Abstract
The present study compared emotional intelligence and anxiety between six combat sports of lower, intermediate and high-level female and male athletes. The sample was composed by 444 athletes (age: 24.7 ± 8.8 years, body mass: 72.4 ± 12.1 kg, height: 1.82 ± 0.3 m, and practice time: 13.1 ± 7.4 years) separated by sex (male n = 273, female n = 171) from different combat sports (jiu-jitsu n = 142, judo n = 137, karate n = 57, kendo n = 63, taekwondo n = 25, and freestyle wrestling n = 20) of three levels (high-level n = 57, intermediate n = 137 and low-level n = 142). Inventory of situations and anxiety response (ISRA) provided an independent evaluation for the three systems: cognitive, motor and physiological, as well as a total with four factors of analysis (anxiety before the evaluation, interpersonal, phobic and before habitual, and daily situations). Trait Meta-Mood Scale (TMMS-24) verified emotional intelligence scales. Descriptive results are demonstrated by percentage or median (first quartile Q1; third quartile Q3), Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests were conducted to compare groups, p ≤ 0.05. The main results demonstrated 10% more total anxiety for wrestling and judo compared to the other groups (p ≤ 0.05). Female athletes showed 15% more anxiety than men, while emotional attention demonstrated 10% better results for women. Significant differences were observed between high- versus low-level athletes in the total anxiety with 85 (44; 143) versus 122 (69; 186) of ISRA index and emotional repair with 30 (25; 34) versus 27 (22; 32) of TMMS-24 index. Emotional intelligence seems to be higher in female and in higher level, while anxiety appears to be prevalent in judo and wrestling, low-level and in female athletes. These outcomes provide support for the hypothesis that emotional abilities are an important contributor to emotional intelligence, particularly differentiating high level athletes than other levels. Results can be incorporated into strategies for reducing anxiety and improving emotional intelligence, considering particularities of gender and level groups.
Highlights
Anxiety is a sensation of uneasiness and worry, typically generalized and unfocused as an overreaction to a condition that is only subjectively seen as intimidating (Brandt et al, 2018; Tahtinen and Kristjansdottir, 2018)
Comparisons of mood states, using the Brunel Mood Scale (BRUMS), associated with outcomes achieved by female and male athletes in high-level judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) championships demonstrated that female judo athletes had higher depression and vigor index than BJJ athletes (Brandt et al, 2019), while the logistic regression revealed that higher levels of anger and tension increased athletes’ chances of performing well in a match by 23% and 13%, respectively (Brandt et al, 2019)
In the present article we focused on this latter approach in combat sports, using a brief description of the Trait Meta-Mood Scale (TMMS)-24, its three dimensions (Attention, Clarity, and Repair)
Summary
Anxiety is a sensation of uneasiness and worry, typically generalized and unfocused as an overreaction to a condition that is only subjectively seen as intimidating (Brandt et al, 2018; Tahtinen and Kristjansdottir, 2018) This feeling has been an essential concept for sports psychology and has demanded intensive investigation in combat sports for its effects on championship performance in karate (Friesen et al, 2018), judo (Matsumoto et al, 2000; Interdonato et al, 2013), kendo (Usui et al, 2018), jiu-jitsu (Andreato et al, 2014), taekwondo (Maloney et al, 2018), and wrestling (Bawa, 2010). Authors observed a significant relationship between mood state and sports performance (Brandt et al, 2019)
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