Currently, Physical and Sport Education (PSE) is an essential and compulsory school discipline in most countries of the world. This teaching activity plays an essential role in the development of children during the phase of childhood and adolescence in terms of the physical, psychological and social levels (Peralta et al., 2020; Opstoel et al., 2020; Lawson, 2020; Chiva-Bartoll, Salvador-García, & Ruiz-Montero, 2018). In this regard, several studies have shown that participation in Physical Education (PE) in school, high school and university can have an effect on physical practice during adulthood and during professional life (Barkoukis, Chatzisarantis, & Hagger, 2020; Wang & Chen, 2020; Dishman et al., 2005).

In physical education, a student’s athletic performance is influenced by several psychological factors such as cognitive occurrence (Hatzigeorgiadis & Biddle, 2000). The authors designed a cognitive occurrence measurement scale for Sport (2000) which was subsequently validated in Arabic (Abbassi, Abbassi, & Naceur, 2021). The flow was introduced in the school setting (Czikszentmihalyi, 1990). An EduFlow scale has been developed (Heutte et al., 2016) and has been validated in Arabic (Abbassi, Abbassi, Fenouillet, & Naceur, 2021).

Anxiety is considered one of the most important factors which has a negative effect in any sport setting (Spielberger, 1972; Martens et al., 1990; Palazzolo, 2020), or in school (Barkoukis et al., 2005).

Besides, in a recent systemic review by McDowell et al. (2019), the random effects meta-analysis proved that self-reported anxiety symptoms and diagonisis of anxiety disorders are lower among adult physical practitioners.

From another perspective, relationships have been highlighted in several studies between PSE and academic performances, representing measures of academic performance, behavior, cognitive skills and attitudes. Thus, regular participation in PSE training sessions is recommended by all research.

PSE as a teaching subject is part of a school assessment system and leads to a grade in the learning curriculum and thus it can present an anxious challenge for students (Barkoukis et al., 2012, Danthony, Mascret, & Cury, 2019). The state of anxiety of students participating in PSE training sessions may vary, due to threats of self-esteem, with negative evaluations from contemporaries and teachers, and also fear of failure, or the pressure exerted by parents to encourage them to have good grades in all educational subjects (Putwain et al., 2010; Zeidner, 2007). As a result, high rates of anxiety and threats may be encountered by students during PSE sessions and tests (Barkoukis et al., 2012). Precisely, the performance scores for PE exams are immediately available and accessible to students after taking the exams (Barkoukis et al., 2005).

The situational state is then different, compared to other school subjects where exam scores are often private and not immediate. This state can be a source of anxiety that is not present in other learning activities. Anxiety state is defined as an emotional state that presents itself as a temporary reaction caused by a potentially unfamiliar situation, whereas trait anxiety is presented as a feature of the individual’s personality (Saviola et al., 2020; Julian, 2011; Spielberger, 1972).

The state of anxiety is viewed as an acute response to a potential threat or as a response in anticipation of a threat that may be triggered by acute stress, and has the primary function of avoiding dangerous situations and also of facilitating memory consolidation (Roozendaal et al., 2009, Barlow, 2013). This state is a heterogeneous emotion and presents a mixture of several negative emotions such as fear of failure, insecurity, flatness, grief, anger, shame, guilt, etc.

In the school context, research has suggested that a high state of anxiety can have negative impacts on the performance and academic success of students (Brook & Willoughby, 2015; Aritzeta et al., 2017; Chin, 2017; Plamondon & Martinussen, 2019; Lisnyj et al., 2020).

In physical education, the state of anxiety can be different compared to other contexts. Indeed, PSE has historically reproduced elements of absolute masculinity through sport-based instructional programs that provide benefits to habitual and stereotypical representations of masculinity (Azzarito & Solomon, 2005; Garret, 2004; Mennesson & Forté, 2018). Likewise, it is characterized, from other activities by the involvement of a set of physical, motor, cognitive, affective and relational skills. Indeed, in learning PE, athletic students with a high level of these skills are highly valued by teachers and may have advantages over other students (Brown, 1999; Emerald, 2016). On the other hand, a lack of capacity can lead to thoughts of doubt, failure or lack of self-confidence which can generally lead to continued feelings of anxiety (Palazzolo & Arnaud, 2013).

