1 Running head: ANXIETY AND SPORTS LITERATURE REVIEW ANXIETY AND SPORTS LITERATURE REVIEW Bryson Henry
Keiser University
June 13, 2017 2 ANXIETY AND SPORTS LITERATURE REVIEW
LITERATURE REVIEW
Anxiety and its effect on sports performance remains an area of high interest among the
researchers. Anxiety is defined as an aversive emotional experience that develops during
potentially threatening situations. Both coaches and sport psychologist are concerned on the
ability of the athletes to maintain proper emotions before and during competition. This is one of
the major factors that contribute to the successful sport performance. Sporting competitions are
considered as potentially threatening situations that elicit heightened levels of anxiety. According
to Martens and colleagues (Martens, Vealey, & Burton, 1990), anxiety is a multidimensional
construct that is constituted of two main components: Cognitive anxiety and somatic anxiety.
Anxiety can cause several aspects in sports for instance it can lead to discontinuation of
sports activity, impaired performance or less pressure during the sports. For example,instance
according to Amrhein, Barkhoff, & Heiby, (2016) who conducted a studyresearch on ocean
surfers to identify whether identifying the relationship between spirituality, depression, and
anxiety among ocean surfers. They found out that that surfers report fewer symptoms of anxiety
and depression compared to other normative groups. In addition the authors found that greater
spirituality is associated with less depression and more surfing experience. This is an indication
that sports activities is likely to lead to lower levels of depression particularly for the surfers. Other researchers have found that a high relationship between sport performance and
anxiety. It is obvious that athletes are likely to experience injuries during their sporting activities.
The injuries are likely to lead to an immediate disruption of the athlete’s normal life. The injuries
not only affect their physical health but it as well affect their psychological well-being leading to 3 ANXIETY AND SPORTS LITERATURE REVIEW
depression and anxiety and low self-esteem. (Wiese-Bjornstal, 2010). Williams & Leffingwell, (1996) examine the effect of baseline psychological symptoms
on post-concussion symptoms. Brain tissue damage can cause a concussion. The authors
measured and assessed the athletes both male and female based on the exhibited post-concussion
symptoms. The results indicated that concussed athletes who had symptoms of depression at
baseline are more likely to experience depression and even more likely to experience state
anxiety after a concussion. Depression at baseline is highly likely to post- concussion depression
and post-concussion state anxiety. Therefore athletes with pre-injury depressive symptoms are
more vulnerable; sports psychologist as well as coaches must implement intervention measures
that will reduce post-concussion depression or anxiety. In addition Yang, Covassin & Torner, (2015) investigated how cognitive approaches
enhance athletic performance as well as how athletes feel about themselves; their performance
affects their feelings and behaviors. Distorted thinking patterns result in emotional distress
causing excessive anxiety. Sports psychologist together with coaches should, therefore, pay close
attention to the athlete’s performance especially before and during competition. Coaches must as
well be aware of their irrational beliefs because they are likely to influence the athletes. Different
cognitive techniques can be used to deal with anxiety hence marinating appropriate attention
focus.
In most sport activities individuals are advised to aim at a specific target which requires
self-regulation in order to succeed in sports performance. However the success rate is affected 4 ANXIETY AND SPORTS LITERATURE REVIEW
by the state of anxiety when an individual is anxious their attention becomes automatically
occupied by threatening stimuli which can either be internal or external leaving less attention for
the actual task which in the long run leads to performance decrement (Behan & Wilson, 2008).
An anxious athlete can be derived from the strength model of self-control.
Englert, (2012) conducted a research to analyzed the role of self-control strength and
state anxiety in sports performance. The authors assessed the self-control strengths of the
participants and found out that that there was a statistically significant relation between state
anxiety and free throw performance only for basketball players in a state of ego depletion,
meaning that depleted participants performed worse as their anxiety increased. Self-control
strength affected free throw performance, depending on anxiety levels such that adverse effect of
ego depletion on sports performance would become stronger as state anxiety increased.
