BURNOUT INVENTORY FOR REFEREES (BIR): PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES FOR BRAZILIAN SOCCER REFEREES

ABSTRACT The objective of the study is to analyze the psychometric measurements of the Burnout Inventory for Referees (BIR) offering validity evidence of the instrument through the analysis of its internal structure, estimating reliability indicators and comparing the total score of Burnout in referees and assistant referees. Participants were 284 soccer referees from six Brazilian states. The mean age was 31.3 years old (±6.1), being 255 male participants (89.7%), and the average experience time of the referees was 6.9 years (±5.5 years). The BIR consists of a questionnaire of 9 items, arranged on a 7 points likert scale. The result of the exploratory factor analysis pointed to one factor that explained 53.1% of the data variance. The Comparative Fit Index = 0.923 (95% CI 0.883-0.950) and Non-Normed Fit Index = 0.897 (95% CI 0.844-0.933) indicates suitability to a single-factor. There was no burnout difference between referees and assistant referees. The instrument presented a reliability index (McDonald´s omega) of 0.823. It is concluded that the factor structure of BIR´s version for Brazilian referees focuses on a single dimension that guided the development of the instrument. This result is also different from that found in other studies carried out previously using the instrument.