Constraints of Recreational Sport Participation: Measurement Invariance and Latent Mean Differences across Sex and Physical Activity Status

Abstract

The purpose of the current study was to (a) examine the measurement invariance of the Constraint Scale of Sport Participation across sex and physical activity status among the undergraduate students (N = 630) in Hong Kong and (b) compare the latent mean differences across groups. Measurement invariance of the Constraint Scale of Sport Participation across sex of and physical activity status of the participants was examined first. With receiving support on the measurement invariance across groups, latent mean differences of the scores across groups were examined. Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the configural, metric, scalar, and structural invariance of the scale was supported across groups. The results of latent mean differences suggested that the women reported significantly higher constraints on time, partner, psychology, knowledge, and interest than the men. The physically inactive participants reported significantly higher scores on all constraints except for accessibility than the physically active participants.

Accelerometer-Measured Physical Activity in Children and Adolescents at Altitudes over 3500 Meters: A Cross-Sectional Study in Tibet

“…For safety reasons, parents might allow boys to have more outdoor exercise than girls [72]. Moreover, interest in exercise is lower among girls than boys [73], and the expectation to participate in physical exercise is significantly higher for boys than girls [74]. Boys are also more likely to engage in high-intensity and confrontational sports, such as basketball and football, while girls are less interested and willing to take part in these activities [75].…”

Psicometria Esportiva, Caracterização Dos Participantes E Invariância: Uma Revisão Crítica

“…Vários subgrupos têm sido analisados nos estudos de desenvolvimento de instrumentos: atletas, pessoas fisicamente ativas e fãs 72 ; sexo e modalidade esportiva 73 ; sexo e nível de atividade física 74 ; e, idioma, sexo, idade e tipo de esporte 75 . Contudo não foi possível encontrar artigos relacionados ao esporte e atividade física que tratassem de uma gama mais importante de variáveis e que permitissem uma descrição detalhada do ambiente da coleta de dos participantes do estudo, o que é evidentemente uma inconsistência quando analisamos os postulados do rigor e precisão.…”

Psychometric properties of the 10-item ruminative response scale in Chinese university students

“…Therefore, one may question whether the significant gender difference on rumination found in previous studies came from the non-equivalence measuring tool itself or from the real gender difference. Therefore, if we want to compare the true gender difference on rumination, it is necessary to examine the measurement equivalence of the rumination scale across gender firstly [26, 27]. In addition, the latent mean comparison, which measures the latent structure of the scale, ensures that the set of common factors are entirely responsible for all observed differences in the means of the measured variables [27].…”

“…Therefore, if we want to compare the true gender difference on rumination, it is necessary to examine the measurement equivalence of the rumination scale across gender firstly [26, 27]. In addition, the latent mean comparison, which measures the latent structure of the scale, ensures that the set of common factors are entirely responsible for all observed differences in the means of the measured variables [27]. In other words, only when the latent structure were equivalent across different groups, the observed variable means (also called manifest variable means) can truly predict the true difference among different groups.…”