There is also a phenomenon that holds that increase in anxiety is likely to increase mental
errors during athletes contest. Performance decrements occur under the conditions of elevated
anxiety due to errors that occur prior to information processing. This is caused by attention
disruption. Bird & Horn, (1990) investigated the relationship between the level of cognitive
anxiety and the degree of mental errors in a sport setting. They found out that e elevations of
cognitive anxiety are directly related to mental errors that occur during sports performance.
Therefore the most effective intervention strategy is to develop cognitive based strategies to help
in reducing mental errors in sports. Thus individuals ho exhibit more mental errors should have
high cognitive anxiety compared to those who demonstrate few mental errors.
Vast, (2010) conducted a research study to explore attentional patterns associated with
positive and negative emotions during sport competition as well as the athlete’s perception of the 5 ANXIETY AND SPORTS LITERATURE REVIEW
consequences of these attentional changes for concentration and performance. They found out
that the extent to which athletes reported experiencing emotions was low. Concentration was
positively correlated with self-rated performance. Happiness and excitement were positively
correlated, as were the negative emotions anxiety, dejection and anger. Thus e potentially
detrimental effect of emotions on concentration and performance can be negated through
maintaining or promptly regaining task-relevant focus and automaticity of movement. A growing body of research has provided evidence for intolerance of uncertainty (IU) as
a maintaining factor across a range of anxiety disorders. Robinson, (2015) investigated the
relationship between intolerance of uncertainty (IU), sport confidence and performance anxiety
in sports among athletes. They measured the sports confidence, performance anxiety and IU. The
results indicated that IU was positively correlated with performance anxiety and negatively
correlated with robustness of sport confidence; performance anxiety and robustness of sport
confidence were negatively correlated.
Previous researchers have suggested different intervention strategies that both the sports
psychologist and coaches should put in place in order to cope with anxiety during sports. Most
researchers suggest that cognitive behaviour intervention is the best strategy. Thus considerable
attention has been given to assessing the impact of specific intervention strategies on modifying
or altering emotions and improving subsequent sport performance. Prapavessis, Grove, & Cable,
(1992) studied the effectiveness of a cognitive behavior intervention in reducing state anxiety
and improving sports performance. They found out that that cognitive anxiety, somatic anxiety,
gun vibration, and urinary catecholamines decreased whereas self-confidence and performance 6 ANXIETY AND SPORTS LITERATURE REVIEW
increased from baseline to treatment. Therefore multimethod cognitive behavioral intervention
program reduced state anxiety and improved performance.
Another intervention strategy is the EEG biofeedback. It is primarily used to train
attention, is a relatively new mode of applied psychophysiological intervention within sports
psychology (Carlstedt, 2001). Sports psychologists, coaches and athletes can take the advantage
of integrating electroencephalograph (EEG) biofeedback into applied interventions hence
maximizing psychological skills of alertness and concentration (Davis, 2005). Athletes are also
likely to develop vital tools that increase their self-confidence and minimize attention altering
effect due to anxiety. It is also important to note that when self-confidence increases, the hitting
and fielding performance improved dramatically hence improving the overall sports
performance.
The Test of Attentional and Interpersonal Style (TAIS) was developed as an objective
measure by which an individual’s attentional predisposition could be identified and used to
predict performance on a variety of tasks. Albrecht, (1987) assessed the reliability advantages of
employing a sport task specific measure of attentional style by comparing it to the general
measure of attention process. After measuring each individual attention style, they found out that
batting performance was positively related to all B-TAIS while significant positive correlations
also existed between B-TAIS ineffective subscale scores and competitive trait anxiety.
The theory of attention style as proposed by Nideffer (1981), point out that at any
particular point in time an individual’s attentional focus ranges somewhere along a continuum
between broad and narrow. He also explains how athletic performance may be related to one’s
predisposition toward a particular style of attention by explaining three major changes in 7 ANXIETY AND SPORTS LITERATURE REVIEW
attention that are likely to occur as the level of anxiety increases which include athlete becomes
locked into his or her preferred attentional style, increase in the level of competitive arousal and
one’s tendency to become more internally focused. References
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