Rainer Martens, PhD, is the developer of the Sport Competition Anxiety Test (SCAT), the first instrument to assess sport-specific anxiety. A sport psychologist for more than 20 years and a professor in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Illinois, Dr. Martens is widely recognized for his research on competitive anxiety. He lectured on the subject in the Soviet Union as the first American sport psychologist to visit that country. Dr. Martens is the past president of the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity and the recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Emporia State University. He is the author of numerous books on coaching and sport psychology and is president of Human Kinetics Publishers. Away from his professional responsibilities, Dr. Martens enjoys jogging, biking, and handball.
Robin S. Vealey, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Physical Education, Health, and Sport Studies at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. She earned her PhD in sport psychology at the University of Illinois, where she concentrated her research on competitive anxiety and self-confidence under the direction of Dr. Martens. Dr. Vealey serves on the executive board of the Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology and the editorial boards of the Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, The Sport Psychologist, and the Journal of Applied Sport Psychology. She enjoys a variety of sports and fitness activities, including racquetball, basketball, golf, biking, and swimming. As an accomplished athlete, Dr. Vealey admits to firsthand knowledge of competitive anxiety!
Like his coauthor Robin Vealey, Damon Burton, PhD, studied for his PhD under the tutelage of Dr. Martens at the University of Illinois. His research activities focused heavily on the development and validation of the CSAI-2, as well as a goal-setting program designed to reduce anxiety among collegiate swimmers. Dr. Burton is an associate professor of sport psychology at the University of Idaho.