1. INTRODUCTION:

Elite athletes are expected to demonstrate peak performance in a high pressure environment.¹ Therefore, much sport psychology effort is devoted toward identifying the psychological and physical states that produces peak athletic performance. Changes in the level of state anxiety, that is, cognitive (CA) and somatic anxiety (SA), and self-confidence (SC) are probably a function of gender, type of sport, type of skill, and type of athlete.^2-5 However, questions concerning the state anxiety and SC required for elite athletes at the highest levels of competition to produce enhanced performance outcomes remain unanswered.⁶

Athletes recognize that peak performance is heavily relevant the psychological and physiological statuses, which regulate cognition, arousal level, and self-expectancy.^7-9 Generally, advanced athletes tend to interpret state anxiety symptoms as more instructive and show higher levels of SC than their novice counterparts.¹⁰ Further, it has been argued that athletes, including elite athletes, achieve peak performance when experiencing different levels of CA, SA, and SC,¹¹ that is, elite athlete performance could be moderated by individual characteristics that influence the intensity of state anxiety and SC.

Researchers have shown athletes participating in a team sport event exhibit elevated SC and generate better performance outcomes than athletes participating in individual sports because they better moderate symptoms of anxiety by psychologically depending on other team members.¹² However, other study have reported that state anxiety and SC do not show significant difference between individual and team sport elite athletes.¹³ Furthermore, the outcome of competitive anxiety depends on the type of skill, for example, combat-type sports involve physical contact with opponents and unpredictable situational and environmental changes more so than noncombat-type sports.¹⁴^,¹⁵ Athletes participating in combat-type sports have been reported to interpret SA as more instructive, possibly because combat-skill sports involve physical contact with an opponent.¹⁶ Therefore, it would appear anxiety probably has different impacts on performance for combat and noncombat-type sports by moderating the anxiety/performance relationship.

Even when athletes have anxiety symptoms of the same intensities, they may interpret these symptoms differently, for example, based on experiences gained as members of a national team. Several recent studies have reported athletes with advanced skill levels tend to perceive high levels of anxiety symptoms as more instructive than novice athletes, whereas insignificant differences in severity of anxiety symptoms were found between novice and intermediate skill level athletes.¹⁷^,¹⁸ Similarly, even though some studies have shown that female athletes report higher state anxiety levels and tend to interpret anxiety symptoms more debilitative than instructive,¹⁹^,²⁰ others have reported no gender difference for state anxiety, SC, and performance.¹⁷

Although several studies have examined relationships among state anxiety, SC, and sport performance in American collegiate athletes, there is a lack of research on examination for elite athletes, especially Olympic athletes.²¹^,²² Moreover, no such study has been conducted in Korean elite athletes. The motive of elite athletes such as members of national team may be different compared to that of non-elite athletes in competition, so it is necessary to examine precompetitive state anxiety, SC, and performance for an elite athlete. Accordingly, this study aimed to investigate the influence of state anxiety and SC on Korean Olympic athlete performance. It was predicted that CA, SA, and SC would show positive linear relationships between themselves and positive relationships with performance. We also explored the moderating effects of various variables (type of sport, type of skill, years in the national team, and gender) on performance.

2. MATERIALS AND METHODS:

2.1. Participants:

A total 65 athletes, 31 males (47%) and 34 females (52%) of mean age 27.2 years (SD= 4.41) that attended the London 2012 Summer Olympics from July 27^th to August 12^th 2012 participated in this study.

2.2. Instrument:

Pre-competitive anxiety was measured using the Korean version of the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2) questionnaire²³ a day before first competitions. The CSAI-2 is a self-report instrument with three subscales (CA, SA, and SC), and each subscale contain 9 items. These items are rated using a 5-point Likert scale ranged from 1 (“Strongly disagree”) to 5 (“Strongly agree”). CSAI-2 was administered by one of the investigators using standardized instructions, as recommended by Martens et al.²³ using a standard protocol. The CA subscale assesses cognitive distress and is associated with negative performance expectations. The SA subscale assesses negative physical and emotional reactions to competitive performance while the SC subscale assesses self-efficacy toward competitive performance. Internal consistency of the CSAI-2 was reported as high, with alpha values ranging from 0.76 to 0.91.²⁴^,²⁵ The internal consistency of Korean version of CSAI-2 was ranging from 0.75 to 0.90.²⁶

Team sports are usually measured using wins or losses and all team members receive the same performance rank regardless of individual performance. On the other hand, when athletes were asked to self-evaluate their performances, the reliability and validity of one’s performance assessment were questioned since self-evaluations were highly influenced by self-appraisals of individual performance.⁷ Therefore, in this study, coaches estimated athlete performances during first competitions at the Olympics; this was suggested to provide a more objective measure of athlete performance by Anderson et al.⁷ Coaches rated each athlete on a 10-point scale ranged from 1 (poor) to 10 (excellent). If athletes were playing a team sport, coaches estimated performance relative to other athletes on the team. Individual sports included judo, taekwondo, and swimming, and combat skill sports included judo and taekwondo.

