Sport Anxiety Research Articles

Compratative Stady on Pre-Competition Anxiety between National and State Level Women Athletes

The purpose of the study was to find out pre-competition anxiety between national and state level women athletes. Due to the fact that during competition athletes' mental state greatly affects their stamina explosion, which finally influence the result of final competition. Anxiety in sports is considered as an important issue for many athletes. It refers to a sort of nervous and fear emotion formed by frustration of self-esteem and self- confidence, or increasing of the sense of failure and guilty, which is resulted by the threat from being unable to achieve goals or to overcome obstacles at the right time. For the purpose of the study the subjects were selected randomly from 63 rd State Athletic Championships of West Bengal to measure the pre-competition anxiety by a questionnaire Sport Competition Anxiety Test (SCAT) developed by Rainer Marten. 25 national level and 25 state level women athletes selected randomly from the said Athletic Championships. To find out pre-competition anxiety between national level and state level women athletes 't' test was applied. The result showed that there was significant difference on pre-competition anxiety between national level and state level women athletes. The national level women athletes had less pre-competition anxiety than the state level women athletes.

On the possibility of applying achievement goal theory in competitive sports

PurposeThere exist numerous empirical proofs as well as theoretical bases showing that task motivational orientation and task climate allow students and athletes to function better and be more efficient. What is not certain is whether the same applies to athletes competing at the professional level. The aim of this study was to analyze whether task orientation and task-oriented climate help professional athletes avoid experiencing high levels of anxiety, thereby providing a favorable foundation for performance in high-level competition.MethodsBasketball players from the Polish II League (amateur) and Extraleague (professional) were surveyed. Motivational orientation, motivational climate, and anxiety levels were measured by the Perception of Success Questionnaire (POSQ), Perception of Significant Others’ Sport Success Criteria Questionnaire (PSOSSCQ), and Sport Anxiety Scale (SAS), respectively.ResultsThe reliability of the research tools on a Polish population was confirmed. Motivational climate was associated with motivational orientation; task orientation and a task-oriented climate were found to not reduce anxiety levels.ConclusionsThe results do not confirm the application of achievement goal theory in high-level competitive sports.

Anxiété et performance : de la théorie à la pratique

Performance anxiety in sports, sometimes referred to as “choking”, is described as a decrease in athletic performance due to too much perceived stress. Perceived stress often increases in athletes on game day because 1) they have an audience and 2) they have extremely high expectations of their success. This type of stress is often based upon the way the athletes interpret the situation. It is rarely the external situation that causes stress, but rather the way the athlete's self talk describes the situation that creates feelings of stress, anxiety and fear. For athletes who choke during competition it is important to understand that the thoughts they have regarding the event can be modified, adjusted or controlled with appropriate sports psychology and mental practice. An athlete should first determine if thoughts of doubt, failure or a lack of confidence are due to a perceived lack of ability. If so, the self talk will generally lead to continued feelings of anxiety, nervousness, and tension. Athlete needs to realize that it is tough to do his best in a sport when his own internal voice is telling him otherwise. To overcome performance anxiety, traditional coaches and trainers may try to help the athlete understand why those thoughts and feelings develop and then try to change or modify that process with limited amounts of success. Why such thoughts arise may be of interest, but knowing the answer is not always necessary to overcome them.

The effects of relaxing music for anxiety control on competitive sport anxiety

This investigation examined the effects of relaxing music for anxiety control on measures of competitive state anxiety and the performance of a simple motor skill. Seventy-two undergraduate students volunteered to participate in the study. Participants were informed that they would be required to partake in a sport competition, possibly with an audience present, and possibly whilst being filmed. Participants were randomly allocated to one of three intervention conditions, listening to relaxing music for anxiety control, listening to non-relaxing music or a no music control. During the 10-minute intervention period, measures of anxiety (CSAI-2R, subjective relaxation and HR) were taken on three occasions (baseline, pre-intervention and post-intervention). Repeated measures MANOVA showed that all three interventions provoked significant reductions in competitive state anxiety. Condition had no impact upon any of the DVs. These results suggest that listening to relaxing music for anxiety control was no more effective at reducing competitive state anxiety than non-relaxing music or a period of silence. ES, mean difference and 90% CI data did however provide some support for the application of relaxing music for anxiety control. There were no between-condition differences in motor task performance.

