Preliminary evidence for the reliability and validity of an abbreviated Profile of Mood States

Abstract

Schacham (1983) developed a short version of the Profile of Mood States (POMS; McNair, Lorr, & Droppleman, 1971) for use with hospital patients. The present study examined the psychometric properties of a slightly modified form of Schacham's scale when administered in a sport setting. Two items were eliminated from the original scale, and five new items were added to assess emotions associated with self-esteem. The revised scale consisted of 40 adjectives that measured tension, depression, fatigue, vigor, confusion, anger, and esteem-related affect. This scale was administered to 45 netball players immediately after competition, with the athletes instructed to respond according to how they were feeling at that point in time. Reliability coefficients (Cronbach's alphas) for the subscales ranged from .664 to .954 with a mean of . 798. Validity was examined by comparing the mood states of winners and losers. All subscales, except fatigue, produced significant differences between these groups. It was concluded that this modified form of the POMS has acceptable psychometric properties for use in sport settings, and that it may be particularly useful to researchers when economy of assessment is important.