2.3. Statistical analysis:

Correlation analysis among CA, SA, SC, and performance results was first conducted. Analysis of variance (CA x SA x SC) was conducted on performance as the dependent variable. Multiple regression was used to examine relationships among various variables, and the relations between each 3 subscale of state anxiety and performance were examined using standardized regression equations. These analyses were performed depending on 4 potential moderating variables: types of sport (individual vs. team), type of skill (combat vs. noncombat), gender (female vs. male), and years in the national team (<10 years vs. ≥10 years). Obtained data were analyzed using SAS for Windows (version 9.3; SAS institute Inc; Cary NC, USA). Statistical significance was accepted for p values < 0.05.

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:

Mean and standard deviation of state anxiety and SC for age, gender, years in the national team, type of sport, and type of skill are presented in Table 1. Also shown is Cronbach’s α for the different CSIA-2 subscales.

Figure 3. Exploratory Model Slope Coefficients for Each Moderating Variable with respect to Relationships between Factors of State Anxiety and Performance Results (CI; 95% confidence interval, ⁺ Beta coefficient significant at p<0.05; ⁺⁺ Beta coefficient significant at p<0.005)

Table 3. Summary of Moderated Regression Analysis for Predicting Performance Interaction Effects by Type of Sport, Type of Skill, Gender, and Years in the National Team

	Cognitive Anxiety/ Performance	Self-Confidence/Performance	Somatic Anxiety/ Performance
Type of Sport
Individual	0.31 (-0.49, 0.98)	0.29 (-0.70, 1.33)	0.30(-0.38, 0.75)
Team	0.25 (-0.03, 0.16)	0.16 (-0.04, 0.14)	0.05 (-0.08, 0.11)
Test of Difference	-0.97	-1.13	-1.20
Type of Skill
Combat	0.54⁺ (-0.54, -0.08)	0.22 (-0.78, 1.08)	0.27 (-0.65, 0.72)
Noncombat	0.29⁺ (0.10, 0.18)	0.21 (-0.02, 0.18)	0.15 (-0.04, 0.16)
Test of Difference	0.51	0.15	-0.02
Gender
Male	0.51⁺⁺ (0.08, 0.39)	0.32 (-0.02, 0.36)	0.54⁺⁺(0.1, 0.39)
Female	0.23 (-0.02, 0.11)	0.49⁺⁺ (0.04 0.16)	-0.36⁺(-0.16, -0.01)
Test of Difference	-2.54⁺	-0.79	-3.97⁺⁺⁺
Years in the National Team
< 10 years	0.31⁺ (-0.006, -0.001)	0.17 (-0.07, 0.21)	0.18 (-0.05, 0.19)
≥ 10 years	0.32⁺ (-0.01, -0.001)	0.30 (-0.05, 0.29)	0.13 (-0.14, 0.25)
Test of Difference	-2.15⁺	-2.34⁺	-2.78⁺⁺

⁺significant at p <0.05; ⁺⁺significant at p <0.005; ⁺⁺⁺significant at p <0.0001

The interaction effect between CA and SA on performance found in this study is inconsistent with results published in the competitive sport anxiety literature.²⁷ In previous study, elite netball players with the low level of SA and the high level of CA performed better than those with the low levels of SA and CA. Our findings indicate athletes experiencing the high level of CA tend to perform significantly better regardless of SA intensity, whereas athletes experiencing the low level of CA and the high level of SA performed poorly, as determined by their coaches. However, only the main effect for CA was significant, and thus, our findings suggest that the high level of CA seemed to have an instructive effect upon Korean Olympians whereas SA and SC can be interpreted as either instructive or debilitative depending on CA level.

Our findings appear to be also inconsistent with a previous study, in which the majority of athletes showed an inverse relationship between state anxiety and SC,²² whereas in this study, athletes with the high level of CA also exhibited high levels of SA and SC. Based on previous research by Koivula et al,²² it was speculated that Korean athletes were likely to be positively perfectionistic in terms of performance and tried to fulfill personal standards and goals to achieve a sense of satisfaction and enhance self-esteem. If they had not done so performances might have suffered and athletes may have developed high levels of undue concerns over mistakes, doubts about actions, and/or fear of failure.²²^,²⁸

This type of positive concentration directed at achieving personal goals probably focuses attention away from concerns over mistakes, feelings of tension and apprehension, and social pressures, reinforces efforts to interpret environmental stimuli in a more positive manner, and enables athletes to execute tasks to the best of their abilities. Because positive interpretations of CA and SA discourage athletes from perceiving anxiety symptoms as threats, athletes are likely to maintain confident outlook towards performance. In doing so, their SC would unarguably be increased. Therefore, our results suggest that increased CA and SA, and the high level of of SC create an optimal environment for producing enhanced performance.

