Perceptual and Motor Skills, 2006, 103,726-732. O Perceptual and Motor Skills 2006 COMPARISON O F SPORT ACHIEVEMENT ORIENTATION OF MALE WHEELCHAIR BASKETBALL ATHLETES WITH CONGENITAL AND ACQUIRED DISABILITIES ' E. K. SKORDILIS, F. A. SKAFIDA, N. CHRYSAGIS, N. NIKITARAS Laboratory of Adapted Physical Activity/Development and Physical Disabilities University of Athens Summary.-The study was designed to examine the sport achievement orienta- tions of male wheelchair basketball athletes who differed by onset of experienced dis- ability (congenital and acquired). The full Sport orientation Questionnaire was admin- istered to 166 U.S. national athletes. Athletes with congenital disabilities had higher mean scores than their peers with acquired disabilities on the three subscales of the full form and on the extraction items as a short form (Competitiveness, Win Orienta- tion, and Goal Orientation). Multivariate analysis of variance yielded no significant dif- ferences between groups. Significant differences on Competitiveness and Goal Orien- tation, with a higher mean were found for the group with congenital disabilities than for the group with acquired disabilities. The results are discussed in relation to the lit- erature, nature of wheelchair basketball, and application of the test to such athletes. This study was guided by the theory of sport achievement orientation, as a sport-specific behavior from classroom settings (Nicholls, 1984; Duda & Nicholls, 1992) and is based on the social-cognitive theories of achievement motivation. According to Roberts (1992), social-cognitive theories ". . . incor- porate sets of cognitive-affective and value-related variables that are assumed to mediate the choice and attainment of achievement goals" (p. 11). While measurement of sport achievement orientation has been possible with the Competitive Orientation Inventory (Vealey, 1986), the Personal Ori- entation in Sport Questionnaire (Roberts & Balague, 1991), the Task and Ego Orientation for Sport Questionnaire (Duda, 1989), and the Sport Orien- tation Questionnaire (Gill & Deeter, 1988), the latter 25-item questionnaire assesses the multidimensionality of achievement motivation for success in sport settings. Success is measured on three subscales, Competitiveness (13 items), Goal Orientation (6 items), and Win Orientation (6 items). Accept- able validity and reliability for measuring the achievement motivation has been reported for university and high school students (Gill & Deeter, 1988) and athletes with various disabilities (Zoerink & Wilson, 1995; Page, O'Con- nor, & Wayda, 2000; Skordilis, Koutsouki, Asonitou, Evans, Jensen, & Wall, 2001; Skordilis, Koutsouki, Asonitou, Evans, & Jensen, 2002). 'Address enquiries to Dr. Emmanouil K. Skordilis, 7 Miltiadou Street, Glyfada 16675, Athens, Greece or e-mail (eskordilis@yahoo.com). DO1 10.2466/PMS. 103.3.726-732