Extreme sports are good for your health: A phenomenological understanding of fear and anxiety in extreme sport

Extreme sports are traditionally explored from a risk-taking perspective which often assumes that participants do not experience fear. In this article we explore participants' experience of fear associated with participation in extreme sports. An interpretive phenomenological method was used with 15 participants. Four themes emerged: experience of fear, relationship to fear, management of fear, and fear and self-transformation. Participants' experience of extreme sports was revealed in terms of intense fear but this fear was integrated and experienced as a potentially meaningful and constructive event in their lives. The findings have implications for understanding fear as a potentially transformative process.

Quiet-eye training, perceived control and performing under pressure

ObjectivesWhile previous studies have explored how quiet-eye (QE) training optimizes objective (visual attention) control in aiming tasks, this study examined whether QE training influences perceived (psychological) control and how changes in control beliefs correspond to changes in anxiety, visual attention and performance under pressure. MethodsTwo groups of ten experienced soccer penalty takers followed either a QE training program or a practice program where penalty kicks were practiced with no instruction. Measurements of anxiety, gaze, performance and perceived control were recorded over baseline, retention and a competitive, ‘shoot-out’ transfer condition. ResultsNot only did the QE training optimize aiming behavior and performance, but these changes in visual attention were mirrored in changes in control beliefs. QE participants significantly reduced their perceptions of outcome uncertainty (contingency) and increased their perceptions of shooting ability (competence) and ability to score and cope with the pressure (control), compared to practice participants. Furthermore, there was an overall and significant relationship between high perceptions of control beliefs and aiming behavior. Specifically, those participants with high control beliefs were more likely to aim optimally and further from the goalkeeper, whereas participants with low control beliefs experienced suboptimal and more centralized aiming behavior. ConclusionThese findings are the first to highlight the relationship between control beliefs, anxiety and attentional control in sport and offer further explanations regarding the benefits of QE training for performance under pressure.

The relationship between multidimensional competitive anxiety, cognitive threat appraisal, and coping strategies: A multi-sport study

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between, multidimensional competitive trait anxiety (cognitive and somatic anxiety), trait cognitive threat appraisal, and coping styles. Five-hundred and fifty male and female athletes of several individual and team sports, between the ages of 15 and 35 (M = 19.8 ± 4.5), completed the translated and adapted versions of the Sport Anxiety Scale and of the Brief COPE, as well as the Cognitive Appraisal Scale in Sport Competition – Threat Perception. Pearson and Canonical correlations showed that higher levels of trait cognitive anxiety and threat appraisal were positively related to emotion-focused and avoidance coping and inversely related to problem-focused coping. Results are discussed in terms of the importance of individual differences in trait anxiety and threat appraisals, regarding athletes' coping styles.

Development and Validation of the French Achievement Goals Questionnaire for Sport and Exercise (FAGQSE)

Recently, Elliot and Murayama (2008 ) pointed out a number of theoretical and methodological shortcomings among the instruments assumed to measure achievement goals. This research aimed to develop and validate a French Achievement Goals Questionnaire for Sport and Exercise (FAGQSE). In a first study, factor analyses conducted on a 20-item preliminary version supported the existence of four factors corresponding to the four types of goals of Elliot and McGregor’s (2001 ) framework (mastery-approach, performance-approach, mastery-avoidance, and performance-avoidance). A second study examined a more parsimonious 12-item version of the FAGQSE, which was found to be valid among samples of athletes, exercisers, and physical education students. The temporal stability of the questionnaire was evidenced by a satisfactory test-retest over a 1-month period, and its theoretical validity was supported by correlations between achievement goals and entity/incremental theories of sports ability, perceived sports competence, and sports anxiety. The FAGQSE is a valid and reliable French instrument for achievement goal motivation. This instrument can be used for theoretical and applied purposes in various sports and exercise settings.