Although the current study provides partial support for Hanton et al.¹⁶ that highly SC elites experience greater intensity of CA and SA as well, the current study does not provide direct link between presence/absence of SC and state anxiety relationship on performance. Thus, it is important to identify in detail between SC, symptoms associated with state anxiety, and its directional interpretation on performance in order to effectively manage performance decrements.

3.2. Moderating Variables:

For team sports and individual sports, we found insignificant effect of CA, SA, and SC on performance. Team-sport slopes did not differ significantly from individual-sport slopes. For combat and noncombat skills, only CA had significant effect on performance. The slopes for noncombat-skills and combat-skills did not differ.

For men, CA and SA showed significant positive effect on performance. For women, only SC and SA coefficients had significant effect on performance; SA showed a negative beta weight. Slopes of CA and SA for men were significantly different from corresponding slopes for women.

For athletes that had been in a national team for less than and for athletes with ≥10 years of national experience, only CA showed significant effect on performance. Each of three relationship (CA/performance, SC/performance, and SA/performance) of athletes with < 10 years of experience in a national team were significantly different from those of athletes with ≥ 10 years of experience.

Regardless of type of sport, this study show that state anxiety and SC do not predict performance. Our findings on individual sports and team sports are in accordance with studies performed on elite gymnasts²⁹ and national league basketball and volleyball players.³⁰ These studies reported that CA, SA, and SC do not significantly predict sport performance. One possible explanation is that athletes participating in team sports are less pressured because other team members influence performance outcomes and share burdens. Thus, athletes participating in a team sport might not exhibit patterns of state anxiety and SC that predict performance.

On the other hand, because athletes participating in individual sports feel solely responsible for performance outcomes, individual athletes might need to practice more enhanced attention focusing processes, such as, on efficient decision-making in the face of unexpected mistakes or environmental changes prior to and during a performance. In fact, a recent study on elite gymnasts²⁹ showed that concentration was strongly correlated (r=0.96) with performance outcome, but state anxiety and SC were not. Therefore, we speculate effective attentional functioning may be the most salient predictor of performance, rather than CA, SA, and SC, as shown in Nassib et al.²⁹

Our findings are partially consistent with earlier study.³¹ In this study, the relationship between state anxiety and SC was stronger for combat than noncombat sports. A combat skill sport is generally associated with a greater increase in state anxiety symptoms in novice athletes,^{15 23} because of the imminence of unpredictable environmental factors and constant physical contact with one’s opponent.³² Our results suggest that a higher level of state anxiety intensity could also result in a stronger relationship between state anxiety and performance among elite combat sport athletes.

CA and SA showed strong correlations with performance in male athletes, whereas SC and SA showed strong correlations with performance in female athletes. When gender difference were reported in previous studies, female elite athletes showed higher anxiety levels than males and tended to interpret anxiety symptoms as more debilitative.¹⁹^,²⁰^,³³ However, this was not found in this study. Our results showed that male athletes tended to produce better performances when experiencing higher levels of SA, while female athletes tended to produce better performance when experiencing low levels of SA. Furthermore, male athletes seemed positively to perceive a higher intensity of CA, whereas perceived intensity of CA had no observed effect on female athletes.

Previous studies have indicated that female elite athletes are more prone to be influenced by the competitive environment and the social pressure to win,¹⁹^,³⁴ and thus, are probably more likely to experience concentration disruption. For example, if mental preparation prior to performance is interrupted, it is possible that the athlete would perceive this interruption as a threat to achieve enhanced performance, especially in a highly pressured setting. Furthermore, if the attention of such an athlete was not maintained at a high level and under control, it could be that the interpretation of CA as instructive might not be possible since the process requires an appropriate concentration level. However, because a link between concentration and performance was not identified during this study, other studies are required to investigate the effect of concentration on Olympic athlete performance.

