Validating a Japanese Version of the Athlete Psychological Strain Questionnaire

Yasutaka Ojio; Asami Matsunaga; Shin Kawamura; Masanori Horiguchi; Goro Yoshitani; Kensuke Hatakeyama; Rei Amemiya; Ayako Kanie; Rosemary Purcell; Simon M Rice; Chiyo Fujii

doi:10.1186/s40798-021-00385-9

Validating a Japanese Version of the Athlete Psychological Strain Questionnaire

Sports Med Open. 2021 Dec 11;7(1):90. doi: 10.1186/s40798-021-00385-9.

Authors

Yasutaka Ojio^#¹, Asami Matsunaga^#², Shin Kawamura³, Masanori Horiguchi³, Goro Yoshitani³, Kensuke Hatakeyama³, Rei Amemiya⁴, Ayako Kanie⁵, Rosemary Purcell^{6

7}, Simon M Rice^{6

7}, Chiyo Fujii²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Community Mental Health and Law, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, 4-1-1 Ogawa-Higashi, Kodaira, Tokyo, 187-8553, Japan. ojio@ncnp.go.jp.
² Department of Community Mental Health and Law, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, 4-1-1 Ogawa-Higashi, Kodaira, Tokyo, 187-8553, Japan.
³ Japan Rugby Players' Association, Tokyo, Japan.
⁴ Faculty of Health and Sports Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
⁵ National Center for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Research, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Tokyo, Japan.
⁶ Orygen, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
⁷ Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background: There is increasing international interest in clinical practice and research related to mental health in the international sports society. The athlete-specific psychological distress assessment tool that addresses potential mental health needs can help promote early detection and recovery of mental illness, as well as physical illnesses. Currently, little is known about the applicability of the useful assessment tool for Japanese elite athletes. The Athlete Psychological Strain Questionnaire (APSQ) is a brief, effective and reliable screening tool to identify early signs of athlete-specific distress and potential mental health symptoms. We examined the applicability and reliability of a Japanese version of the APSQ (APSQ-J) in a Japanese elite athlete context. Further, we examined the construct validity of the APSQ-J.

Methods: We collected web-based anonymous self-report data from 219 currently competing Japanese professional male rugby players. A two-stage process was conducted to validate the factor structure of the APSQ-J using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) in a randomly partitioned calibration sample and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in a separate validation sample. Cronbach's alpha is used to assess internal consistency. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients were calculated to determine if the APSQ-J was significantly associated with measures of psychological distress and well-being using Kessler-6 (K6) and the WHO-5 Well-Being Index, respectively.

Results: We identified a one-factor structure for the APSQ-J. Confirmatory factor analysis supports this one-factor model, revealing good model fit indices. The standardized path coefficients for each of the items were β = 0.41-0.83 (p < 0.001). A Cronbach's alpha of 0.84 was obtained for the APSQ-J. The APSQ-J demonstrated significant correlations with the K-6 (r = 0.80, p < 0.001) and WHO-5 (r = -0.58, p < 0.001).

Conclusion: The APSQ-J can be an appropriate and psychometrically robust measure for identifying athlete-specific distress in elite athletes in Japan. Widely disseminating and utilizing this scale in Japanese sports society may support athletes' mental health via early detection of symptoms of psychological distress.

Keywords: APSQ; Help-seeking; Mental health; Rugby player; Screening.

Abstract

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