Arousal Regulation and Arousal, Stress and Anxiety

Question 1

Arousal

Answer 1

A blend of physiological and psychological activation, varying in intensity along a continuum

Question 2

Anxiety

Answer 2

A negative emotional state with feelings of worry, nervousness, and apprehension associated with activation or arousal of the body.

Question 3

Relationship Between Trait and State Anxiety

Answer 3

State anxiety refers to “right now” feelings that change from moment to moment.

Trait anxiety is a personality disposition that is stable over time.

High- versus low-trait anxious people usually have more state anxiety in highly evaluative situations.

Question 4

Measuring Arousal and Anxiety

Answer 4

Psychological signs (heart rate, respiration,
skin conductance, biochemistry)
Global and multidimensional self report scales (CSAI-2, SCAT, SAS)

Question 5

Trait Anxiety Inventories

Answer 5

Spielberger’s Trait Anxiety Inventory (TAI)

Sport Competition Anxiety Test (SCAT)

Cognitive Somatic Anxiety Questionnaire (CSAQ)

Sport Anxiety Scale (SAS)

Question 6

State Anxiety Inventories

Answer 6

Speilberger’s State Anxiety Inventory (SAI)

Competitive State Anxiety Inventory - 2
(CSAI-2)

Revised Competitive State Anxiety Inventory – 2 (CSAI-2R)

Activation-Deactivation Checklist (AD-ACL)

Question 7

Short Competitive State Anxiety Inventories

Answer 7

Mental Readiness Form (MRF)

Anxiety Rating Scale (ARS)

Immediate Anxiety Measurement Scale

The Sport Grid

Question 8

Types of Anxiety

Answer 8

Cognitive anxiety: Worry and apprehension

Somatic anxiety: Butterflies, feeling sick

Behavioural anxiety: Biting finger nails, rapid talking

Question 9

Differentiating between Emotions and Mood

Answer 9

Lazarus (2000) identified 15 different

emotions, anxiety is one of them.

Question 10

Emotions

Answer 10

Sudden reactions to a situation that last only for seconds, minutes or hours.

Question 11

Moods

Answer 11

More diffuse and may last for days, weeks or months.

Question 12

Affect

Answer 12

A general term used to refer to emotions and moods.

Question 13

Stress

Answer 13

A substantial imbalance between physical and psychological demands placed on an individual and his or her response capability
under conditions in which failure to meet demands has important consequences.

Question 14

Stress process

Answer 14

Implications of the stress process for practice (intervene at any of the stress process stages).

Question 15

Sources of Stress and Anxiety

Answer 15

Situational sources
◦ Event importance
◦ Uncertainty

Personal sources
◦ Trait anxiety
◦ Self-esteem
◦ Social physique anxiety

Question 16

Predictions of Drive Theory

Answer 16

On well-learned skills, an individual’s arousal or state of anxiety increases; so does performance

Question 17

Inverted “U” Hypothesis

Answer 17

Suggests that optimal performance occurs at an intermediate level of arousal while both low and high levels of arousal will result in impaired performance

Question 18

Individualised Zone of Optimal Functioning

Answer 18

The individual zones of optimal functioning (IZOF) model is a sport-specific framework that describes the relationship between emotional experiences and relative success in sporting tasks on the basis of individual rather than group-based patterns.

Question 19

Multidimensional Anxiety Theory

Answer 19

Cognitive anxiety is negatively related to performance.

Somatic anxiety is related to performance in an inverted-U pattern.

There is little support for its predictions.

Question 20

Catastrophe Theory (Hardy) – Low & High Cognitive Anxiety

Answer 20

That the polynomial curves for the increasing vs. decreasing arousal conditions would be horizontally displaced relative to each other in the high cognitive anxiety condition, but superimposed on top of one another in the low cognitive anxiety condition.

Question 21

Reversal Theory (John Kerr)

Answer 21

How arousal affects performance depends on an individual’s interpretation of his or her arousal level.

Arousal can be interpreted as pleasant (excitement) or as unpleasant (anxiety).
Arousal interpreted as pleasant facilitates performance.
Arousal interpreted as unpleasant hurts performance.

Bottom line: This view is interesting, but it is too early to draw firm conclusions.

Question 22

Anxiety Direction and Intensity

Answer 22

An individual’s interpretation of anxiety symptoms is important for understanding the anxiety–performance relationship.

