Validity and Reliability of the CSAI-2R in DPT Students.

INTRODUCTION

Anxiety is a prevalent mental health disorder across all populations that can negatively impact daily function. For graduate health profession students, the prevalence rates of anxiety are significantly elevated compared with normative values. The aim of this study was to investigate a novel performance anxiety tool and examine its applicability to Doctor of Physical Therapy students (DPT students).

REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE: The State Trait Anxiety Inventory has been widely used to assess DPT student anxiety. The revised Competitive State Anxiety Inventory (CSAI-2R) is commonly administered to athletes prior to competition, but may be applicable to DPT students based on the psychomotor requirements of DPT education and clinical practice.

SUBJECTS: Convenience samples of graduate-level DPT students at Daemen University in Buffalo, NY, were asked to participate in electronic test-retest surveys and preassessment surveys using Survey Monkey.

METHODS

Test-retest reliability of the CSAI-2R was calculated after DPT students took the survey at 2 time points, 7-10 days apart, during a low-stress time frame. The validity of the CSAI-2R in DPT students was tested by concurrently completing the CSAI-2R and the state portion of the State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-S) prior to a practical examination. Data analysis in SPSS (IBM v28) included Spearman correlations and Cronbach alpha.

RESULTS

Thirty-eight DPT second-year and third-year students completed initial and follow-up surveys of the CSAI-2R during a period of low stress. Acceptable internal consistency values were found for both surveys (ɑ1 = 0.79-0.91, ɑ2 = 0.84-0.93), and statistically significant test-retest reliability was found, r = 0.53 ( P < .01, 95% CI 0.24-0.73). Prior to the first practical examination, 36 first-year DPT students completed the CSAI-2R and STAI-S. Each CSAI-2R subscale showed a moderate to good correlation against the STAI-S: somatic r = 0.72 (95% CI 0.64-0.90), cognitive r = 0.85 (95% CI 0.72-0.92), and self-confidence r = -0.76 (95% CI -0.88 to -.0.57) ( P < .01).

DISCUSSION AND

CONCLUSION

To date, there have been no studies investigating the use of the CSAI-2R with DPT students. The CSAI-2R used with DPT students showed acceptable internal consistency and could be a useful tool to help faculty assist DPT students in identifying resources to manage performance anxiety.