Stress & Anxiety in Sports PDF

STRESS & ANXIETY IN SPORT CHAPTERS 4 & 5  Arousal & Anxiety Arousal: Blend of physiological and psychological activation, varying in intensity along a continuum. It is neither pleasant nor unpleasant, and it occurs from positive and negative eve...

STRESS & ANXIETY IN SPORT CHAPTERS 4 & 5  Arousal & Anxiety Arousal: Blend of physiological and psychological activation, varying in intensity along a continuum. It is neither pleasant nor unpleasant, and it occurs from positive and negative events. deep sleep frenzy  Arousal & Anxiety Anxiety: Negative emotional state – feelings of worry, nervousness, and apprehension associated with arousal/activation of the body elicited following an appraisal (evaluation) universal across people of all cultures has a distinct physiology observed through discrete facial expressions associated with unique set of action tendencies  Social Anxiety Occurs when people believe they will receive a negative evaluation from others. Competitive anxiety: related to athletes’ worries that they may be evaluated negatively by others (e.g., coach, teammates, spectators) with respect to their performance, or skills. Social physique anxiety: occurs when people are worried about receiving a negative evaluation about their bodies from others.  Trait vs. State Anxiety Trait anxiety: A stable part of personality – tendency to perceive situations as physically or psychologically threatening. State anxiety: Associated with worries and apprehension in given situations; may change from moment to moment.  Cognitive vs Somatic Anxiety Cognitive Anxiety: Concerns or worries that reduce one’s ability to focus or concentrate. Somatic Anxiety: Physiological and affective elements that develop directly from autonomic arousal. Cognitive vs Somatic Anxiety Intensity of athlete’s anxiety changes before and during event. Somatic anxiety: low before competition and rises sharply at performance onset, then decreases during and after competition Cognitive anxiety: no changes prior to competition; steady decline during competition.  Stress & Anxiety The Stress Process Stimulus / event present in environment – triggers cognitive-evaluative process. Primary appraisal: is this a threatening event? Secondary appraisal: do I have the resources needed to manage this event? Stress is experienced when it is perceived that the demands of a situation exceed one’s coping ability.  Appraisal Types Types of Appraisal: Harm/loss: An evaluation of a situation in which damage has already been done and the loss is irrevocable. Threat: An evaluation or perception of a situation where an individual anticipates harm might occur or is likely to occur. Challenge: An evaluation or perception that although there are obstacles in the way, they can be overcome.  Stressor Types 1. Acute vs. chronic stressors – chronic stress: occurs over a long period of time. – acute stress: occurs within a short period of time, and with a sudden onset. 2. Expected vs. unexpected stressors – expected stressors: athlete plans or prepares for. – unexpected stressors: not anticipated and cannot be prepared for.  Stressor Types 3. Competitive vs. non-competitive stressors – competitive stressors: stressors that are experienced prior to, during, or immediately following competition. – non-competitive stressors: stressors that are related to sport but are not directly part of an actual competitive performance.  Stressor Types 4. Organizational stressors Environmental demands associated primarily and directly with the organization within which an individual is operating: factors intrinsic to the sport roles in the sport organization sport relationships and interpersonal demands athletic career and performance development issues the organizational structure and climate of the sport Stressor Types Sources of Anxiety - Person Personality: higher external locus of control can lead to higher anxiety prior to competition. high self-esteem generally creates lower levels of competitive state anxiety. self-handicapping behaviors = higher levels of cognitive state anxiety. high trait-anxiety = more likely to experience state anxiety with symptoms of greater intensity & duration. Sources of Anxiety - Person Beliefs & attitudes: positive beliefs related to lower levels of state anxiety. beliefs relating to team success influence precompetitive anxiety. competence readiness for competition ability to exert control in comp. ability to perform better than comp. Sources of Anxiety - Situation Sport type: individual vs. team sport contact vs. non-contact Location of competition: athletes experience higher levels of anxiety when playing away rather than at home. Sources of Anxiety - Situation Importance & criticality of competition: the more important the game, the more critical the situation and the higher the state anxiety. higher state anxiety during playoffs than regular season. critical moments in competition elicit elevated state anxiety. Sources of Anxiety - Situation Role on the team: some team roles provoke more anxiety than others (e.g., goal-keeper, pitcher) unclear team roles elicit higher cognitive and somatic anxiety levels.  Source of Anxiety - Audience There exists an interaction between the athlete’s internal motivational forces and the external evaluative forces present during competition (e.g., audience, judges). These forces combined can contribute to athlete arousal and anxiety and thus have an impact on performance. 