Fear of failure in sport: A Portuguese crosscultural adaptation

Abstract

The Performance Failure Appraisal Inventory (PFAI) is a multidimensional measure of threat appraisals associated with one's fear of failure. Whilst emerging research has supported the validity and reliability of the PFAI with North American and British sport participants, its psychometric proprieties remain untested within Portuguese samples. This study examined the psychometric proprieties of the PFAI with a sample of 556 Portuguese athletes. A confirmatory factor analysis was employed to test whether the proposed multi-factorial structure of the PFAI fits well the Portuguese data. All factors displayed good internal consistency, convergent validity, and discriminant validity. Multi-group analysis revealed cross-validity and the models' invariance. The correlations between fear of failure and sport anxiety measures revealed evidence of its concurrent validity. The PFAI appears to be a psychometrically sound measure and a valid and reliable tool for assessing fear of failure in Portuguese sport contexts.