Optimal and predicted anxiety in 9-12-year-old track and field athletes

In an effort to determine the applicability of individual zone of optimal functioning (IZOF) theory in young athletes, state anxiety was assessed in 40 track and field athletes (20 male and 20 female) from 9 to 12 years of age. Optimal anxiety was determined by having participants complete the state-trait anxiety scale for children (STAIC) with instructions to recall how anxious they felt prior to their best performance of the season. Twenty-four hours prior to three 'more important' and three 'less important' track meets, participants completed the STAIC under instructions to predict how anxious they would feel 1 h prior to the upcoming track meet. Actual precompetition anxiety was assessed 1 h prior to each meet. Self-ratings of performance were collected following each meet in which the athletes competed. Athletes were grouped by age (younger, 9-10 years old); (older, 11-12 years old) and by gender for analysis. Analysis by independent t-tests indicated that predicted and actual precompetition anxiety values did not differ for either age or gender for the more important meets. However, the 11-12-year-old girls had higher (P<0.05) predicted and actual anxiety values in the 'less important' meets than all other groups. Significant correlations (P<0.05) between predicted and actual precompetition anxiety occurred in all groups for both the less important and more important meets (r=0.66-0.97), with the exception of the 9-10-year-old girls for less important meets (r=0.38, P>0.05). Of all the participants, 26% reported performing best when anxiety values were in the high range. Self-ratings of performance were not lower (P>0.05) in cases in which the athlete experienced high levels of precompetition anxiety. In summary, the present findings indicate that several aspects of IZOF theory apply to preadolescent athletes.