1. Mere Presence Hypothesis (Triplett) 2. Social Facilitation theory (Zajonc) 3. Evaluation Apprehension Theory (Cottrell)  Source of Anxiety - Audience 1. Mere Presence Hypothesis (Triplett): mere presence of others increases arousal & thus facilitates performance  Source of Anxiety - Audience 2. Social Facilitation Theory (Zajonc): audience increases arousal facilitative for well-learned tasks; hindering for new tasks  Source of Anxiety - Audience 3. Evaluation Apprehension (Cottrell): facilitative or hindering effect caused by anticipation of negative or positive evaluation  Source of Anxiety - Audience In summary, the key components to consider are: presence of others task difficulty nature of evaluation AUDIENCE TASK yes no easy perf perf hard perf perf  Stress Reaction Several physiological and psychological changes accompany the experience of stress. Stress affects the sympathetic nervous system, the endocrine system, the cardiovascular system, the immune system, and cognitive functioning. Physiological Psychological increased HR, BP reduced attention rapid breathing impaired memory muscle tension impaired decision-making narrowed visual field increased irritability sweating increased negativity  Cognitive Distortions The greater the degree of anxiety, the more likely people will engage in cognitive distortions, which in turn, further exacerbates anxiety. Catastrophizing Seeing things as being worse than they are Overgeneralization Extending consequences to unrelated/unaffected areas. Personalization Seeing self as victim (why me?) Selective abstraction Focusing exclusively on negative Dichotomous thinking All or none type thinking  Arousal & Performance Drive theory: As arousal increases, so does performance.  Arousal & Performance Inverted U hypothesis Optimal level of arousal for each activity, anything above or below that will be detrimental to performance.  Arousal & Performance Inverted U hypothesis Moderate arousal levels produce optimal performance. Problems: somatic or cognitive anxiety (linear)? Individual diff.?  Arousal & Performance Individual Zone Of Optimal Functioning Some athletes will perform best when anxiety is high, some when it is moderate, and others when it is low  Arousal & Performance Catastrophe Model Similar to inverted-U, except it proposes that when cognitive anxiety is high, there will be a “catastrophic” decrement in performance.  Arousal & Performance Cognitive state anxiety , the relationship between physiological arousal and performance is an inverted-U shape. Cognitive state anxiety , increases in physiological arousal can be positive or negative for performance. Physiological arousal is , and cognitive state anxiety , catastrophe will occur. Catastrophe doesn’t usually occur with low cognitive state anxiety.  Arousal & Performance Reversal Theory How arousal affects performance depends on an individual’s interpretation of his/her arousal level. low levels of arousal boredom or relaxation high levels of arousal excitement or anxiety Person can switch between interpretations of arousal states – high arousal can go from being pleasant to unpleasant. Pleasant arousal (consonance between actual and preferred states) facilitates performance.  Reversal Theory unpleasant boredom anxiety Hedonic state pleasant relaxation excitement low high Physiological arousal  Arousal & Performance Interpretation of symptoms: To understand the anxiety-performance relationship, we must consider both the intensity of feelings and the direction of the interpretation of symptoms Viewing anxiety as facilitative = superior performance, and vice-versa.  Arousal & Performance Interpretation depends on perception of control; high control leads to facilitative interpretations. Sense of control can be increased through mental skills training – control = increased confidence.  Arousal & Performance Summary of relevant points: 1. Arousal consists of physical activation and one’s interpretation of the activation. 2. Arousal does not always have a negative effect on performance – can be facilitative or debilitative, depending on the person’s interpretation.  Arousal & Performance 3. Self-confidence and enhanced perceptions of control are critical to perceiving arousal as facilitative. 4. Some optimal level of arousal leads to peak performance – levels differ for somatic and cognitive arousal.  Measuring Anxiety Threes Modes of Assessment: 1. Physiologically-based assessments (heart rate, blood pressure, etc.). 2. Biochemical assessments (cortisol levels). 3. Self-report questionnaires  Measuring Anxiety Competitive Trait Anxiety: 1. Sport Competition Anxiety Test (SCAT) 2. Sport Anxiety Scale (SAS) Competitive State Anxiety: 1. Competitive State Anxiety Inventory 2 (CSAI-2) 2. Mental Readiness Form  Sport Anxiety Scale Developed by Smith & al., 2006)15 items; 3 subscales: somatic anxiety, worry, concentration  Sport Competition Anxiety Test Developed by Martens & al., 1990) 15 items measuring competitive trait anxiety on 3-point scale (hardly ever, sometimes, often) Competitive State Anxiety Inventory CSAI-2 Developed by Martens et al. (2003) to assess the intensity of cognitive state anxiety, somatic state anxiety, and self- confidence in sport (17 items).