See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/263900380

Changes in state anxiety prior to competition : sport and exercise psychology

Article · June 2014

CITATIONS READS

3 922

3 authors:

Smart Mabweazara Barry Andrews

University of the Western Cape University of the Western Cape
8 PUBLICATIONS   14 CITATIONS    13 PUBLICATIONS   31 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Lloyd Leach
University of the Western Cape
31 PUBLICATIONS   143 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

CASO: Caring Society Consortium Project WP 2.2 Healthy Lifestyle View project

Relationship of the shoulder complex strength and throwing velocity in club cricketers View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Barry Andrews on 15 July 2014.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

African Journal for Physical, Health Education, Recreation and Dance
(AJPHERD) Volume 20(2:1), June 2014, pp. 492-499.

Changes in state anxiety prior to competition

S.Z. MABWEAZARA, B.S. ANDREWS AND L.L. LEACH

Department of Sport Recreation & Exercise Science, Faculty of Community & Health Sciences,
University of the Western Cape (UWC), Private Bag X17, Bellville, South Africa.
E-mail: smabweazara@gmail.com

(Received: 2 October 2013; Revision Accepted: 24 May 2014)

Abstract

It has been shown that competitive anxiety can negatively affect athletic performance.
Psychological interventions must be used in the pre-competition period to prevent the debilitative
effects of state anxiety. The aim of the present study was to investigate the temporal changes in
state anxiety in the period leading up to competition. Male high school swimmers (N=62)
participated in the study. A cross-sectional quantitative research design that used the Competitive
State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2) to measure state anxiety was employed. Descriptive and
inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. Baseline and precompetitive state anxiety
scores were analyzed by means of the paired t-test. The results showed that there were significant
differences (p < 0.000) between state anxiety scores measured at baseline (seven days before the
competition) and at precompetition (one hour before competition). Again, there were significant
differences between baseline and precompetitive cognitive state anxieties (t = -10.750) and
baseline and precompetitive somatic state anxieties (t = -21.275). It was concluded that both
cognitive and somatic state anxieties significantly increase before competition among high
school swimmers. It is recommended that both coaches and swimmers utilize strategic
psychological intervention programmes in order to reduce precompetitive state anxiety.

Keywords: Precompetitive state anxiety, swimming, competition.

How to cite this article:

Mabweazara, S.Z., Andrews, B.S. & Leach, L.L (2014). Changes in state anxiety prior to
competition. African Journal for Physical, Health Education, Recreation and Dance, 20(2:1),
492-499.

Introduction

Competitive anxiety is a psychological variable known to negatively affect

athletic performance if it is not kept at check (Esfahani & Soflu, 2010). It has
been shown that less experienced athletes experience a steady rise in anxiety in
the period leading up to and during competition, whereas experienced athletes
also experience an increase in anxiety in the pre-event period and a decrease in
anxiety just before and during competition (Bridges & Knight, 2005). Both
cognitive and somatic state anxieties change fairly dramatically in the period
leading up to competition (Martens, Vealey & Burton, 1990). The need for
assessing anxiety during the period leading up to competition is vital, because it
assists in drawing up appropriate individual-specific intervention strategies that
 Changes in state anxiety prior to competition 493

can be implemented prior to the competitive event in order to counter the

negative effects of state anxiety.

In the anxiety-performance hypothesis, Martens, Burton, Vealey, Bump and

Smith cited in Martens et al. (1990) propose that athletic performance is
expected to have a higher relationship with cognitive state anxiety and state self-
confidence than with somatic state anxiety. In other words, the authors assert that
cognitive state anxiety and state self-confidence would strongly predict
performance than somatic state anxiety. This is based on the fact that somatic
anxiety disintegrates at the onset of competition (Martens et al., 1990).
According to the anxiety-performance hypothesis, cognitive state anxiety and
state self-confidence will continue during the course of the competition, as they
are related to spectator judgments and expectations (Martens et al., 1990).

These theoretical predictions are supported by research based upon temporal

patterning (Parfitt & Hardy, 1987; Jones, Cale & Kerwin, 1988; Jones & Cale,
1989). Hanton, Thomas and Maynard (2004) have reported that the strengths of
cognitive and somatic anxiety increased between two hours and thirty minutes to
competition. Amongst gymnasts, cognitive state anxiety has been shown to
increase as competition gets nearer (Krane & Williams, 1987). Furthermore, the
symptoms related to somatic state anxiety intrude more during the lead up to
competition than during training (Hanton et al., 2004). Athletes show greater
somatic anxiety intensities during actual competitive events than in training
settings (Blasquez, Font & Capdevila, 2009).

