Volume 29, Issue 9 (12-2022)
RJMS 2022, 29(9): 410-417 |
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Research code: 01
Ethics code: 01
Clinical trials code: 01
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Hosseini S M, Gharayagh Zandi H, Gahvare R. Anxiety Responses of Athletes in a Week Leading Up to the Competition: Elite and Amateur Athletes. RJMS 2022; 29 (9) :410-417
URL: http://rjms.iums.ac.ir/article-1-8992-en.html
URL: http://rjms.iums.ac.ir/article-1-8992-en.html
Assistant Professor faculty of physical education and sport science, university of Tehran , ghzandi110@ut.ac.ir
Abstract: (628 Views)
| Background & Aims: Today, due to the spread of anxiety-provoking factors and the reduction of human ability to cope with them, anxiety has become a complex and large phenomenon, as it is influenced by multiple factors. Researchers have described anxiety as a negative emotional state that is accompanied by restlessness, worry, worry, and physical activation or arousal. Research in the field of anxiety usually distinguishes between state and trait components. Trait anxiety is a part of personality, talent, or accumulated behavioral tendency that affects behavior. Trait anxiety prepares an individual for situations that are not objectively dangerous in psychological or physical aspects, but the individual assumes them as threatening. On the other hand, state anxiety is a temporary and variable emotional state that arises from the conscious perception of the individual's worry and tension and is related to the activity of the autonomic nervous system. Many studies have been conducted to investigate the potential effect of anxiety symptoms on athletic performance. In these studies, any changes in the perceptual symptoms of anxiety before a competitive event are defined as temporal patterns that may significantly impact athletic performance. In this regard, temporal patterns of anxiety were studied in university athletes, and the athletes' anxiety was measured 24 hours, 2 hours, and 1 hour before the competition. The results of this study showed that the severity of cognitive anxiety remained stable before the competition, while the level of physical anxiety increased significantly from 24 hours to 1 hour before the competition. It has also been stated in studies that physical anxiety is proportional to the level of cortisol before the start of the competition and that good performance is associated with low testosterone or cortisol levels. This study aimed to investigate the anxiety responses of athletes in the week leading up to the competition in elite and novice athletes. Methods: 42 athletes in this study participated in two elite and novice groups. The Black Competitive State Anxiety Questionnaire was used in this study. Athletes were assessed in 7 stages. Descriptive statistics were used to calculate central and dispersion indices and draw tables and graphs. Also, the normality of the data was checked using the Shapiro-Wilk test. In addition, the homogeneity of variances was calculated using the Levine test. Given the normality of the data distribution in the research variables and the homogeneity of variances, the analysis of variance with repeated measures test was used for intragroup comparison. In addition, the multivariate analysis of variance test was used for intergroup comparison. The significance level in this study was 0.05 and statistical operations were performed using SPSS version 18 software . Results: Elite athletes had a consistent trend in competitive anxiety and self-confidence. On the other hand, novice athletes had higher competitive anxiety and their self-confidence decreased as the time approached the competition. First, the equality of covariances of the dependent variables was examined through the Muehli-Courvette test. Given that the significance level of the calculated Muehli-Courvette sphericity value was greater than 0.05 in the intermediate and elite groups, the significance level in the sphericity assumption section was used to interpret the data. Table 2 shows the results of the intragroup analysis of scores for cognitive, physical anxiety, and self-confidence. Table 2 shows that there is no significant difference in the physical anxiety index, physical anxiety, and self-confidence in the 7-stage test stages in the elite group (p<0.05). On the other hand, a significant difference was observed in the novice group (p<0.05). The Bonferroni post hoc test was used to examine the position of the differences. The results of this part of the analysis are shown in Figure 1. Conclusion: Competition leads to fear of failure and ultimately increases anxiety and physiological responses such as increased heart rate and arousal. This finding can also be explained by the theory of competitive anxiety. According to the researchers, elite athletes consider anxiety a facilitating state for their skills. This state causes athletes to control their arousal and be in the optimal performance zone. On the other hand, novice athletes consider anxiety a debilitating state, which causes the level of arousal of athletes to go beyond the optimal level, forming a negative cycle. This high level of arousal causes a lack of proper cognitive control, reduced coordination, and interference in the athletes' thought processes. The next finding of this study showed that elite athletes have higher levels of self-confidence than non-elite athletes before the competition and their self-confidence is almost constant, but elite athletes become less confident as time goes on towards the competition and in general, this level decreases. Having self-confidence helps to promote positive thoughts and self-efficacy in competition and since competitive anxiety is negatively related to sports self-confidence, it increases the performance of athletes, which in turn can cause athletes to orient themselves towards the facilitating state. Also, studies show that self-confidence helps elite athletes to have a positive perception of their performance and maintain emotional balance and personal satisfaction. Reduced self-confidence in novice athletes can also cause athletes to evaluate the challenge above their skills and fail under pressure, which ultimately causes a decrease in performance for them. It is suggested that sports psychologists pay more attention to the temporal patterns of competitive anxiety and self-confidence before implementing psychological interventions. |
Type of Study: Research |
Subject:
Clinical Psychiatry
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