DOI: 10.5061/dryad.8931zcrws
title: Positive mental health among sports coaches: A six-month longitudinal study

description: Positive mental health is important for sports coaches to keep functioning
 well over time, but little is known about its longitudinal stability.
 Consequently, this study examined stability and change of emotional,
 psychological, and social well-being in a sample of 422 sports coaches
 (Mage = 44.48, SD = 11.03) in terms of measurement invariance, rank-order
 stability, mean-level change, stability of interindividual differences,
 and structural stability. Participants completed measures of emotional,
 psychological, and social well-being at baseline and again at three and
 six months. Multiple perspectives of stability and change were examined
 using structural equation modeling. The results confirm that the measure
 of positive mental health functions equivalently over time. Stability of
 well-being remained high, with rank-order stability coefficients ranging
 from .67 to .79 at three and six months, and no mean-level change in
 well-being was observed. The results also indicate stable interindividual
 differences and structural stability of positive mental health over time.
 These results confirm the importance of addressing any symptoms of
 diminished positive mental health in the coaching population.
description: This longitudinal study
 comprises three measurement waves. Sports coaches were recruited in
 Switzerland through the National Professional Association of Coaches, the
 National Coach Education, and the National Department for Youth and Adult
 Sport. Data collection was completed in February 2019 and n=422, n=301,
 and n=259 coaches participated at baseline, month 6 and month 12,
 respectively.  Participants completed online questionnaires at
 baseline (T1) and at three and six months (T2 and T3, respectively),
 answering the same set of questions at each time point. Demographic items
 (age, gender, sport, level) were recorded only at
 T1. We
 used longitudinal structural equation modeling to
 examine PMH over time.
 Specifically, we tested the measurement invariance of the MHC-SF's
 three-factor model for ordered categorical items over time before
 performing direct statistical comparisons of factor means, variances, and
 covariances among the constructs. 
description: # Positive mental health among sports coaches: A six-month longitudinal
 study
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.8931zcrws](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.8931zcrws) <br> **1) General information** Construction of item labels: -        measurement time (the same questionnaire was used three times: baseline, after 3 months, after 6 months): * t1 = indicates first measurement * t2 = second measurement * t3 = third measurement   -        the questionnaire: **MHC – Mental health continuum short form** (MHC-SF; Keyes, 2009) o   emowb = emotional Well-being o   socwb = social well-being o   psywb = psychological well-being o   wbtot = total well-being, mean score emotional + social + psychological well-being o   WB\_cont = continuous measure of well-being o   w1 to w14 = items 1 to 14 of the MHC-SF   -        empty fields = missing values. Missing values occurred when participants declined to take the survey again. Only those participants who completed the entire questionnaire at a measurement point are included in this dataset. Participants who completed only part of the questionnaire are not included.   -        dropout: 0 = no, 1 = yes   -        t2/t3 missing: FALSE = not missing, TRUE = missing   1. Note: Demographic variables are not included in the data-file to ensure anonymity.   The data-file includes 60 variables; 42 variables entered by the participants and 18 variables constructed by the researchers (12 scale-mean values, 3 continuous scale measures, 3 with information about missing data)   **2) Questionnaire**   **Mental Health Continuum Short-Form** (MHC-SF; Keyes, 2009)   During the past month, how often did you feel …   1          happy 2          interested in life 3          satisfied with life 4          that you had something important to contribute to society 5          that you belonged to a community (like a social group, or your neighborhood) 6          that our society is a good place, or is becoming a better place, for all people 7          that people are basically good 8          that the way our society works makes sense to you 9          that you liked most parts of your personality 10        good at managing the responsibilities of your daily life 11        that you had warm and trusting relationships with others 12        that you had experiences that challenged you to grow and become a better person 13        confident to think or express your own ideas and opinions 1. that your life has a sense of direction or meaning to it   Response scale:           1     never 2      once or twice 3      about once a week 4      about 2 or 3 times a week 5      almost every day 6      every day   **3) Forms of measurement of well-being**   Emotional Well-being                Items w1-3 Social Well-being                      Items w4-8 Psychological Well-being          Items w9-14   Continuous Scoring:                 Sum, 0-70 range (use 10 point categories if desired; WB\_cont)   Categorical Diagnosis:              A diagnosis of flourishing is made if someone feels 1 of the 3 hedonic well-being symptoms (items 1-3) "every day" or "almost every day" and feels 6 of the 11 positive functioning symptoms (items 4-14) "every day" or "almost every day" in the past month. Languishing is the diagnosis when someone feels 1 of the 3 hedonic well-being symptoms (items 1-3) "never" or "once or twice" and feels 6 of the 11 positive functioning symptoms (items 4-8 are indicators of Social well-being and 9-14 are indicators of Psychological well-being) "never" or "once or twice" in the past month. Individuals who are neither “languishing” nor “flourishing” are then coded as “moderately mentally healthy.”     **4) Syntaxes**   MPLUS Syntax:                       The MPLUS Syntax was used to calculate the longitudinal structural equation model to examine PMH over time. Specifically, the measurement invariance of the MHC-SF's three-factor model for ordered categorical items over time and direct statistical comparisons of factor means, variances, and covariances among the constructs were calculated.     R Syntax                                The R syntax was used to calculated the amount of coaches that are flourishing, languishing, or are moderately healthy (see point 3, categorical diagnosis)                                                The R syntax calculates the number of flourishing and languishing coaches, coaches that are neither coded as flourishing or languishing then are coded as “moderately mentally healthy”.       **5) Reference**   Keyes, C. L. M. (2009). *Brief description of the mental health continuum short form (MHC-SF)*. [http://www.sociology.emory.edu/ckeyes/](http://www.sociology.emory.edu/ckeyes/)