Cross-validation and cross-cultural invariance of the 10-item athletic mental energy scale

Athletic mental energy is a multidimensional psychological resource associated with athletes’ performance and well-being. The present study examined the cross-validation and cross-cultural measurement invariance of the 10-item Athletic Mental Energy Scale (AMES-10) across three Asian countries. Study 1 recruited 263 Taiwanese collegiate athletes and employed confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and item analysis to evaluate the factorial validity, reliability, and item discrimination of the AMES-10. Study 2 recruited collegiate athletes from Taiwan ( n = 338), Thailand ( n = 349), and India ( n = 325) and conducted multiple-group CFA to examine measurement invariance across cultural groups. Results supported the proposed five-factor structure of the AMES-10 and demonstrated satisfactory reliability, convergent validity, and item discrimination. Acceptable model fit was observed across all three cultural samples. Multiple-group analyses supported configural and metric invariance and provided partial support for more restrictive invariance models. Overall, the findings provide further evidence for the psychometric robustness and cross-cultural applicability of the AMES-10 among collegiate athletes from Taiwan, Thailand, and India.