Module 5, Anxiety in Sport and Exercise Flashcards
Anxiety
- a negative emotional state with feelings of worry, nervousness, and apprehension associated with activation or arousal of the body
- activation and arousal are different
- anxiety is a specific emotion produced through the appraisal/interpretation of a situation or even (how we interpret)
Anxiety 2 Components
- composed of both mental and physical components
somatic anxiety (physical) - perception of body states (eg. racing heart, butterflies in stomach, sweating or trembling)
- perceived unpleasant physiological response to threatening situation
- how we perceive arousal in our body when we face anxiety or stress
cognitive anxiety (mental) - distressing thoughts, images, disruption of cognitive processing system
the combination makes up the emotion of anxiety
Anxiety Physiological Signs (within body)
↑ heart rate
↑ blood pressure
↑ perspiration
↑ muscle tension
↓ blood flow to skin
↑ “cotton mouth”
↑ frequent urination
Anxiety Cognitive Signs (mental)
↓ complex decision-making
↓ concentration (narrowing of attention -> shorter attention span)
↑ feelings of confusion
Anxiety Behavioural Symptoms
-> nail biting
-> foot tapping
-> poor coordination
-> pacing
-> trembling (can also be physiological - cannot control)
-> broken voice
Dimensions of Anxiety
- intensity of anxiety symptoms
◦ how intense they are - frequency of cognitive intrusions
◦ how often are those intrusions coming in the mind - directional interpretation of symptoms
◦ good or bad (negative or positive interpretation or somatic/cognitive anxiety symptoms)
Trait and State Anxiety
state anxiety: associated with worries and apprehension
- may change from moment to moment
- ex. athletes could experience moment to moment anxiety as it comes closer to game time and then lower as they begin to play
trait anxiety: a stable part of personality
- predisposes individual to perceive situations as physically or psychologically threatening
- can be linked to mental illnesses but not all the time
*high- versus low- trait anxious people usually have more state anxiety in highly evaluative situations
- people high in trait anxiety tend to face more state anxiety
Anxiety is context specific (3 types)
social anxiety: occurs during social situations
- occurs when evaluations may happen
- occurs in relation to interactions with other people leading other people to form negative opinions of the person
competitive anxiety: associated with sport or competition (concerns about body, performance, skills, injury)
- sub-type of social anxiety
- peeks right before big events
social physique anxiety:
- sub-type of social anxiety
- experiencing anxiety due to others’ evaluations of physique in social settings (often occurs in exercise context)
Individualized Zones of Optimal Functioning (ZOF)
- historically rooted in inverted U model of arousal and performance
- performance increases as arousal increases but only up to a certain point (then performance begins to decline)
- did not consider cognitive components of anxiety
- progressed to the idea that optimal arousal might be different across sports
- depends on sport type
◦ ex. golf - arousal levels should be smaller
◦ ex. weightlifting - arousal levels should be higher - shift to athlete centered model
- athlete specific arousal level - dependant on athlete
Finding an Athletes Individualized Zones of Optimal Functioning
- assumes every athlete has an ‘optimal zone’ of anxiety or arousal for ideal performance
◦ anxiety is not always detrimental to sport performance (can be uncomfortable but facilitative) - finding an athlete’s IZOF:
◦ IZOF uses intra-individual approach, multiple observations
◦ measures pre-competition anxiety and
performance measures (multiple times)
‣ subjective athlete rating - ask them about
their level of anxiety (pre-comp anxiety)
‣ subjective coach rating
‣ objective measures of performance
Cusp Catastrophe Theory
- when cognitive state anxiety is low, the relationship between physiological arousal and performance is an inverted U-shape
- when physiological arousal is low, elevations in cognitive state anxiety are associated with enhanced performance relative to the baseline
- when physiological arousal is high, elevations in cognitive state anxiety are associated with performance declines (both are high performance is going to start going down)
- when cognitive state anxiety is high, increases in physiological anxiety can be positive for performance up until a point (until catastrophe point that leads to choking in sport)
*thus, high cognitive anxiety but fairly low levels of physiological arousal should produce successful performances
Choking in Sport: Catastrophe Theory
choking: acute significant decrements in performances that occur in situations of high pressure or anxiety
- incorporates cognitive state anxiety and physiological arousal as they affect athletic performance
- recognizes that the relationship between anxiety and athletic performance is complex
Why does Anxiety Influence Performance?
- attention/concentration changes:
A. pre-occupation with worries or somatic symptoms = “inappropriate task focus”
B. also called cognitive interference - attentional narrowing:
A. high cognitive anxiety can lead to inappropriate focus and athletes may miss task-relevant cues (leads to mistakes)
high levels of physiological arousal may lead to narrow attention - shifts to conscious processing:
◦ competitive anxiety sometimes causes shifts to conscious processing
◦ paralysis by analysis - muscle tension and coordination difficulties:
◦ involuntary co-contraction of muscle groups can be devastating in fine/complex motor skills (eg. the “yips” in golf putting or free-throws)