Effects of Psychological Interventions on Regulating Pre-Competition Mood States in Malaysian Volleyball Players

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in English; abstract also in Chinese.
 The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of three psychological intervention strategies in regulating the pre-competition mood states among volleyball players with matching hypothesis. The Brunel Mood Scale (BRUMS) was employed to examine the pre-competition mood states patterning of its six sub-scales during the time leading up to competition. Participants were the youth state volleyball players (N=96; boys = 48, girls = 48; Age: M=16.35 yr., SD = .89 yr.) competing in the Under 18 National School Sport Council of Malaysia Volleyball Tournament 2008. The Competitive Sport Anxiety Inventory-2 Revised (CSAI-2R) was employed to collect the baseline data two months prior to the official competition during the first meeting. The group with the highest group mean scores in cognitive anxiety component was assigned to a cognitive intervention group (n = 24) in which participants underwent breathing technique & autogenic relaxation with music lasting for 30 minutes per session; the group with the highest group mean scores in somatic anxiety component (n=24) completed the somatic intervention with progressive muscular relaxation lasting for 30 minutes; the selfconfidence intervention group which rated the lowest mean group scores in self-confidence component carried out the intervention with positive self-talk and goal setting exercises lasting 30 minutes; and a control group (n = 24). Results of this study revealed that the cognitive intervention was the most effective intervention followed by the somatic intervention in regulating the bad mood states and facilitating the good mood states prior to competition. Similarly, the self-confidence intervention was able to facilitate the vigour sub-scale prior to competition.
 本研究的目的是探討三項心理調節策略的成效，對排球運動員賽前情緒狀態調節之間的匹配假說。在即將面對激烈的競賽期間採用布魯內爾情緒量表(BRUMS)，以觀察賽前情緒狀態模式的六個因素。參與者是參加18歲以下全國學校體育委員會2008年馬來西亞排球錦標賽的各州少年排球運動員(N = 96；男生 = 48，女生= 48；年齡：M = 16.35歲，SD = .89歲。)。在正式比賽前兩個月的第一次會議中，採用競賽狀態焦慮量表第二修訂版(CSAI-2R)收集了基線資料。在認知焦慮部分獲平均得分最高的組別， 其參與者被分配到認知調節組 (n = 24)，在每節30分鐘的音樂播放下經歷呼吸技巧和自生放鬆; 在軀體焦慮部分獲平均得分最高的組別(n = 24)以持續30分鐘的漸進性肌肉放鬆完成了軀體調節；在自信心部分平均數排名最低的自信心調節組，則開展了持續30分鐘以積極的自我對話和目標設置練習作調節; 對照組 (n = 24)。本研究結果顯示，認知調節能於比賽前最有效地介入調節不良情緒狀態和促進良好的情緒狀態，其次是軀體調節。同樣，自信心調節能夠在比賽前促進活力因素。

Phenomenology and Sports Psychology: Back To The Things Themselves!

It is argued that the increasing interest in the use of phenomenological methods in sport psychology could help rescue research in this area from its current obsession with measurement and prediction. Phenomenology proceeds from a very different set of philosophical assumptions from the natural science approach that underlies most research and practice in sport psychology. Phenomenology insists that psychology should focus on meaning and investigate the essence of human experience. The concept of anxiety occupies a central position within phenomenological perspectives in psychology. This paper examines the experience of anxiety in sport by drawing on applied sport psychology work undertaken with professional footballers in the English Premier League (EPL). The phenomenology of anxiety is considered by distinguishing between May's psychological account and Heidegger's philosophical perspective. Anxiety is viewed positively by both philosophical and psychological phenomenology due to its links to the idea of authenticity. This is discussed in depth in the paper and consideration will be given to how this connects to important sources of meaning and identity in sport, such as spirituality and religious belief.

