Anxiety and coping strategies in sport contexts: a look at the psychometric properties of Portuguese instruments for their assessmen

The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Portuguese
versions of the Sport Anxiety Scale and of the Brief COPE, as well as of the Cognitive
Appraisal Scale in Sport Competition– Threat Perception, namely regarding their factor
structure validity and internal consistency. Participants were 550 male and female athletes
of several sports, aged 15 to 35 years old (M=19.8; SD=4.5). Exploratory and Confirmatory
Factor Analysis indicated that the instruments demonstrated good psychometric properties.
In general, the measurement models provided a good fit to the empirical data and with
the exception of some scales of the Brief COPE, the calculated Cronbach’s a coefficient
of reliability indicated adequate internal consistency for the three instruments. Overall,
the results of the present study provided evidence for these instruments’ validity and
reliability, ultimately supporting their importance for research and psychological intervention
in sport contexts.
El objetivo de este studio fue examinar las propiedades psicométricas de las versiones
portuguesas del Sport Anxiety Scale, el Brief COPE, y el Cognitive Appraisal Scale in
Sport Competition– Threat Perception, atendiendo a su validez de estructura factorial y
consistencia interna. Los participantes fueron 550 atletas de ambos sexos y diversos
deportes con edades entre 15 y 35 años (M=19.8; DT=4.5). Los análisis factoriales
exploratorio y confirmatorio indicaron que los instrumentos mostraban buenas propiedades
psicométricas. En general, los modelos de medida proporcionaron un buen ajuste a los
datos empíricos y, con la excepción de algunas escalas del Brief COPE, el coeficiente
de fiabilidad de Cronbach indicó una consistencia interna adecuada de los tres
instrumentos. Globalmente los resultados de este estudio proporcionaron evidencia de
la fiabilidad y validez de los citados instrumentos, reforzando su importancia para la
investigación y la intervención psicológicas en contextos deportivos
Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia