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Motivation, particularly different types of motivation (i.e., intrinsic, extrinsic, and amotivation), is a topic that has been of interest to both psychologists and sport psychologists. One area of interest in sport psychology is the assessment of different types of motivation. The Sport Motivation Scale (SMS) (Pelletier et al., 1995) was created to assess an athlete’s intrinsic motivation, extrinsic-motivation, and a motivation toward sport participation. The psychometric properties of the SMS, however, have not been tested on a sample of college athletes in the U.S., which is an important component if researchers and applied sport psychologists are to use the SMS with this population. A total of 270 U.S. college athletes participated in this study. Results provided some evidence for the reliability and validity of the SMS for this population, although a confirmatory factor analysis yielded relatively poor fit indices, indicating problems with model specification. A “piecewise” model testing approach, in which different components of the model were tested separately, indicated that the biggest problems with model specification may involve the extrinsic and amotivation components of the measure.

The purpose of this study was to use confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to revise the factor structure of the CSAI-2 using one data set, and then to use CFA to validate the revised structure using a second data set. The first data set (calibration sample) consisted of 503 college-age intramural athletes, and the second (validation sample) consisted of 331 intercollegiate (Division I) and interscholastic athletes. The results of the initial CFA on the calibration sample resulted in a poor fit to the data. Using the Lagrange Multiplier Test (Gamma) as a guide, CSAI-2 items that loaded on more than one factor were sequentially deleted. The resulting 17-item revised CSAI-2 was then subjected to a CFA using the validation data sample. The results of this CFA revealed a good fit of the data to the model (CFI = .95, NNFI = .94, RMSEA = .054). It is suggested that the CSAI-2R instead of the CSAI-2 be used by researchers and practitioners for measuring competitive state anxiety in athletes.

Intercollegiate athletes have been identified as an at-risk group for heavy alcohol consumption. The purpose of the present study was to use a longitudinal design to assess for off-season versus in-season differences in alcohol consumption within a sample of intercollegiate athletes. Previous research has suggested that athletes drink less during their competitive seasons, but conclusions from this body of research have been tempered by methodological limitations in the previous studies. Results from 160 athletes competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I level indicated that alcohol use and negative alcohol-related consequences decreased during the athletes' competitive seasons. These results are interpreted in terms of the theory of planned behavior and social norms theory. Implications for alcohol prevention programs among college athletes are also addressed.