Thai Translation, Cross-Cultural Adaptation, and Reliability of Movement Imagery Questionnaire Revised Second Version

Motor imagery, the mental practice of imagining the visual and kinesthetic aspects of movements, is a cognitive approach that can aid in the learning of motor skills and improving performance in activities like sports. The MIQ-RS is a questionnaire that includes seven elements related to visual motor imagery and seven related to kinesthetic motor imagery. The objectives of this study were to: 1) translate and culturally adapt MIQ-RS into Thai; and 2) evaluate the scale's psychometric qualities in male athletes. We adhered to the recommendations made by Beaton et al. (2000). The MIQ-RS was first translated from English to Thai by two translators in turn. When there were discrepancies in the meaning or clarity of the translated elements, they were discussed and merged into a single version. Two translators then reverse-translated the forward-translated version from Thai to English. After four experts assessed the back-translated version, a preliminary Thai version of the MIQ-RS was produced. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to assess reliability for internal consistency. Evaluating the validity of the structure by confirmatory factor analysis. Thirty male university athletes (Volleyball 33.33%, Badminton 20%, Basketball 23.33%, Swimming 13.33%, and Tennis 10%) aged 21.00±1.93 years, with BMI 22.12±2.08 kg/m². Participants were instructed to assess their movement imagery proficiency using the Thai version of MIQ-RS. The statistical analysis indicated that the internal consistency reliability, as measured by the Cronbach alpha coefficient, was .868 for the visual subscale, .848 for the kinesthetic subscale, and 0.93 for the total. KMO (0.805) and Bartlett's test (χ²=318.236, df=91, p<0.001; χ²/df=3.50) supported factorability. A two-factor solution (visual and kinesthetic imagery) explained 68.53% of variance, with loadings from 0.635 to 0.925 (r=0.31). The results suggest that the Thai version demonstrates high reliability and a theoretically consistent model fit. Thus, the Thai version of MIQ-RS is reliable and appropriate for use with Thai athletes.