Sportive agoraphobia: scale development and validation

TL;DR

The study created a reliable and valid scale to measure anxiety and avoidance behaviors in physical activity settings related to social visibility and body image.

Contribution

The Sportive Agoraphobia Scale (SAS) is a new psychometric tool validated for measuring anxiety in exercise environments.

Findings

The SAS has a three-factor structure: Psychosocial Participation Anxiety, Social Evaluation Anxiety, and Body Image–Based Anxiety.

The final 19-item SAS showed good model fit and high internal consistency across subdimensions.

The SAS is a psychometrically sound tool for assessing anxiety in physical activity settings.

Abstract

The present study aimed to develop a valid and reliable instrument, the Sportive Agoraphobia Scale (SAS) to measure individuals’ anxiety and avoidance behaviors related to social visibility, body image, and evaluative concerns in physical activity settings.

Conducted within the general survey model, data were collected from 352 participants in four provinces of Türkiye. The scale development followed an established eight-step framework. An initial pool of 30 items was reduced to 24 based on expert feedback, and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) identified a three-factor structure: (1) Psychosocial Participation Anxiety, (2) Social Evaluation Anxiety, and (3) Body Image–Based Anxiety. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted after removing four items with low factor loadings, resulting in a final 19-item version of the scale.

Fit indices indicated a good model fit [χ2/df = 2.688, RMSEA = 0.069, CFI = 0.946, IFI = 0.946, NFI = 0.917]. Internal consistency values were high for the total scale (α = 0.95) and across subdimensions (Factor I: α = 0.93, Factor II: α = 0.85, Factor III: α = 0.87).

The findings demonstrate that the Sportive Agoraphobia Scale is a psychometrically sound tool for assessing the multidimensional nature of anxiety stemming from social presence, fear of negative evaluation, and appearance-based concerns in exercise environments. The SAS offers practical implications for researchers, sport psychologists, and intervention designers aiming to understand and mitigate psychological anxiety to physical activity participation.

Figures