Jones, Swain and Cale (1991) assessed changes in cognitive and somatic state
anxiety amongst male and female university athletes. While men showed no
change in cognitive anxiety as competition neared, women, on the other hand,
reported a progressive increase in anxiety as competition neared. However, both
genders showed the same patterning in somatic anxiety with elevated levels of
somatic anxiety being realized on the day of competition. Feminine males have
also been found to be significantly higher in cognitive state anxiety than
masculine males throughout the precompetition period (Swain & Jones, 1991).
In general, women report higher cognitive anxiety compared with men (Russell,
Robb & Cox, 1998).

Highly competitive athletes are also known to display no change in cognitive

state anxiety as competition nears compared to less competitive athletes (Swain
& Jones, 1992). Less competitive athletes report an earlier increase in somatic
state anxiety response (Swain & Jones, 1992).

Different patterns of state anxiety have been observed for different sports. For
example, gymnasts have shown elevated cognitive and somatic state anxiety
prior to a competition, whereas golfers have shown decreased levels of both
494 Mabweazara, Andrews and Leach

cognitive and somatic state anxiety (Krane & Williams, 1987). The study also
revealed that golfers generally show low state anxiety levels than gymnasts.

It should also be noted that the reaction to competitive anxiety is a process that
unfolds over time (Cerin, Szabo, Hunt & Williams, 2000). The same authors also
point out that the state of anxiety depends on the time of assessment with respect
to the onset of the competition. Thus, there is a need to examine the temporal
aspects of competitive anxiety in athletic competition. Radzi, Yusof and Zakaria
(2013) have pointed out that researchers who have investigated the temporal
patterning of competitive anxiety in sport have tended to overlook the
differences in the anxiety response between sport categories. As such, the present
study investigated the temporal patterning of precompetitive anxiety in the week
leading to competition amongst high school swimmers. It was hypothesized that
the intensities of both cognitive and somatic state anxieties would significantly
increase from baseline to the precompetition period.

Methodology

The study utilised a quantitative cross sectional design. Male high school
swimmers comprised the study population. Informed consent for participation in
the study was obtained from the participants. Participation in the study was
voluntary and the participants could withdraw from the study at any point
without coercion or any negative consequences. Permission to conduct the study
and ethical approval for the study was obtained from the Ethics Committee of the
University of the Western Cape, the Zimbabwean Ministry of Education, Sport,
Arts and Culture, and the three private schools selected in the Bulawayo and
Matabeleland South Provinces.

Purposive sampling was used to identify 61 male swimmers from three private
high schools in Zimbabwe. One school was selected from Matabeleland South
Province, whilst the other two schools were selected from Bulawayo Province.
The swimmers’ ages ranged from 14 to 19 years (mean age = 16.6 years, SD =
1.66 years).

The swimmers were assessed at an Inter-Schools Swimming Gala (2012) in

Zimbabwe. Precompetitive state anxiety was measured using the Competitive
State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2), a questionnaire developed by Martens et al.
(1990). In this study, the state self-confidence subscale of the CSAI-2 was
excluded.

The CSAI-2 has been confirmed to be a valid measure of sport-specific state

anxiety (Duda, 1998), and its reliability has been re-established within an
African setting with an r of 0.80 (Adeniyi & Samson, 2004). Initial psychometric
studies on the CSAI-2 have demonstrated an internal consistency for each of the
 Changes in state anxiety prior to competition 495

three subscales. Separate alpha coefficients for the cognitive, somatic and self-
confidence subscales ranged from 0.79 to 0.90, thereby revealing a high degree
of internal consistency (Martens et al., 1990). Concurrent validity studies of the
CSAI-2 revealed coefficients that were highly congruent with the hypothesized
relationships of the CSAI-2 and scales of related constructs (Martens et al.,
1990).

With the assistance of the swimming coaches from each of the participating
schools, a premier inter-schools swimming competition was identified. This
swimming competition was assumed to bring out the competitive character of the
swimmers. Such an environment, would likely lead to the swimmers
experiencing precompetitive state anxiety (Gill, 1948).

A brief explanation of the study was then provided by the investigators to the
participants. Precompetitive state anxiety was first assessed seven days prior to
the competition in a non-competitive context during training at their respective
schools using the CSAI-2. This assessment was used as a baseline for
comparison purposes. Each swimmer then completed the CSAI-2 inventory on
the day of competition, an hour before competing in an individual 50 metre
swimming event, that is, the front crawl, butterfly, breast and/or back stroke. On
each occasion, before the swimmers completed the questionnaire, the CSAI-2
instructions were read aloud to them.