Question 23

Viewing anxiety as facilitative leads to:

Answer 23

Superior performance.

Question 24

State anxiety is perceived as?

Answer 24

Facilitative or debilitative depending on

how much control the person perceives

Question 25

Why Arousal Influences Performance?

Answer 25

Changes in attention, concentration, and visual search: ◦ Performance worries and situation irrelevant thoughts ◦ Visual cues are differently identified and processed when performers are anxious Increased muscle tension, fatigue, and coordination difficulties Changes in attention, concentration, and visual search: ◦ Narrowing of attention ◦ Shift to dominant style ◦ Attending to inappropriate cues

Question 26

Implications for Practice

Answer 26

1. Identify optimal combinations of arousal-related emotions for best performance. 2. Recognise how personal and situational factors interact to influence arousal, anxiety, and performance. 3. Recognise signs of arousal and state anxiety. 4. Tailor coaching strategies to individuals: Sometimes arousal must be reduced, other times maintained, and other times facilitated. 5. Develop performers’ confidence and perceptions of control.

Question 27

Why Regulate Arousal?

Answer 27

Athletes who don’t effectively cope with stress may have decreases in performance as well as mental and physical distress. Athletes need to be able to regulate arousal to stay focused and in control.

Question 28

Somatic anxiety reduction: Progressive relaxation

Answer 28

Learn to feel the tension in your muscles and then to let go of the tension. ACTIVITY: PMR

Question 29

Somatic anxiety reduction: Breath control

Answer 29

◦ When you are under pressure and tense, your breathing is short, shallow, and irregular. ◦ When you are calm, confident, and in control, your breathing is smooth, deep, and rhythmic. ACTIVITY: 4-4-4 Breathing

Question 30

Somatic anxiety reduction: Biofeedback

Answer 30

Becoming more aware of your autonomic nervous system and learning to control your physiological and autonomic responses by receiving physiological feedback not normally available.

Question 31

Cognitive anxiety reduction: Relaxation response

Answer 31

teaches individuals to quiet the mind, concentrate, and reduce muscle tension by applying the elements of meditation.

Question 32

Cognitive anxiety reduction: Autogenic training

Answer 32

focuses on producing two physical sensations—warmth and heaviness—to produce a relaxed state

Question 33

Cognitive anxiety reduction: Systematic desensitization

Answer 33

aims to reduce anxiety responses to stimuli by trying to have a response antagonistic to anxiety at the same time of the anxiety provoking stimuli.

Question 34

Multimodal anxiety reduction packages: Cognitive–affective stress management training (SMT)

Answer 34

teaches a person specific integrated coping responses using relaxation and cognitive components to control emotional arousal.

Question 35

Five Phases of Stress Management Training

Answer 35

1. Pretreatment phase (assess skills and deficits) 2. Treatment rationale phase 3. Skill acquisition (training in muscular relaxation, cognitive restructuring, and self-instruction) 4. Skill rehearsal 5. Posttraining evaluation

Question 36

Multimodal anxiety reduction: Stress inoculation training (SIT)

Answer 36

An individual is exposed to and learns to cope with stress (via productive thoughts, mental images, and self-statements) in increasing amounts, thereby enhancing his or her immunity to stress.

Question 37

Four steps to stress inoculation training (SIT)

Answer 37

1. Prepare for the stressor. (“It’s going to be rough; keep your cool.”) 2. Control and handle the stressor. (“Keep your cool since he’s losing his cool.”) 3. Cope with feelings of being overwhelmed. (“Keep focused; what do you have to do next?”) 4. Evaluate coping efforts. (“You handled yourself well.”)

Question 38

Hypnosis

Answer 38

Hypnosis is an altered state of consciousness that can be induced by a procedure in which a person is in an unusually relaxed state and responds to suggestions designed to alter perceptions, feelings, thoughts, and actions

Question 39

Stages of a Hypnotic Intervention

Answer 39

1. Induction phase 2. Hypnotic phase 3. Waking phase 4. Posthypnotic phase

Question 40

The Matching Hypothesis

Answer 40

An anxiety management technique should be matched to a particular problem. Note: Some crossover effects occur (e.g., somatic anxiety relaxation techniques produce cognitive anxiety relaxation as well). Follow predictions of matching hypothesis. ◦ Cognitive anxiety should be treated with mental relaxation. ◦ Somatic anxiety should be treated with physical relaxation. ◦ If you are not sure what type of anxiety is most problematic, however, use a multimodal technique.

