Sport Anxiety Scale (SAS)

Abstract

The Sport Anxiety Scale (SAS) is a widely recognized psychological scale designed to measure specific components of competitive trait anxiety experienced by athletes. Originally developed in 1990 by Smith, Smoll, and Schutz, the SAS addresses the limitations of general anxiety measures when applied to sport performance contexts. The scale is founded on a multidimensional framework of anxiety, differentiating between cognitive and somatic manifestations, along with the resulting concentration disruption. The revised version, the Sport Anxiety Scale-2 (SAS-2), introduced in 2006, streamlined the instrument and extended its applicability to younger populations, maintaining the core three-factor structure to assess performance-related worry, physiological tension, and attentional interference.

Keywords

Sport Anxiety Scale, SAS, SAS-2, competitive trait anxiety, somatic anxiety, cognitive anxiety, concentration disruption, sport psychology, athlete performance, psychological assessment.

Authors

Ronald E. Smith, Frank L. Smoll, Robert W. Schutz, Sean P. Cumming, J. R. Grossbard.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Sport Anxiety Scale (SAS) is to provide a reliable and sport-specific measure of trait anxiety in competitive settings. Traditional anxiety measures often fail to capture the unique pressures and physiological responses associated with athletic competition, necessitating a specialized instrument.

The SAS and its subsequent revision, the SAS-2, were created to assess how athletes typically respond to competition, focusing on dispositional tendencies rather than immediate state reactions. By quantifying these specific dimensions of performance anxiety, researchers and practitioners can identify athletes who may be at risk for performance impairment due to high levels of worry or physiological arousal.

Construct

The SAS measures competitive trait anxiety based on a multidimensional model, separating anxiety into three distinct, yet related, subscales. This structure aligns with contemporary psychological understanding of performance anxiety.

• Somatic Trait Anxiety (SA): This subscale captures the physiological manifestations of anxiety, such as increased heart rate, muscle tension, and stomach distress, which are commonly experienced by athletes before or during competition. These items reflect the individual’s dispositional tendency toward physiological arousal under pressure.
• Worry (W) / Cognitive Anxiety: This subscale measures the cognitive component of anxiety, which involves negative self-referent thoughts, expectations of poor performance, self-doubt, and concern over external evaluation (e.g., disappointing others). This represents the mental distress associated with competitive pressure.
• Concentration Disruption (CD): This third dimension, often associated with the cognitive component, assesses the extent to which anxiety interferes with the athlete’s attentional focus. Items measure lapses in concentration, mind-wandering, and difficulty focusing on tasks relevant to the performance.

Validity

The SAS and SAS-2 have demonstrated robust psychometric properties across numerous studies, supporting their construct and predictive validity. Construct validity is supported by the consistent finding that the three subscales—Somatic Anxiety, Worry, and Concentration Disruption—are distinct yet correlated factors, confirming the scale’s theoretical foundation in multidimensional anxiety theory.

Further evidence of validity comes from studies showing predictable relationships between SAS scores and actual athletic performance outcomes. Specifically, high scores on the Worry and Concentration Disruption subscales are often negatively associated with performance, consistent with theories that negative cognitive appraisal hinders task execution. The revised SAS-2, specifically validated for use with children and adolescents, has shown strong factor invariance across different age groups, enhancing its ecological validity in youth sport settings.

Reliability

The reliability of the Sport Anxiety Scale has been consistently confirmed through high measures of internal consistency and test-retest stability. Studies of the original 21-item SAS generally report high Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for all three subscales, typically ranging from 0.80 to 0.90, indicating excellent internal homogeneity among the items within each factor.

The SAS-2 maintains similar high levels of internal consistency across its streamlined 15-item format. Furthermore, the scale exhibits good temporal stability, meaning that scores remain relatively consistent when administered to athletes over reasonable time intervals, confirming its efficacy in measuring stable dispositional characteristics, or trait anxiety, rather than transient states.

Factor Analysis

Both the original SAS (1990) and the revised SAS-2 (2006) were developed and validated using rigorous factor analysis techniques. The initial research utilized exploratory factor analysis (EFA) which consistently supported a three-factor solution, mirroring the theoretical dimensions of competitive anxiety: Somatic Trait Anxiety, Worry (a form of Cognitive Anxiety), and Concentration Disruption.

Subsequent confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) applied to the SAS-2 confirmed that this three-factor model provides a superior fit to the data compared to both a single-factor (general anxiety) model and a two-factor (cognitive vs. somatic) model. This robust factor structure allows researchers to effectively isolate and study the differential effects of these specific anxiety components on athletic performance.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report psychological inventory (Trait Measure)

Format: Likert-type scale

Language Available: Primarily English, but validated translations exist in several languages (e.g., Spanish, Chinese, Turkish).

