Confirmatory factor analysis of the trait sport-confidence inventory and state sport-confidence inventory on a Chinese sample

This paper provides evidence on the validity of the factor structure of Vealey's (1986) theory of Trait Sport-confidence and State Sport-confidence. In addition, the evidence on the psychometric properties of the Trait Sport-confidence Inventory (TSCI) and State Sport-confidence Inventory(SSCI) (Chinese version) are also provided. Both the TSCI and the SSCI have 13 items each and are scored on a 9-point scale ranging from low confidence (score of 1) to high confidence (score of 9). The participants were 269 male and 190 female athletes attending the 6th China National Athletics Championship held in Hunan, China. The mean age of these athletes was 21.57 (SD=1.79) for males and 20.72 (SD=1.57) for females. To test the factor structure of the TSCI and the SSCI, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) accomplished through the method of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used. The loadings of all scale items to their respective constructs were significant (TSCI: t-values ranged from 12.06 to 17.15, p<.05; SSCI: t-values ranged from 5.96 to 16.46, p<.05). This, together with fit indices reaching critical levels, suggests that the factor structures of the SC-trait and SC-stäte for the sample were tenable. Results of the multisample analyses suggests that the factor structures of the SC-trait and SC-state are consistent for both the male and female samples.