sports 1

• Is anxiety always a bad thing?
• What does anxiety feel like?
• What are the symptoms of an anxiety disorder?
• Does everyone feel anxiety?
• Optimising arousal, controlling anxiety and measuring anxiety in sport
• Stress, Anxiety & Arousal
• Anxiety


  High arousal and worrying (always negative)
• Stress

  A mismatch between the demands of the situation and the ability to cope (can be both positive or negative)
• Drive theory suggests that the arousal-performance relationship is linear
• At elite level, the difference between winners and losers in sports is down to their ability to cope with arousal and anxiety
• Arousal


  General levels of physical and psychological activation; it prepares us for the flight or fight response
• Experts can produce a well-learned skill accurately even when arousal is high
• Novices' dominant response is less accurate when arousal is high
• Even elite performers make mistakes under pressure
• The Inverted-U Hypothesis argues that a gradual increase in arousal levels leads to a gradual increase in performance up to an optimal point
• After reaching the optimal point, further arousal leads to a decline in performance
• The Yerkes–Dodson law suggests that arousal improves performance up to a point, beyond which performance decreases
• Easy tasks are best performed when arousal is high, and complex tasks are best performed when arousal is low
• Catastrophe theory suggests that performance can drop off drastically after a certain point of arousal
• Catastrophe theory (Hardy 1987) predicts that stress (physiological arousal) and cognitive anxiety will influence performance
• Types of anxiety

  • Trait anxiety
  • State anxiety
• When cognitive anxiety is moderate or high

  The inverted U hypothesis does not adequately explain the arousal-performance link, leading to a drop-off in performance
• Cognitive anxiety


  The mental component characterised by negative expectations of success and negative self-evaluation
• Cognitive anxiety


  The splitting factor that determines whether the effect of physiological arousal is small and gradual (inverted U hypothesis) or large and dramatic (catastrophic)
• Trait anxiety

  When someone is predisposed to perceive certain situations as threatening and responds with varying levels of state anxiety
• Athletes and coaches should be aware of different types of anxiety and how to manage it
• State anxiety

  An emotional state characterised by tension and apprehension
• When cognitive anxiety is low

  The inverted U hypothesis comes into play
• Catastrophe theory (Hardy 1987): 'Think of a personal example where increased arousal/stress initially improved performance but then dropped off drastically'
• Somatic anxiety


  The physiological response stemming from arousal, e.g., sweaty palms and dry mouth
• CSAI-2

  • Competitive State Anxiety Inventory
• Factors affecting performance

  • Anxiety
  • Trait
  • State
  • Somatic
  • Cognitive
• Anxiety and arousal


  Are closely linked, leading to the anxiety/stress spiral
• Measuring Anxiety

  1. Using self-report psychometric testing

  2. Sport psychologists developed SCAT and CSAI-2 scales to measure anxiety
• SCAT

  • Sport Competition Anxiety Test to assess competitive trait anxiety as a predictor of sporting performance
• Scoring SCAT involves crossing out specific items and assigning scores based on responses to the remaining items
• SCAT self-report consists of 15 items that respondents answer about themselves
• Total score interpretation: less than 17 means low trait anxiety, more than 24 means high trait anxiety
• CSAI-2 contains 27 items: 9 measure somatic state anxiety, 9 measure cognitive state anxiety, 9 measures of self-confidence
• Competitive State Anxiety Inventory (CSAI-2)

  • A multi-dimensional model of sports state anxiety where: Somatic anxiety has an inverted U-shaped relationship with performance. Self-confidence has a positive linear relationship with performance. Cognitive state anxiety has a negative linear relationship with performance. This model led to the creation of CSAI-2