Relationship Between Collegiate Athletes’ Psychological Characteristics and Their Preferences for Different Types of Coaching Behavior

This study was based on Chelladurai’s (1978, 2001, 2007) Multidimensional Model of Leadership and was designed to determine whether athletes’ preferred coaching behavior would vary as a function of their psychological characteristics. Study participants (N = 195 collegiate athletes) completed questionnaires to assess their sport anxiety (SAS), motivational orientation (SMS), as well as their preferred coaching styles (LSS) and feedback patterns (CFQ). Canonical correlation procedures revealed that athletes who were high in self-determined forms of motivation and in somatic trait anxiety preferred coaches who exhibited a democratic leadership style and who provided high amounts of training, social support, and positive and informational feedback while athletes who were high in amotivation indicated a preference for coaches who exhibited an autocratic style and who provided high amounts of punishment-oriented feedback. In addition, high cognitive sport anxiety was linked to greater preference for high frequencies of positive and informational feedback and lower preference for punishment-oriented feedback.

Eating disordered behaviours in Portuguese athletes: The influence of personal, sport, and psychological variables

This study describes eating disordered behaviours in a sample of Portuguese elite athletes and analyses the impact of personal and sports factors on those eating disordered behaviours. Two hundred and ninety athletes (51.7% males) practicing collective (64.8%) and individual sports have been included. The evaluation protocol included the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire; the Sport Condition Questionnaire; the Sport Anxiety Scale; the Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire; the Cognitive Evaluation of Sport-Threat Perceptions and the Self-Presentation Exercise Questionnaire. Females, athletes with a higher body mass index, and those with a desire to weigh less, reported more eating disordered behaviours. No relation with sports variables was found. Finally, a higher prevalence of eating disorders behaviour was predicted by lower satisfaction in terms of body shape and physical appearance, higher anxiety and impression motivation. Personal characteristics of athletes, as well as their body satisfaction, anxiety, impression motivation and threat perception and coach comments on their weight, represent dimensions that could raise the risk for eating disorders.

Psychological predictors of sport injuries among junior soccer players

Previous researches have established models that specify psychological factors that could predict sport injuries. One example is Williams and Andersen's stress-injury model stressing factors such as anxiety, negative life stress and few coping resources. The purpose of the current study was to find psychological factors that could lead to an increased injury risk among junior soccer players, in addition to construct an empirical model of injury risk factors for soccer players. The participants were 108 male and female soccer players (m=17, 6) studying at soccer high schools in southwest Sweden. Five questionnaires were used, State Trait Anxiety Inventory, Sport Anxiety Scale, Life Events Survey for Collegiate Athletes, Athletic Coping Skills Inventory-28 and Swedish universities Scales of Personality. Injury record was collected by athletic trainers at the schools during a period of 8 months. The result suggested four significant predictors that together could explain 23% of injury occurrence. The main factors are life event stress, somatic trait anxiety, mistrust and ineffective coping. These findings partly support Williams and Andersen's stress-injury model and are organized into an empirical model. Recommendations are given to sport medicine teams and coaches concerning issues in sport injury prevention.

Comparison Relation between Mental Skills with Sport Anxiety in Sprint and Endurance Runners

The aim of this study was Comparison relation between mental skills with sport anxiety in sprint and endurance runners. Research method is descriptive. Competition anxiety questionnaire (Martinez ad et all, 1990) and Mental skills criteria (Smith, 1995) was used as measurement Instruments. 72 endurance runners and 72 sprint runners selected as sample for take a part in this research. After data collection, quantitative data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics and correlation analysis on SPSS 16.0. Research findings showed that there are significant relationship between mental skills with Somatic state anxiety, cognitive state anxiety and sport self-confidence (P<0.05). Also there are no significant differences between sprint and endurance runners in Somatic and cognitive state anxiety (P>0.05).