Population Group: Competitive athletes

Age Group: Adolescents and Adults (SAS); Children, Adolescents, and Adults (SAS-2)

Population Details: Athletes participating in various competitive sports, ranging from recreational to elite levels.

Test Methodology: Respondents rate the frequency or intensity with which they experience specific feelings or thoughts before or during competition. The rating scales typically range from 1 (Not At All) to 4 (Very Much So).

Keywords

Sport performance, multidimensional anxiety, psychometrics, trait measure, competitive stress, athletic competition, performance psychology, SAS items.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not publicly provided in source content.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not publicly provided in source content.

Correspondence Address: Not publicly provided in source content.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The original Sport Anxiety Scale (SAS) was published in 1990. The updated and refined Sport Anxiety Scale-2 (SAS-2) was published in 2006. While the scale is often used freely for academic research purposes, commercial use or large-scale institutional implementation may require contacting the primary authors (Smith, Smoll) or the journal publisher for formal permission and licensing fees. Further information can often be found through the research publications cited below.

Reference’s

• Smith, Ronald E., Smoll, Frank L. & Schutz, Robert W. (1990). Measurement and correlates of sport-specific cognitive and somatic trait anxiety: The sport anxiety scale. Anxiety Research, 2(4), 263-280.
• Smith, R.E., Smoll, F.E., & Schutz, R.W. (1990). Measurement and correlates of sport-specific cognitive and somatic trait anxiety: The sport anxiety scale. Anxiety Research, 2(4), 263-280.
• Smith, R.E., Smoll, F.L., Cumming, S.P., & Grossbard, J.R. (2006). Measurement of multidimensional sport performance anxiety in children and adults: The Sport Anxiety Scale-2. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 28, 479-501.
• Smith, R.E., Smoll, F.L., Cumming, S.P., (2007). Effects of a Motivational Climate Intervention for Coaches on Young Athletes’ Sport Performance Anxiety. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 29, 39-59.

The original instrument details can be found at: http://www.topendsports.com/psychology/sas.htm and https://www.researchgate.net/publication/247496718

Items of the Sport Anxiety Scale (SAS)

Original SAS (21 Items)

Scoring: 1=Not At All, 2=Somewhat, 3=Moderately So, 4=Very Much So

1. I feel nervous
2. During competition, I find myself thinking about unrelated things
3. I have self-doubts
4. My body feels tense
5. I am concerned that I may not do as well in competition as I could
6. My mind wanders during sport competition
7. While performing, I often do not pay attention to what’s going on
8. I feel tense in my stomach
9. Thoughts of doing poorly interfere with my concentration during
10. I’m concerned about choking under pressure
11. My heart races
12. I feel my stomach sinking
13. I’m concerned about performing poorly
14. I have lapses of concentration during competition because of nervousness
15. I sometimes find myself trembling before or during a competitive event
16. I’m worried about reaching my goal
17. My body feels tight
18. I’m concerned that others will be disappointed in my performance
19. My stomach gets upset before or during a competitive event
20. I’m concerned I won’t be able to concentrate
21. My heart pounds before competition

Factor Breakdown (SAS 1990):

• Worry items: 3, 5, 9, 10, 13, 16, and 18.
• Concentration Disruption items: 2, 6, 7, 14, and 20.
• Somatic Trait Anxiety items: 1, 4, 8, 11, 12, 15, 17, 19, 21.

Sport Anxiety Scale-2 (SAS-2) Items (15 Items)

Introduction: Before or while I compete in sports:

Scoring: 1= Not At All, 2= A Little Bit, 3= Pretty Much, 4= Very Much

1. It is hard to concentrate on the game.
2. My body feels tense.
3. I worry that I will not play well.
4. It is hard for me to focus on what I am supposed to do.
5. I worry that I will let others down.
6. I feel tense in my stomach.
7. I lose focus on the game.
8. I worry that I will not play my best.
9. I worry that I will play badly.
10. My muscles feel shaky.
11. I worry that I will mess up during the game.
12. My stomach feels upset.
13. I cannot think clearly during the game.
14. My muscles feel tight because I am nervous.
15. I have a hard time focusing on what my coach tells me to do.

Factor Breakdown (SAS-2 2006):

• Somatic: Items 2, 6, 10, 12, 14.
• Worry: Items 3, 5, 8, 9, 11.
• Concentration Disruption: Items 1, 4, 7, 13, and 15.