Development and Validation of a Multidimensional Measure of Sport-Specific Psychological Skills: The Athletic Coping Skills Inventory-28

TLDR

The authors developed the ACSI‑28 by applying confirmatory factor analysis, yielding seven sport‑specific subscales that can be summed into a Personal Coping Resources score. Confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the factorial validity of the ACSI‑28 for both male and female athletes, and the instrument showed satisfactory psychometric properties with preliminary evidence of construct and predictive validity.

Abstract

Confirmatory factor analysis was used as the basis for a new form of the Athletic Coping Skills Inventory (ACSI). The ACSI-28 contains seven sport-specific subscales: Coping With Adversity, Peaking Under Pressure, Goal Setting/Mental Preparation, Concentration, Freedom From Worry, Confidence and Achievement Motivation, and Coachability. The scales can be summed to yield a Personal Coping Resources score, which is assumed to reflect a multifaceted psychological skills construct. Confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated the factorial validity of the ACSI-28, as the seven subscales conform well to the underlying factor structure for both male and female athletes. Psychometric characteristics are described, and preliminary evidence for construct and predictive validity is presented.