# Spanish translation and cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the social motivational orientations in sport scale for children

## TL;DR

This study created and validated a Spanish version of a tool to measure children's social motivation in sports, showing it is mostly reliable and valid for use with Spanish schoolchildren.

## Contribution

The study provides the first Spanish version of the SMOSS for children, validated for cultural and psychometric use.

## Key findings

- The SMOSS-C confirmed a three-factor structure with good fit indices.
- Internal consistency was acceptable for most items, though two items showed poor reliability.
- Temporal stability was moderate to near-perfect for most items, with low measurement error for the total score.

## Abstract

Social motivation plays a key role in sports participation but is underexplored in measurement tools. The Social Motivational Orientations in Sport Scale (SMOSS) is the only instrument assessing these orientations; however, no Spanish version exists for children. The primary objective of this study was to culturally adapt and psychometrically validate a Spanish version of the SMOSS for children aged 6–12 years.

The SMOSS for children (SMOSS-C) was translated and culturally adapted. Comprehension was evaluated through cognitive interviews, and reliability was assessed via test–retest with 128 Spanish schoolchildren. Analyses included confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), Cronbach's alpha (α), and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC).

CFA confirmed the three-factor structure (affiliation, recognition, status) with excellent fit indices (χ2/df = 1.667, RMSEA =.072, CFI =.943, TLI =.926). Internal consistency ranged from questionable to good (α = .636–.891), except for items 6 and 15 (poor/unacceptable). Temporal stability was moderate to near-perfect (ICC =.467–.891), with items 6 and 15 showing only fair agreement. Measurement error was low for the total score (SEM% = 7.0; MDC% = 19.5), indicating good accuracy.

The SMOSS-C shows a valid factorial structure, acceptable internal consistency, and good temporal reliability for most items and the overall score. Despite two weaker items, it is a reliable tool for assessing social motivational orientations in sport among Spanish schoolchildren. It enhances understanding of social influences on motivation for physical activity and informs pedagogical strategies. As part of the social domain, the SMOSS-C supports the Spanish Physical Literacy Assessment for Children (SPLA-C) model, the first physical literacy assessment instrument in Spain.