Descriptive and inferential statistics were used on SPSS (version 21) to analyze
the data. Means and standard deviations were calculated for precompetitive state
anxiety intensity levels. Baseline and precompetitive state anxiety scores were
analyzed by means of the paired t-test.

Results

Table 1 shows the differences in state anxiety scores between baseline and
precompetitive measures. The results show that there were significant differences
(p<0.000) between state anxiety scores at baseline and at precompetition.
Competitors showed significantly increased levels of both somatic and cognitive
state anxieties than at baseline.

Table 1: Differences in state anxiety scores between baseline and precompetitive measures
Test Statistics
Anxiety categories in pairs (Mean± SD) t P-value
1. Baseline and precompetitive -4.44±3.23 -10.750 0.000
cognitive anxiety
2. Baseline and precompetitive -9.23±3.39 -21.275 0.000
somatic anxiety
496 Mabweazara, Andrews and Leach

Table 2 shows the state anxiety scores at baseline (i.e., seven days before
competition) and at pre-competition (i.e., one hour before competition)
categorized into high, medium and low frequencies and percentages. The table
shows that participants experienced higher precompetitive state anxiety
compared to baseline (non-competitive training anxiety). It is also evident that
none of the participants scored low on the somatic state anxiety scale an hour
before competition.

Table 2: State anxiety scores at baseline and precompetition

High Medium Low Total
Period
n % n % n % n %
Baseline cognitive 10 16.39 32 52.46 19 31.15 61 100
Precompetitive cognitive 27 44.26 26 42.62 8 13.11 61 100
Difference -17 -27.87 6 9.84 11 18.04 0 0
Baseline somatic 0 0.00 35 57.38 26 42.62 61 100
Precompetitive somatic 31 50.82 30 49.18 0 0.00 61 100
Difference -31 -50.82 5 8.20 26 42.62 0 0

Discussion

The study assessed the patterning of responses over time for cognitive and
somatic state anxiety among male high school swimmers. It employed a real
sports setting (an annual inter-schools swimming competition) identified as
important by the swimming coaches. The study hypothesized that the intensities
of cognitive state and somatic state anxiety would significantly increase from
baseline to precompetition. Baseline measures of state anxiety were taken seven
days prior to the competition, and precompetition measures were taken one hour
before the swimming competition.

Karteroliotis and Gill (1987) reported that somatic anxiety did not significantly
increase from baseline to precompetition. The findings in the present study
reveal that intensities of both cognitive and somatic anxiety significantly
increase up to precompetition, that is, one hour before competition. State anxiety
was significantly elevated an hour before competition, with somatic state anxiety
more elevated than cognitive state anxiety. Martens et al. (1990) observe that
Karteroliotis and Gill’s (1987) findings contrast with previous research, which
has substantiated the fact that somatic state anxiety rapidly increases as the time
to competition approaches. The difference in Karteroliotis and Gill’s (1987)
findings and those of the present study could be attributed to the different
populations used. Karteroliotis and Gill (1987) used undergraduate males
whereas this study made use of High School male swimmers. It has been stated
that college athletes show decreased state anxiety levels than High School
athletes (Krane & Williams, 1994). The contrasting findings between the
presented study and that of Karteroliotis and Gill could also be due to the fact
that somatic anxiety is affected by a number of environmental stimuli, such as
 Changes in state anxiety prior to competition 497

task difficulty, significance of competition and the uncertainty of the competition

result. In the case of Karteroliotis and Gill’s (1987) study, participants showed
little interest in the competition outcome, meaning that they experienced very
low or insignificant precompetitive state anxiety levels that may have not
meaningfully affected performance.

The findings of the present study that high school athletes exhibit higher anxiety
compared to collegiate athletes are similar to those reported for state anxiety by
Hanton et al. (2004). Hanton et al. (2004) used eighty-two male athletes
competing at club and national level and, as in the present study, recorded their
baseline state anxiety measures seven days before the competition. Hanton et
al’s. (2004) results revealed that the intensities of cognitive and somatic anxiety
increased between two hours and thirty minutes prior to competition.

Similar results were also reported by Blasquez, Font and Capdevila (2009) in
their investigation of heart-rate variability and precompetitive anxiety among
swimmers. In their study, ten master’s swimmers (6 women and 4 men)
completed the CSAI-2 thirty minutes before a baseline training session and thirty
minutes before a competition. They observed that participants showed greater
somatic anxiety levels during competitive settings than during training
conditions. Other studies that have focused on changes in the intensity of state
anxiety as competition approaches have reported similar results (Jones, Swain &
Cale, 1991; Swain & Jones, 1993).

