400 www.JCSP-Journal.com ORIGINAL RESEARCH Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology, 2014, 8, 400-420 http://dx.doi.org/10.1123/jcsp.2014-0045 © 2014 Human Kinetics, Inc. Mark H. Anshel is with the Department of Health and Human Performance and Thomas M. Brinthaupt is with the Department of Psychology at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, TN. Address author correspondence to Mark Anshel at Mark.Anshel@mtsu.edu. Best Practices for the Use of Inventories in Sport Psychology Consulting Mark H. Anshel and Thomas M. Brinthaupt Middle Tennessee State University Psychological inventories are ubiquitous and necessary in sport psychology for gathering data to address selected research questions, making clinical diagnoses, and as guidelines for providing effective interventions. However, the improper use of inventories can result in inaccurate or incomplete interpretations of data or diag- noses, thereby compromising the effectiveness of intervention efforts and limiting the contributions of sport psychology consulting. The purposes of this article are to (a) summarize the major terminology associated with the use of psychological inventories, (b) provide an overview of reliability and validity issues relevant to establishing psychometric evidence for psychological inventories, (c) review the most common errors associated with using sport psychology inventories, and (d) provide best practice guidelines for the proper use of psychological inventories in sport psychology. If researchers and practitioners follow these guidelines, they can be more conident in the results and proper use of their interventions and consultations. Keywords: Psychological inventories, testing, best practices, assessment, measurement As with any scientiic discipline, assessment is a crucial element of the theory, research, and practice of psychology (e.g., Michell, 1999). The proper identiication, deinition, and measurement of fundamental constructs is essential for scientiic progress. The process of scale or inventory development and validation is a dynamic one that often requires extensive analysis and revision of items (DeVellis, 2003). It is vital that the measures used by researchers and practitioners demonstrate accept- able psychometric properties. Failure to demonstrate these properties, most notably validity and reliability, is associated with a wide variety of problems. The primary purpose of measurement and assessment in sport psychological research and practice (consultation) is to obtain valid and reliable information about athletes’ thoughts, emotions, perceptions, intentions, observations, behavior, and performance. These outcome measures are central to explaining, describing, and predicting athletic performance. Test inventories are also used to better determine