Relationships between competitive anxiety, social support and self-handicapping in youth sport

Relationships between competitive anxiety, social support and self-handicapping in youth sport Study aim: To assess the level of self-handicapping tendency, competitive anxiety (trait) and social support within groups of young male and female athletes, as well as to determine the relationships between those variables. Material and methods: A group of 75 athletes (46 male football players and 29 female volleyball players) from Sport Mastery School in Łódź, aged 16 - 19 years, participated in the study. Three questionnaires were administered: Anticipative Strategy of Self-Esteem Protection Scale (ASO) to measure self-handicapping tendency, Social Support Scale (SWS) and Reactions to Competition (RnW), in order to measure the competition-related anxiety (trait). Results: Female athletes attained significantly higher scores in ASO and RnW while male players perceived their social support higher than girls. No significant correlations between self-handicapping and anxiety were found. Most of the observed relationships between self-handicapping and social support were negative, like those between anxiety and social support. Conclusions: It is advisable to work with young athletes on eliminating self-handicapping activities and replacing them with other, more efficient, ways of coping with anxiety. Social support (adequate to the athlete's needs) might be crucial in that proceeding. The hypothesis of relationship between sport competitive anxiety and self-handicapping was not confirmed, maybe due to the relatively small number of subjects.

Gender Differences in the Relationship between Competitiveness and Adjustment among Athletically Identified College Students

This study explored the relationship between gender and enjoyment of competition and various indicators of mental health and adjustment in a sample of college students who report that they highly value athletics. One hundred and thirty-seven students completed the Sports Anxiety Scale, Multi-perfectionism Scale, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Trait), Beck Depression Inventory, and Perception of Competition Scale. Results indicated that among women, enjoyment of competition was associated with decreased levels of athletic anxiety and a positive correlation between positive self-perception when winning and self-and socially oriented perfectionism, and between negative perception when losing and self-and socially oriented perfectionism. Among males, enjoyment of competition was related to decreased levels of general anxiety and depression, but not athletic anxiety. Furthermore, among men there was a positive correlation between enjoying competition and self-oriented perfectionism and between negative self-perception when losing and socially-oriented perfectionism. These data indicate gender differentially impacts the benefit of valuing athletics on measures of athletic anxiety and general measures of psychological well being.

The importance of sport psychology in school sport

The primary aim of this investigation was to determine whether the application of Sport Psychology in the coaching of school sport is a necessity or a luxury. The study revealed that school athletes desire further information about Sport Psychology and want the services to be more available. Teacher coaches need some form of formal training in Sport Psychology to enable them to execute their coaching task effectively. For example, they need to be aware of the psychological importance of the development of values associated with sport, the prevention of burnout in a young athlete, how to deal with aggression in sport, the effect of motivation in sport on academic performance, the fundamental cause of anxiety in sport, the fact that female athletes are likely to be relatively more comfortable with male authority figures as coaches, etcetera. The empirical research revealed that discrepancies exist between the perceptions of teacher coaches themselves, of boys and girls, of participants in different sport codes and of coaches and sport pupils in general, regarding the importance of factors affecting sport participation. Finally, the findings show that teacher coaches and their athletes/players differ significantly in their judgement of the factors contributing to motivation in sport and teacher coaches are not aware of the anxiety their young athletes experience before sports meetings. These findings can mainly be attributed to a lack of knowledge regarding the psychology of the child.Key words: Teacher coaches, perceptions of coaches and athletes, sport psychology.

