Cross-National Validation of the Identity Leadership Inventory – Youth (ILI-Y): Evidence from Sport Teams in 13 Countries.

Leadership that helps young people cultivate a shared sense of “us” is likely to be especially important for supporting healthy adolescent development. Yet research in this area has progressed slowly, in part because, until recently, no validated tool existed to assess identity leadership in youth populations. Addressing this gap, Butalia et al. (2024) developed the coach-referent Identity Leadership Inventory for Youth (ILI-Y) and provided initial validation in a UK sample of youth athletes. The present study builds on this work by evaluating the ILI-Y’s validity and reliability across a broader set of culturally diverse countries. Crucially, it also extends the measure by validating a parallel version designed to assess identity leadership among leaders within the team (e.g., captains).We drew on cross-sectional data from 4,095 adolescent athletes aged 12–17 years (M = 14.51, SD = 1.64) across 13 countries. Results supported a four-factor structure consistent with the identity leadership framework, along with strong evidence for internal consistency, measurement invariance, and discriminant, criterion, and incremental validity. These results held for both the coach and captain versions. Together, these findings advance identity leadership research and offer a developmentally appropriate, cross-culturally validated tool for assessing and supporting leadership in youth sport, with potential applications in other youth contexts.