Concerning instruments for measuring anxiety state and anxiety treated in different contexts, several anxiety measuring tools have been developed and validated among healthy and pathological populations (Hallit et al., 2020). As an example, recent scales have appeared this year. Lee (2020) validated a measurement tool linked to the COVID-19 pandemic. Likewise, Scahill et al. (2019) validated a parent-rated anxiety scale for youth who has autism spectrum disorder.

In the context of competitive sport, the CSAI-2 and the revised CSAI 2 still remain the most used instruments when evaluating the anxiety state of athletes in terms of scientific work (Marshall & Gibson, 2017; Silva-Rocha et al., 2019; Bagherpour & Hashim, 2018; Agaoglu, 2016).

Several scales are still designed and validated to assess anxiety in the school context. For instance, Carey et al. (2017) and Pizzie & Kraemer (2019) developed two math anxiety self-reports. In another paper, Dressing et al. (2020) validated a scale measuring school anxiety after the concussion.

In sport, Martens et al. (1990) and Cox et al. (2003) developed respectively the two most remarkable specific scales in the field of sport.

The two instruments measuring competitive state anxiety CSAI-2 and the revised CSAI-2 scale are used in both research and athletic training. They have been used so far as a self-report for anxiety in sport (Marwat & Marwat, 2020; Reigal et al., 2020; Mehrsafar et al., 2020).

Although, physical education in school presents a unique context of anxiety which differs in terms of goals, context and teaching methods from competitive sport and other school fields (e.g.: Biological sciences languages, technical sciences, mathematics, physics, etc.), quite a few tools have been adapted to measure anxiety levels in the context of physical education as a subject of instruction for schoolchildren. As an example, the first measure of anxiety trait in the context of PE was proposed by (Tsorbatzoudis, Barkoukis, & Grouios, 2001) “Physical Education Trait Anxiety Scale” (PETAS) which presents the three dimensions of the cognitive anxiety, somatic anxiety and worry. In another Norton attempt, Norton, Hope, & Weeks (2004) developed the initial “Physical Activity and Sport Anxiety Scale” concept measurement tool. However, PSE and sport were presented as similar contexts.

In addition (Barkoukis et al., 2005) have developed the specific scale in the context of PES “Physical Education State Anxiety Scale” (PESAS) For many years, it was the most recent and credible tool to measure the state of anxiety during the formation of physical education.

The main objective of this research is to translate and adapt cultural PESAS in Arabic language for Tunisian pupils and verify the psychometric properties through two samples exploratory and confirmatory.

The objective of this study was to test the psychometric properties of an adapted Arabic language version of the PESAS scale which assesses student anxiety in the context of PSE. The scale that is designed in Arabic PESAS, which presents the three dimensions of the initial scale, was evaluated on a population of Tunisian male and female students, some of whom practice sport in civilian clubs. A preliminary 18-item version of the instrument was examined by exploratory factor analysis which resulted in item and three-factor validation. Then the adapted model of PSEAS in Arabic was estimated, the GFI indices AGFI, CFI, TLI are all above the recommended value of 0.9, while RMSEA is below 0.08. These results prove the robustness of the factor structure of the instrument. The consistency value for cognitive, somatic, and anxiety per oneself were adequate and greater than 0.80 demonstrating the reliability of the instrument.

The sensitivity of the three dimensions has been proven by its ability to discriminate between practicing sport students and non-practicing students.

The correlation between the dimensions of the instrument showed positive associations between the two types of anxiety (cognitive and somatic) and positive associations of the later with worry. These latest results are in line with the initial work of Barkoukis et al. (2005). Indeed, the three components extracted during the exploratory factor analysis of the initial instrument supported the three-factor structure with a total explained variance of 53.4%. Also, the initial model tested by confirmatory first and second order factor analysis supported a first order model with acceptable fit indices (X²/ddl = 2.13, GFI = 0.90, CFI = 0.92, TLI = 0.91 and RMSEA = 0.064). Regarding internal consistency, the Cronbackh alpha indices were acceptable and above the recommended only 0.70.

