Elite Athletes’ In-event Competitive Anxiety Responses and Psychological Skills Usage under Differing Conditions

Abstract

Even though the assessment of competitive anxiety responses (intensity, interpretation, and frequency) using the time-to-event paradigm has gained much attention, literature on the account of these same experiences inevent and their corresponding psychological skills adopted under differing conditions is limited. This is a follow up investigation to establish the extent to which associated anxiety responses are stable or dynamic and whether this pattern could be related to reported psychological skills under low or high stressful conditions across gender. Twenty-three high level (N = 13 males and 10 females) Ghanaian Table Tennis players provided data through completion of modified versions of Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2, incorporated with directional and frequency of intrusion scales and the Test of Performance Strategies inventory during breaks within competitive fixtures.