AUTHOR=Rice Simon M. , Treeby Matt S. , Olive Lisa , Saw Anna E. , Kountouris Alex , Lloyd Michael , Macleod Greg , Orchard John W. , Clarke Peter , Gwyther Kate , Purcell Rosemary TITLE=Athlete Experiences of Shame and Guilt: Initial Psychometric Properties of the Athletic Perceptions of Performance Scale Within Junior Elite Cricketers JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology VOLUME=12 YEAR=2021 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.581914 DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2021.581914 ISSN=1664-1078 ABSTRACT=

Guilt and shame are self-conscious emotions with implications for mental health, social and occupational functioning, and the effectiveness of sports practice. To date, the assessment and role of athlete-specific guilt and shame has been under-researched. Reporting data from 174 junior elite cricketers (M = 17.34 years; females n = 85), the present study utilized exploratory factor analysis in validating the Athletic Perceptions of Performance Scale (APPS), assessing three distinct and statistically reliable factors: athletic shame-proneness, guilt-proneness, and no-concern. Conditional process analysis indicated that APPS shame-proneness mediated the relationship between general and athlete-specific distress (p < 0.01), with this pathway non-contingent on sex or past 12-month help-seeking for mental health concerns (p's > 0.05). While APPS domains of guilt-proneness and no-concern were not significant mediators, they exhibited correlations in the expected direction with indices of psychological distress and well-being. The APPS may assist coaches and support staff identify players who may benefit from targeted interventions to reduce the likelihood of experiencing shame-prone states.