In contrast, the correlation coefficients between the three PSEAS subscales were lower compared to the initial study by Barkoukis et al. (2005). Indeed, during his study the correlation coefficients of cognitive anxiety with somatic anxiety and worry were r = 0.52 (p < 0.01) and r = 0.41 (p < 0.01). Additionally, the correlation between somatic anxiety and worry was r = 0.41 (p < 0.01).

Our results are in line with the work of the self-report anxiety symptoms condition in the Portuguese population. Indeed, the Transcultural Cultural Adaptation of the Scale (PESAS) in Portuguese, among pupils aged from 13 to 21 presented the same factor structure of the initial instrument. The structure with 18 items and 3 factors (somatic anxiety, cognitive processes and worry) was validated. Also our results are in line with the Portuguese study in terms of the comparison of anxiety levels by gender. Female students displayed higher levels in all three dimensions of anxiety compared to male students. Likewise, students who engaged in extracurricular physical activity revealed lower levels of cognitive processes and worries/fears. Age is negatively correlated with cognitive processes and somatic anxiety, which means that the older ones demonstrated higher levels of anxiety.

Previous evidence in other studies has shown that anxiety levels can differ between male and female. Indeed, previous research has indicated that girls are more anxious than boys (Borges-Santos et al., 2015; De Matos et al., 2003; Mayer et al. 2016). This has been attributed to the greater social approval which demanded by girls and the greater resistance of boys to admit feelings of anxiety (Batista & Oliveira, 2005).

In another study by Yli-Piipari et al. (2009), associations between anxiety levels measured on the PESAS scale with student’s motivation. The results showed that a high level of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation are linked to low then to moderate levels of anxiety in physical performance in school-going children (Pérès et al., 2002). Her study also highlighted that students who were less physically active and had less enjoyment in physical education had lower state anxiety levels on the PESAS scale.

As for concerning the practice of sport outside school, Prapavessis et al. (1992) found that a higher sport experience was associated with lower cognitive and somatic anxiety, due to greater autonomy. These results may, however, imply that teenagers participating in competitive sport may report lower anxiety levels in another less competitive and demanding setting, such as physical education. However, as researches on anxiety in physical education are scare, there is little evidence of levels of state anxiety related to the PSE setting which concern to gender, age, and participation to physical activity outside of school have been demonstrated.

From another perspective, examining anxiety in an academic context is quite difficult since each student has different symptoms. For example, Shukla (2013) grouped manifestations of anxiety state into four groups: 1) Physical-nausea or diarrhea, extreme changes in body temperature, dry mouth, headache, sweating, fast heartbeat, shortness of breath, dizziness; 2) Emotional-feeling helpless, anger, excessive feelings of fear, uncontrollable crying, disappointment, depression; 3) Behavioral-drug addiction, agitation, avoidance, rhythm; 4) Cognitive-negative thinking, difficulty in organizing thought, negative self-talk, accelerated thoughts, comparing oneself to others, “going blank”, difficulty in self focus, and feelings of dread.

On the whole, this study showed that the Arabic version of the anxiety in the Context of Physical Activity Questionnaire presented items that are understandable by a population of Arab Tunisian children and teenagers.

The statistical study showed the robustness of the factor structure of the instrument. The consistency value for cognitive, somatic and self-anxiety aspects demonstrated the reliability of the instrument.

The instrument has shown good psychometric properties that can be used to assess anxiety-related to physical activity in academic research and in school settings. It is important to have an instrument to assess high levels of anxiety detrimental to learning and engagement in this subject. The scale adapted from PESAS can be used to measure anxiety in the Arab world.

However, limitations are presented in this work. We need to enlarge the population and see the stability of the structure in other Arab countries. In addition, a further examination in terms of concurrent validity of the instrument should be carried out in the future.

A: Study Design, B: Data Collection, C: Statistical Analysis, D: Manuscript Preparation, E: Funds Collection.

Mouna Abbassi^ABCDE, Walid Abbassi^ABCDE, Fabien Fenouillet^ABCD, Abdelmajid Naceur^ABCD.

The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this paper.

Abbassi, M., Abbassi, W., Fenouillet, F., & Naceur, A. (2022). Trans-Cultural Validation of the “Physical Education and Sport Anxiety State Scale” (PESAS) in Arabic Language: Insights for Sport and Physical Education. Advances in Physical Education, 12, 106-125. https://doi.org/10.4236/ape.2022.122009