Effect Of Multi-modal Imagery Intervention On Pre-competitive Anxiety And Stress Levels In Elite Tennis Players

Abstract

PURPOSE: Effect of multi-modal imagery on anxiety and perceived stress levels in tennis players. METHODS: The quasi-experimental design included pre- and post-treatment test subjects and a control group. Male tennis players (n=49) ranging in age from 16 to 18 years old (M=16.96, SD= 0.82) were divided into two groups: (1) a treatment multi-modal imagery group and (2) a placebo imagery group used as the control group. The 27-item Competitive State Anxiety Inventory (CSAI-2) was used to assess anxiety and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS10) to assess stress. The treatment involved a multi-modal (relaxation, imagery and behavior modeling video) intervention conducted three times per week for 25 minutes after ordinary technical and physical practice for a period of 9 weeks between tournaments. A 2×2 multifactor analysis of variance (MANOVA; pre- and post-treatment, control and experimental groups) was used to analyze the main effect among variables at a significance level of p<.05. RESULTS: Multifactor analysis of variance testing of perceived stress and anxiety subscales showed a main effect for control vs. experimental, Wilks' l = 1.63, F(4, 91) = 37.051, p <.01, pre- vs. post-treatment, Wilks' l = 1.26, F(4, 91) = 28.65, p <.01, and interaction between control vs. experimental and pre- vs. post-treatment groups Wilks' l = 1.44, F(4, 91) = 32.68, p <.01. Univariate analysis revealed a significant main effect for perceived stress, cognitive anxiety and self-confidence at p <.05. There was no significant effect for somatic. ANOVA also revealed significant interaction effects for perceived stress F(1, 94) = 6.87, p <.05, cognitive anxiety F(1, 94) = 4.42, p <.05, and self-confidence F(1, 94) = 5.07, p <.05. However, the interaction was not significant for somatic anxiety F(1, 94) = 0.78, p >.05. CONCLUSIONS: The results for stress and two anxiety subscales (cognitive anxiety and self-confidence) indicate that multi-modal imagery intervention represents a useful tool to build self-confidence and to lower cognitive anxiety and perceived stress levels in tennis players. These findings are in accordance with previous studies in the area of physiotherapy and medicine that concluded that imagery is an efficient psychological intervention to control anxiety and stress in many disturbing situations.