Trait and state anxiety in Israeli student athletes

Area of Science:

• Sports Psychology
• Psychological Assessment
• Human Physiology

Background:

• Trait anxiety is a personality trait influencing behavior.
• Understanding anxiety in athletes is crucial for performance and well-being.
• Physical education students provide a relevant population for studying athletic anxiety.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare trait anxiety levels in individual sport athletes, team sport athletes, and non-competitors.
• To examine state anxiety differences among competitive athletes using psychometric and physiological measures.
• To investigate gender differences in anxiety among competitive athletes.

Main Methods:

• Administered the Spielberger Trait Anxiety Inventory to 251 Israeli physical education students.
• Assessed state anxiety using the Spielberger State Anxiety Inventory and heart rate.
• Compared anxiety scores across individual sport athletes, team sport athletes, and non-competitors.

Main Results:

• Competitive athletes (individual and team sports) demonstrated significantly lower trait anxiety than non-competitors.
• No significant differences in state anxiety were found among competitive athletes.
• Female competitive athletes reported higher trait anxiety but not higher state anxiety compared to males.
• A strong positive correlation was observed between psychometric and physiological measures of state anxiety.

Conclusions:

• Athletic participation, regardless of sport type, may be associated with lower dispositional anxiety.
• State anxiety appears to be independent of competitive level within athletes.
• Gender may moderate trait anxiety levels in competitive athletes, warranting further investigation.
• The convergence of psychometric and physiological measures supports the validity of state anxiety assessment.