Question 41

The Matching Hypothesis and Social Support

Answer 41

To produce maximum anxiety reduction, the specific types of social support (e.g., informational, emotional) should be matched to the specific anxiety problem (e.g., competitive pressure, technical problems) experienced

Question 42

What Is Coping?

Answer 42

Coping is a process of constantly changing cognitive and behavioral efforts to manage specific external or internal demands or conflicts appraised as taxing or exceeding one’s resources (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984).

Question 43

Problem-focused coping

Answer 43

Efforts to alter or manage the problems that are causing stress (e.g., time management, problem solving)

Question 44

Emotion-focused coping

Answer 44

Regulating the emotional responses to the | problem that causes the stress (e.g., through relaxation, meditation)

Question 45

Seeking social support coping

Answer 45

Occurs when one turns to others for assistance and emotional support in times of stress

Question 46

Major problem-focused categories

Answer 46

``` ◦ Information gathering ◦ Precompetition and competition plans ◦ Goal setting ◦ Time management skills ◦ Problem solving ◦ Increasing effort ◦ Self-talk ◦ Adhering to injury rehabilitation program ```

Question 47

Major emotion-focused categories

Answer 47

◦ Meditation ◦ Relaxation ◦ Wishful thinking ◦ Self-blame, mental and behavioral withdrawal ◦ Cognitive efforts to change the meaning (but not the actual problem or environment) of the situation

Question 48

Coping with Adversity

Answer 48

Use problem-focused coping when stressful situations can be changed; use emotion focused coping when situations are not amenable to change.

Question 49

Understanding Resilience

Answer 49

``` Resilience is the ability to use personal qualities to withstand pressure and stress and use psychological strategies that maintain functioning and can lead to striving under pressure (Fletcher & Sarkar, 2016). ```

Question 50

To Develop Resilience

Answer 50

You need: • Facilitative environment • Personal qualities • Challenge appraisal

Question 51

Sport Team Resilient Characteristics

Answer 51

Group structure: positive group norms and values, clearly defining communication channels Mastery approaches: effective behavioral responses, effectively managing change Social capital: social support, strong group identity Collective efficacy: group cohesion, positive communications after failure

Question 52

Self-statement modification

Answer 52

Change negative to positive statements.

Question 53

Imagery

Answer 53

Cope with negative emotions or use positive emotions.

Question 54

Corrective experiences

Answer 54

Athlete makes a conscious decision to engage in the behavior that is of concern, which can reduce anxiety and correct past mistakes.

Question 55

Vicarious learning

Answer 55

Modeling appropriate behaviours makes it more likely that behavior will be produced.

Question 56

Self-analysis

Answer 56

Monitor emotions in sport and thus increase self-awareness.

Question 57

Goal setting

Answer 57

Focus on achieving a specific outcome.

Question 58

Storytelling, metaphors, and poetry

Answer 58

Literary techniques encourage athletes to consider alternative ways of viewing and dealing with the situation (e.g., quotes or stories from sport stars).

Question 59

Reframing

Answer 59

Perspective taking involves viewing an important competition as just another game.

Question 60

On-Site Relaxation Tips

Answer 60

* Smile when you feel tension coming on. * Have fun—enjoy the situation. * Set up stressful situations in practice. * Slow down; take your time. * Stay focused on the present. * Come prepared with a good game plan.

Question 61

World-Class Coaches’ Coping Strategies

Answer 61

Structuring and planning: Plan ahead; communicate with athletes, coaches, and sometimes parents; and manage time effectively. Psychological skills: Put things into perspective, use positive self-talk, and control the controllables. Support: Surround yourself with supportive people, seek advice from other coaches and people you trust, and spend time with friends and family. Distraction: Take time off to do other things you enjoy, and exercise.

Question 62

Arousal-Reducing Techniques

Answer 62

* Pre-performance routines * Quiet-eye training * Relaxation Techniques * PMR * Use music * Replace negative thoughts * Breathe * Use Imagery

Question 63

Signs of Underarousal

Answer 63

* Moving slowly, not getting set * Mind wandering, being easily distracted * Lack of concern about how one will perform * Lack of anticipation or enthusiasm * Heavy feeling in legs, no bounce