Sport Competition Anxiety Test

By analysing an athlete's responses to a series of statements about how she/he feels in a competitive situation it is possible to determine their level of anxiety. A test that provides such functionality is the Sport Competition Anxiety Test (SCAT) (Martens et al. 1990)^[1]

Required Resources

To undertake this test you will require:

• Questionnaire (see below)
• Assistant

How to conduct the test

• The assistant explains the test protocol to the athlete:
• Read each statement below, decide if you "Rarely", "Sometimes" or "Often" feel this way when competing in your sport, and tick the appropriate box to indicate your response.
• The athlete responds to the 15 questions on the questionnaire below - no time limit
• The assistant determines and records the athlete’s SCAT score

Questionnaire

Analysis

Analysis of the result is by comparing it with the results of previous tests. It is expected that, with appropriate training between each test, the analysis would indicate an improvement.

Target Group

This test is suitable for anyone but not for individuals where the test would be contraindicated.

Reliability

Test reliability refers to the degree to which a test is consistent and stable in measuring what it is intended to measure. Reliability will depend upon how strict the test is conducted and the individual's level of motivation to perform the test. The following link provides a variety of factors that may influence the results and therefore the test reliability.

Validity

Test validity refers to the degree to which the test actually measures what it claims to measure and the extent to which inferences, conclusions, and decisions made on the basis of test scores are appropriate and meaningful. This test provides a means to monitor the effect of training on the athlete's anxiety levels.

Advantages

• No equipment required
• Simple to set up and conduct
• More than one athlete can conduct the test at the same time
• Can be conducted almost anywhere

Disadvantages

• Assistant required to administer the test

SCAT Form

A copy of the above Sports Competition Anxiety Test, in Adobe PDF format, is available via this link.

Referenced Material

1. MARTENS, R. et al. (1990) Competitive Anxiety in Sport. Leeds: Human Kinetics

Page Reference

The reference for this page is:

• MACKENZIE, B. (2001) Sport Competition Anxiety Test [WWW] Available from: http://www.brianmac.co.uk/scat.htm [Accessed

Associated Pages

The following Sports Coach pages should be read in conjunction with this page:

• Articles on Performance Evaluation
• Evaluation and Performance Tests