The rapid increase observed in the intensity of somatic anxiety an hour prior to
competition matches the predictions of the multidimensional anxiety theory and
supports earlier research (Gould, Petlichkoff & Weinberg, 1984; Swain & Jones,
1993). Specifically, it has been proposed that somatic state anxiety increases
prior to competition and peaks at the onset of competition (Martens et al., 1990).

Conclusion

The study revealed that amongst High School male swimmers, both cognitive
and somatic state anxieties increase from seven days up to an hour before
competition. Somatic state anxiety was found to be more elevated than cognitive
anxiety an hour before competition. Strategically planned psychological
interventions are advocated for within this period leading up to competition.

References

Adeniyi, A.M. & Samson, A.B. (2004). Predictors of pre-game anxiety dysphoria among teenage
soccer players. Nigerian Journal of Emotional Psychology, 6, 15-18.

Blasquez, J.C.C., Font, G.R. & Capdevila, L. (2009). Heart-rate variability and precompetitive
anxiety in swimmers. Psicothema, 21(4), 531- 536.
498 Mabweazara, Andrews and Leach

Bridges, A. & Knight, B. (2005). Anxiety’s role in athletic performance: The role of cognitive
and somatic anxiety in athletic performance. Retrieved 23 June 2012. [ http://psych. hanover.
edu/ research/Thesis05/BridgesKnight.pdf].

Cerin, E., Szabo, A., Hunt, N. & Williams, C. (2000). Temporal patterning of competitive
emotions: A critical review. Journal of Sport Sciences, 18, 605-626.

Duda, J. (Ed.) (1998). Advances in Sport and Exercise Psychology Measurement. Morgantown,
USA: Fitness Information Technology.

Esfahani, N. & Soflu, G. H. (2010). The comparison of pre-competition anxiety and state anger
between female and male volley ball players. World Journal of Sport Sciences, 13(4), 237-242.

Gill, D.L. (1948). Psychological Dynamics of Sport. Champaign IL: Human Kinetics.

Gould, D., Petlichkoff, L. & Weinberg, R.S. (1984). Antecedents of temporal changes in and
relationships between CSAI-2 subcomponents. Journal of Sport Psychology, 6, 289-304.

Hanton, S., Thomas, O. & Maynard, I. (2004). Competitive anxiety responses in the week
leading up to competition: The role of intensity, direction and frequency dimensions. Psychology
of Sport and Exercise, 5, 169-181.

Jones, G., Cale, A. & Kerwin, D.G. (1988). Multidimensional competitive state anxiety and
psychomotor performance. Australian Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 4, 3-7.

Jones, G. & Cale, A. (1989). Relationships between multidimensional competitive state anxiety
and cognitive and motor subcomponents of performance. Journal of Sport Sciences, 7,129-140.

Jones, G., Swain, A. B. J. & Cale, A. (1991). Gender differences in pre competition temporal
patterning and antecedents of anxiety and self-confidence. Journal of Sport and Exercise
Psychology, 13, 1-15.

Karteriolis, C. & Gill, D.L. (1987). Temporal changes in psychological and physiological
components of state anxiety. Journal of Sport Psychology, 9, 261- 274.

Krane, V. & Williams, J. N. (1987). Performance and somatic anxiety, and confidence changes
prior to competition. Journal of Sport Behaviour, 10, 47-56.

Krane, V. & Williams, J. M. (1994). Cognitive anxiety, somatic anxiety and confidence in track
and field athletes: The impact of gender, competitive level and characteristics. International
Journal of Sport Psychology, 25, 203-217.

Martens, R., Vealey, R.S. & Burton, D. (1990). Competitive Anxiety in Sport. Champaign, IL:
Human Kinetics.

Parfitt, C.G. & Hardy, L. (1987). Further evidence for the differential effect of competitive
anxiety upon a number of cognitive and motor subcomponents. Journal of Sport Science, 5,
62-63.

Radzi, J., Yusof, S.M. & Zakaria, A. A. (2013). Pre-competition anxiety levels in individual and
team sports athletes. Unpublished paper presented at the International Conference on Social
Science Research, Penang, Malaysia.
 Changes in state anxiety prior to competition 499

Russell, W.D., Robb, M. & Cox, R.H. (1998). Sex, sport, situation, and competitive state anxiety.
Perceptual and Motor Skills, 86, 816-818.

Swain, A. B.J. & Jones, G. (1991). Gender role endorsement and competitive anxiety.
International Journal of Sport Psychology, 22, 50- 65.

Swain, A. B. J. & Jones, G. (1992). Relationships between sport achievement orientation and
competitive state anxiety. The Sport Psychologist, 6, 42- 54.

Swain, A. & Jones, G. (1993). Intensity and frequency dimensions of competitive state anxiety.
Journal of Sports Sciences, 11(6), 533- 542.

View publication stats