Presentación de estímulos positivos como procedimiento para controlar la ansiedad en situaciones estresantes

This study was conducted to experimentally substantiate the interest of developing an intervention for reducing anxiety through the presentation of positive stimuli, assessed individually. The sample characteristics are: Seville 60 athletes (mean age 21.6 years), divided by sex and type of sport (individual or team). This study is the integration of psychophysiological profile results and the effect of the presentation of words and positive images in the competitive sports anxiety, failure to feedback. The results of analysis of variance with repeated measures are as follows: There aresignificant differences in temperature of the left hand F (3.168) = 35.330 p = 0.000, significant differences in temperature of the right hand F (3.168) = 40.750 p = 0.000, significant differences in heart rate F (3.168) = 48.378 p = 0.000, significant differences in the subjective assessment F (3.168) = 56.560 p = 0.000. In conclusion, the psychophysiological profile is a useful tool for the assessment of anxiety and in this case in sport, in turn presenting individualized positive words and images has shown a tendency to decrease the anxiety response. The results obtained show the relevance of this practice (exposure to positive stimuli) for anxiety, suggesting, thus, its usefulness in therapeutic intervention programs aimed at the control and management of this emotional response. CITE AS:Estrada Contreras, O., Pérez Córdoba, E.A. &amp; Álvarez Fernández, M.A. (2010). Presentación de estímulos positivos como procedimiento para controlar la ansiedad en situaciones estresantes. Apuntes de Psicología, 28, 225-236.

Establishing validity evidence for the Sport Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale-2 in intercollegiate sport

Objectives The purpose of the two studies presented in this paper is to establish validity evidence for the Sport Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale-2 (Sport-MPS-2: Gotwals & Dunn, 2009). Studies 1 and 2 are respectively focused on the production of structurally-related and external validity evidence. Methods In Study 1, 263 male and female intercollegiate volleyball players ( M age = 19.98 years) completed the Sport-MPS-2. In Study 2, 181 male intercollegiate ice hockey players ( M age = 22.16 years) responded to the Sport-MPS-2, the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale ( Frost, Marten, Lahart, & Rosenblate, 1990), and a modified Sport Anxiety Scale ( Smith, Smoll, & Schutz, 1990). Results Exploratory factor analysis results in Study 1 revealed supportive structurally-related validity evidence for the six factors of the Sport-MPS-2. Study 2 generated supportive external validity evidence by producing anticipated moderate to large positive correlations between conceptually analogous Sport-MPS-2 and Frost-MPS subscales (all ps < .001), using canonical correlation to demonstrate that the Sport-MPS-2 was able to represent theory-based relationships between perfectionism and competitive trait anxiety (CTA), and indicating that the Sport-MPS-2—but not the Frost-MPS—was capable of identifying an anticipated link between healthy perfectionism and CTA. Conclusions Results provide support for the continued use of the Sport-MPS-2 as a measure of multidimensional perfectionism in sport.

Pre-competitive arousal, perception of equine temperament and riding performance: do they interact?

There is a known relationship between the way athletes interpret the feelings of pre-competitive arousal and their subsequent performance. In equestrian sports, riders' interpretation of their horses' temperament may be an additional unique factor that influences the levels of riders' arousal and performance. The aims of this study were to investigate the effect of intensity and direction of arousal and self-confidence on dressage and showjumping performance, and to investigate how perception of equine temperament traits affects arousal and performance components. Twenty-two student riders (6 males and 16 females) competing on unfamiliar horses were asked to participate in the study. Prior to the competition, riders completed the Revised Competitive Sport Anxiety Inventory-2 with direction scales, and rated their horses' temperament traits using an adapted Five Factor Personality Questionnaire. Dressage performance scores were found to be positively correlated with cognitive arousal intensity (r = − 0.5, P &lt; 0.05) and self-confidence intensity (r = 0.59, P &lt; 0.05). Showjumping faults were negatively correlated with somatic arousal direction scores (r = − 0.5, P &lt; 0.05). The ‘active’ equine temperament was positively correlated with somatic arousal intensity in showjumping (r = 0.5, P &lt; 0.05) and negatively correlated with cognitive arousal direction in dressage (r = − 0.71, P &lt; 0.005). These findings suggest that riders' self-confidence and perception of their horses' temperament are important factors in the relationship between arousal and performance.