefits
from sport (Garcı́a-Hermoso & Marina, 2017). In relation to enthusiastic
commitment, these findings reveal a strong association between either lost or
quantity personal investments, corresponding with initial assumptions of
Rusbult, Martz, and Agnew (1998) that investments should be positively related
to commitment.
The relationships between scales of the SCQ-2 found in this study lead to a
prediction that greater pressure and social expectations from others lead
Sánchez-Miguel et al. 15

athletes toward greater commitment, although this commitment may be either

enthusiastic or constrained. These results conform to the original investigation
into the SCQ-2 (Scanlan et al., 2016) showing that social constraints were
positively related to constrained commitment. However, our finding that
Enthusiastic Commitment was positively associated with Social Constraints
differed from the results obtained by Scanlan et al. (2016). Our results
revealed that social expectations, or pressure from others, could contribute
to both Constrained Commitment and Enthusiastic Commitment, depend-
ing upon the perspective of the individual athlete. Clearly, the role of social
influence on commitment characteristics requires further study in future
investigations.
It is also worthwhile to note the relationships between commitment types and
the commitment sources of Personal Investments and Other Priorities. These
commitment sources correlate negatively with Enthusiastic Commitment and
positively with Constrained Commitment. The improvements in measurement
quality in this version of the SCQ-2 has helped in the identification of these
relationships relative to the original Spanish language SCQ (Sousa et al., 2007),
and psychometric limitations of the original scale (Garcı́a-Calvo, Leo, Martı́n, &
Sánchez-Miguel, 2008) have been minimized.

Conclusions
We found the SCQ-2, as adapted to the Spanish language and cultural con-
text, to be a valid and reliable instrument. We modified and adapted it
through the decentering process, and our results were consistent with previous
studies using the English version of the instrument. These findings also sup-
ported the instrument’s gender invariance, permitting its use with both males
and females without apparent complications. Additional research with ath-
letes from various types of sport would further advance sport commitment
knowledge, and an additional focus should be directed particularly toward
the construct of Social Constraints, since different patterns of findings have
emerged in past research and since the construct of personal investment is
highly important to understand the sport commitment decisions (Rusbult
et al., 1998). A possible limitation of this study is the relatively low
mean variance values extracted for the commitment sources of Valuable
Opportunities, Social Constraints and Social Support, as well as the commit-
ment type of Constrained Commitment. Additional research is also warranted
regarding the relationship between sport commitment and performance-
related outcomes (Garcı́a-Mas et al., 2010; Torregrosa et al., 2007) and to
further test the instrument’s concurrent validity. Also, further examination of
athlete commitment at the highest levels of sport would help avoid early
dropout and identify commitment sources that best contribute to high-level
sport performance.
16 Perceptual and Motor Skills 0(0)

Acknowledgments
Thanks to Graciela Lois and Félix Guillén for their collaboration in data collection of the
present study.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research,
authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publica-
tion of this article.

ORCID iD
Pedro A. Sánchez-Miguel http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1660-535X

Note
1. Decentering refers to the methods used when words or phrases do not have an exact
equivalent in the target language (the language in which the translated instrument will
be written). The original version and the target language version are of equal import-
ance and, as such, the revisions and the subsequent modification may be done in the
original language in which case there are two separate processes involved which
include the development of the scale and the simultaneous translation of the instru-
ment (Brislin, 1970).

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Author Biographies
Pedro A. Sánchez-Miguel, PhD, is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Didactics of Musical,
Plastic and Body Expression at Faculty of Teaching Training of University of Extremadura, Spain.

Graig M. Chow, PhD, is the Program Director and Assistant Professor of Sport Psychology at
Florida State University. He also serves as the Director of Practicum and Supervision for Sport
Psychology Services. His research focuses on mental health in student-athletes including attitudes
toward, motivation to engage in, and utilization of psychological services as well as mental health
literacy of significant others. He is also interested in the development, implementation, and evalua-
tion of evidence-based motivational interventions. Dr. Chow is a Certified Mental Performance
Consultant, and Research & Practice Division Head of the Association for Applied Sport
Psychology.

Catarina Sousa is a PhD by Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), a Post Doctoral at UCLA
and works as Applied Sport Psychologist.

Tara K. Scanlan is Professor Emerita and Research Professor in the Department of Psychology at
UCLA, former Chair of the Social Psychology Area, and Founding Director of the International
Center for Talent Development which focuses on the Psychology of Excellence. She is the Past
President of the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity, and
the Association for Applied Sport Psychology.

Francisco J. Ponseti is Full Professor of the Physical Education and Sports Department of Pedagogy
and Specific Didactics. Member of the Research Group in Sciences of Physical Activity and Sport of
the University of the Balearic Islands. Secretary of the Department of Pedagogy and Specific
Didactics to date.

Larry Scanlan is the Associate Director and Principal Scientist at the International Center for Talent
Development in the Department of Psychology at UCLA.

Alejandro Garcı́a-Mas is Full Professor at the University of the Balearic Islands; Senior Editor of the
Revista de PsicologÚa del Deporte/Journal of Sport Psychology, and member of the Spanish
General Council of Professional Psychologists. Between 2011 and 2017, AGM was the Secretary
General of the International Society of Sport Psychology.

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