Anxiety

Question 1

What is anxiety?

Answer 1

A state of nervousness and worry, a negative response to a threatening sporting situation

Question 2

What is competitive trait anxiety?

Answer 2

Feeling nervous before a game/race, can be genetic/innate
It is displayed before all competitions, regardless of the importance

Question 3

What is competitive state anxiety?

Answer 3

It is a temporary response to a particular moment or situation in a game

Question 4

What is an example of when competitive state anxiety can happen?

Answer 4

When taking a penalty in football

Question 5

What can happen to state anxiety during the game?

Answer 5

State anxiety can vary during the game. It might be high at the start, but reduces during the action

Question 6

What does state anxiety depend on?

Answer 6

The mood of the performer

Question 7

How can state anxiety be controlled?

Answer 7

Using a practice situation

Question 8

What is the link between trait and state anxiety?

Answer 8

An individual with high trait anxiety is more likely to experience high state anxiety when faced with a stressful situation, especially if they feel like others are watching/evaluating performance

Question 9

What are the characteristics of cognitive anxiety?

Answer 9

• Is psychological
• Irrational thinking (self doubt)
• Worrying
• Can occur before or during performance
• Experience nervousness
• Loss of concentration
• Not being able to cope
• Believe they do not have the ability to complete the task

Question 10

What is cognitive anxiety viewed as?

Answer 10

Viewed as bad - should be eliminated to ensure high levels of performance

Question 11

What is somatic anxiety?

Answer 11

The body’s response to the individual believing in their lack of ability

Question 12

What does somatic anxiety lead to?

Answer 12

• Increased heart rate
• Sweating
• Muscular tension
• Nausea

Question 13

When is somatic anxiety generally worse?

Answer 13

At the start of a game and then reduce as the game gets underway

Question 14

What is somatic anxiety viewed as?

Answer 14

Good, up to the right level

Question 15

What are the causes of anxiety?

Answer 15

• Task importance
• Fear (of losing/injury/embarrassment)
• Perceived inaccuracy of official’s decisions
• Being fouled
• Lack of self confidence
• Audience effects e.g. abusive crowd
• Evaluation apprehension

Question 16

What effect does somatic anxiety have on performance?

Answer 16

Somatic anxiety has an identical effect on performance as increased arousal does in the Inverted-U theory
Increases in somatic anxiety can improve performance up to a point, after which further increases will impair performance

Question 17

What effect does cognitive anxiety have on performance?

Answer 17

Cognitive anxiety has a negative linear effect
Therefore, the greater the cognitive anxiety, the worse the performance

Question 18

What are questionnaires?

Answer 18

Questionnaires are a series of questions used to assess the levels of anxiety experienced by a performer

Question 19

What are examples of sporting anxiety questionnaires?

Answer 19

Sport Competition Anxiety Test (SCAT) and Competitive Sate Anxiety Inventory (CSAI)

Question 20

What are the advantages of questionnaires?

Answer 20

• Quick, cheap and efficient
• Large numbers can be assessed
• Large amounts of information can be gathered in a short period of time
• Results can be compared easily
• Identifies weaknesses in dealing with stress and anxiety in participants

Question 21

What are the disadvantages of questionnaires?

Answer 21

• Participants may not understand the question being asked
• They may not answer truthfully as they put down what they think they ought to (socially desirable answer given)
• Answers could depend on the mood of the participant
• Responses can be influenced by the time it takes to answer all the questions

Question 22

What is the Sports Competition Anxiety Test (SCAT)?

Answer 22

Consists of a series of 15 statements designed to measure how a player responds to competitive sporting situations
- the test can distinguish between somatic and cognitive anxieties
- Should be completed an hour prior to the event
- Test also includes a measure of confidence levels, so test is split into three parts

The higher the score, the higher your competitive anxiety

Question 23

What are observations?

Answer 23

Observations involve watching a performer during competition to assess signs of anxiety evident in their performance

Question 24

What are the advantages of observations?

Answer 24

• Offers a real-life method - observing the performer whilst training/competing allowing the coach to assess anxiety in the most relevant environment
• Better validity of results - if the coach knows the players and their behaviours

Question 25

What are the disadvantages of observations?

Answer 25

• Very subjective - each observer will perceive situations differently
• Time consuming
• May need more than one observer to complete
• Observers will need to be aware of the performer’s ‘normal’ anxiety levels so that they can see any changes, if any
• Performers can change their behaviour if they know they are being observed
• Performers could feel more uneasy/anxious knowing they are being watched - leading to invalid resultx