Comparison of Three Predictors of State Anxiety in Competitive Situations

Abstract

Abstract The Sport Competition Anxiety Test (SCAT) was recently developed to assess competitive trait anxiety (A-Trait). This study examined the concurrent validity of SCAT by correlating coaches' subjective ratings of player A-Trait with SCAT. A moderately strong relationship was hypothesized, but a very low correlation was obtained with female college volleyball players as subjects. To determine the cause of the low correlation, a second study with female high school basketball players examined the ability of SCAT and the coaches' ratings to predict state anxiety (A-State) just before competition. The predictive ability of Spielberger's general A-Trait scale was also examined. Of the 3 measures SCAT was hypothesized to be the best predictor of precompetitive A-State. The results showed that coaches were unable to predict reliably precompetitive A-State for their players. Spielberger's A-Trait inventory was found to be a moderate predictor of A-State, but as hypothesized, SCAT was a considerably better p...