In addition, female athletes showed a strong relationship between SC and performance, while male athletes showed no association. It could be that being an elite athlete is a more distinctive experience for female athletes, that is, female athletes are likely to be more aware of their athletic abilities, and thus, be more SC than their male counterparts. This may be the reason why SC among male athletes is associated with less performance variance, whereas SC among female athletes is associated with greater variance.³⁴

For athletes with experience of < 10 years in the national team or experience of ≥ 10 years in the national team, CA and performance showed strong positive relations with performance. The finding that technically sophisticated athletes consistently exhibit the high level of CA, and that this is strongly related to performance seems to confirm that presence of the high level of CA improves performance among elite athletes and provides a feelings of readiness before a performance.¹⁵

The findings of this study should be viewed within the context of its limitations. First, although we used coaches for each sport as experts to evaluate athlete performance, including individual and team sports, measurements were still subjective. In future research, an inspection of visual records could perhaps provide a more objective means of evaluating athlete performance. Second, combat sports were included as individual sports, and thus, we were not able to investigate the interactive effect of skill and sport type. Since performance might be influenced differentially by state anxiety and SC for different skill and sport types, it is important that in future studies the interactive effects of skill and sport type be examined. Third, our results are based on examinations of the effects of state anxiety and SC, as assessed one day before first events, on performance. Therefore, our study is limited in terms of identifying the effects of variables at other times. The determination of how changes in state anxiety and SC prior to, during, and after performances affect elite athlete performance may provide critical information regarding the training and education of individual athletes.

However, the practical implications of our study emphasize that high levels of state anxiety and SC, especially high intensity of CA, deviates elite athletes from debilitating interpretations of anxiety symptoms in a highly pressured event. This provides further evidence to support the findings that indicate elite athletes respond differently towards anxiety symptoms than novice athletes.³⁵ Therefore, there is a need to manage precompetitive anxiety symptoms and SC differently for elite athletes and non-elite athletes. In order to achieve enhanced performance among elite athletes education and intervention should place focus on long-term strategies to protect against negative interpretations of anxiety symptom in addition to focus upon identifying specific antecedents of state anxiety and SC according to type sport, type of skill, gender, and levels of skill.

4. CONCLUSION:

Our findings suggested high intensity CA have instructive effect on performances. Moreover, type of skill, gender, and years in the national team were found to function as moderating variables that affected state anxiety, SC, and performance relationships. The results of moderating variables analyses indicated that CA was the strongest factor of performance, although SC and SA showed substantial relationships with performance in female and male athletes.

5. ACKNOWLEDGMENT:

This work was supported by a 2-year Research Grant of Pusan National University. All authors declare that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this article.

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Received on 19.07.2018 Modified on 18.10.2018

Research J. Pharm. and Tech 2019; 12(2):750-756.

DOI: 10.5958/0974-360X.2019.00133.1

		Cognitive Anxiety min=9, max=35 α=0.79	Somatic Anxiety min=9, max=32 α=0.85	Self-Confidence min=11, max=40 α=0.83
Age	27.2±4.41
Gender	Female, n=34	19.63±6.32	16.22±5.05	23.25±5.83
Gender	Male, n=31	21.0±5.83	18.62±6.05	27.71±5.28
Years in the National Team	<10 years, n= 43	21.14±5.90	17.18±5.35	27.48±5.83
Years in the National Team	≥10 years, n=22	19.85±6.19	17.47±5.84	22.86±4.96
Type of Sport	Individual, n=8	25.63±5.01	21.31±6.51	29.44±3.64
Type of Sport	Team, n=57	19.54±5.87	16.82±5.34	23.72±5.56
Type of Skill	Noncombat, n=59	20.11±6.17	17.02±5.48	24.04±5.60
Type of Skill	Combat, n= 6	23.0±4.24	22.75±6.08	30.25±2.99

	1	2	3	4
1. Performance		0.31⁺	0.17	0.23
2. Cognitive Anxiety			0.59⁺⁺⁺	0.67⁺⁺⁺
3. Somatic Anxiety				0.31⁺
4. Self-Confidence

Figure 1. Interaction between Cognitive Anxiety and Somatic Anxiety on Performance

Figure 2. Overall Model and Slope Coefficients related with Cognitive Anxiety, Somatic Anxiety, Self-confidence, and Performance Relationships (CI; 95% confidence interval)

Figure 3. Exploratory Model Slope Coefficients for Each Moderating Variable with respect to Relationships between Factors of State Anxiety and Performance Results (CI; 95% confidence interval, ⁺ Beta coefficient significant at p<0.05; ⁺⁺ Beta coefficient significant at p<0.005)

Figure 1. Interaction between Cognitive Anxiety and Somatic Anxiety on Performance

Figure 2. Overall Model and Slope Coefficients related with Cognitive Anxiety, Somatic Anxiety, Self-confidence, and Performance Relationships (CI; 95% confidence interval)

Figure 3. Exploratory Model Slope Coefficients for Each Moderating Variable with respect to Relationships between Factors of State Anxiety and Performance Results (CI; 95% confidence interval, + Beta coefficient significant at p<0.05; ++ Beta coefficient significant at p<0.005)

Figure 3. Exploratory Model Slope Coefficients for Each Moderating Variable with respect to Relationships between Factors of State Anxiety and Performance Results (CI; 95% confidence interval, ⁺ Beta coefficient significant at p<0.05; ⁺⁺ Beta coefficient significant at p<0.005)