Arousal Regulation and Arousal, Stress and Anxiety Flashcards
Arousal
A blend of physiological and psychological activation, varying in intensity along a continuum
Anxiety
A negative emotional state with feelings of worry, nervousness, and apprehension associated with activation or arousal of the body.
Relationship Between Trait and State Anxiety
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.
Measuring Arousal and Anxiety
Psychological signs (heart rate, respiration, skin conductance, biochemistry) Global and multidimensional self report scales (CSAI-2, SCAT, SAS)
Trait Anxiety Inventories
Spielberger’s Trait Anxiety Inventory (TAI)
Sport Competition Anxiety Test (SCAT)
Cognitive Somatic Anxiety Questionnaire (CSAQ)
Sport Anxiety Scale (SAS)
State Anxiety Inventories
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)
Short Competitive State Anxiety Inventories
Mental Readiness Form (MRF)
Anxiety Rating Scale (ARS)
Immediate Anxiety Measurement Scale
The Sport Grid
Types of Anxiety
Cognitive anxiety: Worry and apprehension
Somatic anxiety: Butterflies, feeling sick
Behavioural anxiety: Biting finger nails, rapid talking
Differentiating between Emotions and Mood
Lazarus (2000) identified 15 different
emotions, anxiety is one of them.
Emotions
Sudden reactions to a situation that last only for seconds, minutes or hours.
Moods
More diffuse and may last for days, weeks or months.
Affect
A general term used to refer to emotions and moods.
Stress
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.
Stress process
Implications of the stress process for practice (intervene at any of the stress process stages).
Sources of Stress and Anxiety
Situational sources
◦ Event importance
◦ Uncertainty
Personal sources
◦ Trait anxiety
◦ Self-esteem
◦ Social physique anxiety
Predictions of Drive Theory
On well-learned skills, an individual’s arousal or state of anxiety increases; so does performance
Inverted “U” Hypothesis
Suggests that optimal performance occurs at an intermediate level of arousal while both low and high levels of arousal will result in impaired performance
Individualised Zone of Optimal Functioning
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.
Multidimensional Anxiety Theory
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.
Catastrophe Theory (Hardy) – Low & High Cognitive Anxiety
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.
Reversal Theory (John Kerr)
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.
Anxiety Direction and Intensity
An individual’s interpretation of anxiety symptoms is important for understanding the anxiety–performance relationship.
Viewing anxiety as facilitative leads to:
Superior performance.
State anxiety is perceived as?
Facilitative or debilitative depending on
how much control the person perceives
Why Arousal Influences Performance?
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
Implications for Practice
- Identify optimal combinations of arousal-related emotions for best performance.
- Recognise how personal and situational factors interact to influence arousal, anxiety, and performance.
- Recognise signs of arousal and state anxiety.
- Tailor coaching strategies to individuals: Sometimes arousal must be reduced, other times maintained, and other times facilitated.
- Develop performers’ confidence and perceptions of control.
Why Regulate Arousal?
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.
Somatic anxiety reduction: Progressive relaxation
Learn to feel the tension in your muscles and then to let go of the tension.
ACTIVITY: PMR
Somatic anxiety reduction: Breath control
◦ 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
Somatic anxiety reduction: Biofeedback
Becoming more aware of your autonomic nervous system and learning to control your physiological and autonomic responses by receiving physiological feedback not normally available.
Cognitive anxiety reduction: Relaxation response
teaches individuals to quiet the mind, concentrate, and reduce muscle tension by applying the elements of meditation.
Cognitive anxiety reduction: Autogenic training
focuses on producing two physical sensations—warmth and heaviness—to produce a relaxed state
Cognitive anxiety reduction: Systematic desensitization
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.
Multimodal anxiety reduction packages: Cognitive–affective stress management training (SMT)
teaches a person specific integrated coping responses using relaxation and cognitive components to control emotional arousal.
Five Phases of Stress Management Training
- Pretreatment phase (assess skills and deficits)
- Treatment rationale phase
- Skill acquisition (training in muscular relaxation, cognitive
restructuring, and self-instruction) - Skill rehearsal
- Posttraining evaluation
Multimodal anxiety reduction: Stress inoculation training (SIT)
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.
Four steps to stress inoculation training (SIT)
- Prepare for the stressor. (“It’s going to be rough; keep your cool.”)
- Control and handle the stressor. (“Keep your cool since he’s losing his cool.”)
- Cope with feelings of being overwhelmed. (“Keep focused; what do you have to do next?”)
- Evaluate coping efforts. (“You handled yourself well.”)
Hypnosis
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
Stages of a Hypnotic Intervention
- Induction phase
- Hypnotic phase
- Waking phase
- Posthypnotic phase
The Matching Hypothesis
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.
The Matching Hypothesis and Social Support
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
What Is Coping?
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).
Problem-focused coping
Efforts to alter or manage the problems that are causing stress (e.g., time management, problem solving)
Emotion-focused coping
Regulating the emotional responses to the
problem that causes the stress (e.g., through relaxation, meditation)
Seeking social support coping
Occurs when one turns to others for assistance and emotional support in times of
stress
Major problem-focused categories
◦ Information gathering ◦ Precompetition and competition plans ◦ Goal setting ◦ Time management skills ◦ Problem solving ◦ Increasing effort ◦ Self-talk ◦ Adhering to injury rehabilitation program
Major emotion-focused categories
◦ 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
Coping with Adversity
Use problem-focused coping when stressful situations can be changed; use emotion focused coping when situations are not amenable to change.
Understanding Resilience
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).
To Develop Resilience
You need:
• Facilitative environment
• Personal qualities
• Challenge appraisal
Sport Team Resilient Characteristics
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
Self-statement modification
Change negative to positive statements.
Imagery
Cope with negative emotions or use positive emotions.
Corrective experiences
Athlete makes a conscious decision to engage in the behavior that is of concern, which can reduce anxiety and correct past mistakes.
Vicarious learning
Modeling appropriate behaviours makes it more likely that behavior will be produced.
Self-analysis
Monitor emotions in sport and thus increase self-awareness.
Goal setting
Focus on achieving a specific outcome.
Storytelling, metaphors, and poetry
Literary techniques encourage athletes to consider alternative ways of viewing and dealing with the situation (e.g., quotes or stories from sport stars).
Reframing
Perspective taking involves viewing an important competition as just another game.
On-Site Relaxation Tips
- 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.
World-Class Coaches’ Coping Strategies
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.
Arousal-Reducing Techniques
- Pre-performance routines
- Quiet-eye training
- Relaxation Techniques
- PMR
- Use music
- Replace negative thoughts
- Breathe
- Use Imagery
Signs of Underarousal
- 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
