Psychometrics of the Persian version of the Learning, Executive and Attention Functional Scale (LEAF) in Athletes

The aim of study was the psychometric of the Persian version of the Learning, Executive, and Attention Functioning (LEAF) scale in athletes. The statistical sample consisted of 252 (female=152) Iranian athletes older than 17 years who were selected using the snowball sampling method via sending an online questionnaire. The research tools, including the LEAF scale for adults (Castellanos et al., 2018) and the Barkley Functional Impairment Scale (2011), were used to examine the concurrent validity. The second order confirmatory factor analysis of the scale was used to examine the construct validity of the model. The obtained results showed that, the model has a good fit such that all domains (i.e., comprehension of conceptual learning, factual memory, attention, processing speed, visual organization, sequential processing, working memory, solving a novel problem, mathematics, reading, written expression) showed a high factor loading or correlation with their main dimensions (p≤0.001). Using Cronbach's alpha, the internal consistency reliability was obtained to be over 0.7 and desirable. The correlation between the scores of dimensions and the scale domains was 0.33-0.89, indicating an appropriate validity. The results of the differences analysis to examine the diagnostic validity showed the score of 4 as the cutoff point. MANOVA showed that athletes are significantly different in executive functions based on the level of competition and these functions improve in athletes by increasing the competition level. As the LEAF has appropriate reliability and validity coefficient among adult Iranian athletes, it is suggested that this scale be used in the future sport researches.