An examination of the psychometric properties of the athletic coping skills inventory-28 for adult recreational runners

McErlean, Liam Patrick (2013) An examination of the psychometric properties of the athletic coping skills inventory-28 for adult recreational runners. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

The Athletic Coping Skills Inventory-28 (ACSI-28) is a validated psychometric questionnaire that measures sport-specific psychological skills thought to be instrumental to sport performance. Its extensive application history covers a wide variety of competitive, mainly team-based sports, but there has been no published verification of the ACSI-28's psychometric properties when applied to recreational runners (RR). The purpose of this research was to explore the factor structure and composition of the existing ACSI-28 in a sample of RR. Participants (n = 345) completed an online ACSI-28, and self-assessed themselves as either recreational or competitive runners. Exploratory Factor Analysis of the results indicated support for only three factors (Goal Setting and Planning, Freedom From Worry, and Peaking Under Pressure) compared with the original seven factor ACSI-28. These three factors were associated with 15 items and formed the ACSI-RR (15,3) model which was tested using Confirmatory Factor Analysis that indicated the ACSI-RR model is a better fit to the RR data than the original ACSI-28 model, although neither models produced an acceptable level of fit to the data. Differences between recreational and competitive athletes are discussed to help explain the results. In summary, our findings did not support the psychometric structure of the original ACSI-28 but did support a modified version, the ACSI-RR( 15,3), as an interim measurement tool of RR psychological skills.

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