Simonti Gabriele, Kamphoff Cindra, McAlarnen Michelle, Kratimenos Panagiotis, Quartiroli Alessandro
College of Allied Health and Nursing, Sports, Exercise, and Performance Psychology, Minnesota State University, Mankato, MN, United States.
Children's National Hospital, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, DC, United States.
Front Psychol. 2025 Aug 4;16:1630005. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1630005. eCollection 2025.
Sport psychology (SP) examines the mental factors that influence athletic performance and well-being. Although the field has experienced substantial global growth over the past decade, much of the existing literature remains rooted in AngloSaxon cultural contexts, raising questions about its applicability in other cultural contexts.
This study explored context-specific perceptions of SP by examining the attitudes of two key sport stakeholders-Italian athletes ( = 298; 50.17%) and coaches ( = 296; 49.83%). Participants (male = 324; 54.45%; female = 270; 45.55%) represented both individual and team sports, across elite and non-elite competitive levels. An online survey assessed participants' perceptions and attitudes toward SP services and professionals. Using Brislin's back-translation method, we adapted the SPA-R and SPARC-2 into Italian.
Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the internal structure of the instruments in the Italian sample. We then examined differences in attitudes by stakeholder role, gender, age, and competitive level. Overall, both athletes and coaches reported low levels of stigma and high confidence in SP and its services. However, significant differences were observed across demographic groups.
This study provides a culturally grounded snapshot of the current sport psychology landscape in Italy, highlighting context-specific attitudes and offering valuable insights for enhancing the cultural relevance of SP services and advancing global understanding of the field.
运动心理学研究影响运动表现和幸福感的心理因素。尽管该领域在过去十年中在全球范围内取得了显著发展，但现有文献大多仍植根于盎格鲁-撒克逊文化背景，这引发了其在其他文化背景下适用性的问题。
本研究通过考察两个关键的体育利益相关者——意大利运动员（n = 298；50.17%）和教练（n = 296；49.83%）的态度，探索了特定背景下对运动心理学的认知。参与者（男性 = 324；54.45%；女性 = 270；45.55%）代表了个人和团体运动项目，涵盖精英和非精英竞技水平。一项在线调查评估了参与者对运动心理学服务和专业人员的认知与态度。我们采用布里斯林的回译方法，将《运动心理学评估量表修订版》（SPA - R）和《运动心理学咨询量表 - 2》（SPARC - 2）改编为意大利语版本。
验证性因素分析证实了这些量表在意大利样本中的内部结构。然后，我们考察了利益相关者角色、性别、年龄和竞技水平在态度上的差异。总体而言，运动员和教练对运动心理学及其服务的污名化程度较低且信心较高。然而，不同人口统计学群体之间存在显著差异。
本研究提供了意大利当前运动心理学状况的文化背景快照，突出了特定背景下的态度，并为增强运动心理学服务与文化的相关性以及促进全球对该领域理解提供了有价值见解。
