Advances in Sport and Exercise Psychology Measurement

The present book contains a review of assessments of major constructs in sport and exercise psychology – and addresses almost all of the topic areas included in the most recent edition of the Directory of Psychological Tests in the Sport and Exercise Sciences (Ostrow, 1996). That is, there are chapters focused on the assessment of achievement or goal orientations, aggression, anxiety, attention, attitudes toward and perceptions concerning exercise and physical activity, attributions, body image cognitive strategies and psychological skills, cohesion, confidence in exercise and sport, imagery, leadership, and motives and affect in exercise and sport. Although this is an extensive collection of topics, the constructs selected certainly do not form an exhaustive list. It should be acknowledged that researchers and practitioners in sport and exercise psychology are concerned with the measurement of other variables not considered here (e.g., the assessment of self-reported levels of physical activity; Kriska & Casperson, 1997). Another limitation of the current text is that the assessment reviewed primarily stem from the North American sport and exercise psychology literature. This was not due to any ethnocentric bias on the part of the editor; I was unfortunately confined to the literature I am most familiar with (and material that is written in my native language). A small first step toward a text on sport and exercise psychology measured from an international perspective was made with the inclusion of authors from Great Britain and Australia.