Premium
Predicted, actual and optimal precompetition anxiety in adolescent track and field athletes
Author(s) -
Raglin J. S.,
Turner P. E.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of medicine and science in sports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.575
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1600-0838
pISSN - 0905-7188
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0838.1992.tb00336.x
Subject(s) - anxiety , athletes , psychology , track and field athletics , multiple baseline design , clinical psychology , developmental psychology , physical therapy , intervention (counseling) , psychiatry , medicine
Anxiety was assessed in younger and older adolescent athletes in an attempt to test aspects of Hanin's zone of optimal function theory. Sixty‐five participants in a track and field camp completed anxiety inventories at baseline and were instructed: 1) to recall how anxious they felt prior to their best performance and 2) to predict how anxious they would feel prior to an informal meet to be held 4 days later. Actual precompetition anxiety was assessed 1 h prior to the meet. Predicted precompetition anxiety was significantly higher than baseline and actual precompetition anxiety. Mean actual precompetition anxiety was not elevated above baseline. However, 34% (22/65) of the sample experienced high levels of precompetition anxiety, and the majority of these (17/22) reported performing optimally with high anxiety. Significant correlations between predicted and actual precompetition anxiety occurred for boys, but not for girls. The differences between predicted and actual precompetition values tended to be smaller in boys than in girls. Based on this sample, it is concluded that: 1) in accordance with the zone of optimal function theory, young athletes display considerable diversity in actual and optimal precompetition anxiety values; and 2) young athletes tend to overestimate the level of anxiety they will experience prior to an easy competition.