Competitive State Anxiety Inventory
The CSAI-2 (Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2) is a sport psychology assessment tool designed to measure an athlete’s immediate feelings and mental state before or during competition. It evaluates three key components:
- Cognitive Anxiety is about the thoughts and worries an athlete has about their performance. These might include doubts, fear of failure, or overthinking. For example, statements like “I’m worried I won’t do as well as I can” or “I’m scared I might choke under pressure” reflect cognitive anxiety.
- Somatic Anxiety is the physical side of nervousness—how your body reacts to pressure. This can include a racing heart, tight muscles, or feeling shaky. Examples from the CSAI-2 include “My body feels tense” and “I feel jittery.”
- Self-Confidence is the belief the athlete has in their own ability to succeed. A confident mindset helps them stay focused and perform under pressure. Statements like “I feel self-confident” and “I’m confident I can handle the challenge” reflect this area.
Athletes rate 27 items on a scale from 1 (not at all) to 4 (very much so), with 9 items per subscale. The results help coaches and sport psychologists identify areas to target for mental performance improvement.
🧠 Benefits of completing the quiz.
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Identifies Anxiety Triggers
Helps athletes recognize what thoughts or situations cause nervousness or tension before/during competition.
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Separates Mental vs Physical Symptoms
Distinguishes between cognitive anxiety (mental worries) and somatic anxiety (physical signs like tension), allowing targeted strategies.
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Builds Self-Awareness
Encourages athletes to reflect on how they actually feel—often revealing patterns they hadn’t noticed.
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Tracks Mental Progress
When used regularly, it helps monitor improvements or setbacks in mindset over time.
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Informs Coaching & Mental Training Plans
Gives sport coaches and mental performance professionals data to individualize support and interventions.
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Boosts Confidence Building
Highlights self-confidence levels so athletes can strengthen belief through affirmations, success routines, and mindset tools.
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Quick & Easy to Complete
The test takes just a few minutes, making it ideal for regular use before training or competition.
How to complete the quiz:
The questionnaire can be done either before or during a practice session or competition.
To complete the quiz, you need to read each statement and chooses how much it reflects how you feel in that moment, using the following 4-point scale:
1 – Not at all - 2 – Somewhat - 3 – Moderately so - 4 – Very much so
It’s important that the you responds instinctively, without overthinking. Their first reaction is usually the most accurate.
