Stressors (3)
any external environmental demand or internal psychological factor that disrupts homeostasis and initiates a stress
- can be positive, such as looking forward to an
opportunity - can be negative, such as fearing an outcome
Category of stress (5)
Time-limited (voluntary) stress
Time limited (compulsory) stress
Stressful event sequences
Chronic stress
Distant stressors
Time-limited (voluntary) stress
Amateur level competition - usually just for fun
Time limited (compulsory) stress
Selection event to jain an academy - person feels compelled to take part in order to achieve another goal
Stressful event sequences
A chain of related events
Chronic stress
Overtraining - has an uncertain time course or outcome
Distant stressors
An experience (traumatic) in the past that retains some impact on future responses
Autonomic arousal and what it is governed by?
refers to the immediate physiological response to stress
- primarily governed by the sympathetic nervous system
- which activates the “fight or flight” mechanism
Arousal
- the overall state of physiological and psychological activation in an individual
Stress
- A response of the body to a demand made upon it by a stressor resulting in arousal of the sympathetic nervous system.
Drive theory:
States arousal & performance is linear, therefore as arousal increases, so does performance.
Inverted U theory:
Peak performance is achieved when people experience a moderate level of pressure.
Limitations of inverted U theory? (3)
- Lack of credible weight of evidence on responses in sport.
- Anxiety may affect different components in different ways.
- Real-life declines are often sudden and rapid.
Individual Zones of Optimal Functioning (IZOF):
that each athlete has a personalised range of arousal levels in which they perform at their best
Anxiety:
- a subjective experience that depends on how an individual interprets a situation
Cognitive anxiety (the mind)
- Common symptoms of cognitive anxiety include negative/irrational thoughts, feelings of nervousness
**Somatic anxiety (the body) (2)
- Relates to ourperceptionsof our physiological state. For example, worrying about our H.R increase, sweaty palms, shaking hands or stomach butterflies.
- Worrying about these factors makes our focus & performance worse.
Sports Competition Anxiety Test:
analysing an athlete’s responses to a series of statements about how they feel in a competitive situation
Pros Sports Competition Anxiety Test: (6)
- can be used to monitor progression
- simple to administer
- more than one athlete can conduct the test atone time
- easy to generate a large amount of data
- affordable / cost effective
- specific to sport
Cons Sports Competition Anxiety Test: (1)
Qualitative method so you could lie to impress your coach and affect reliability of results
CSAI-2R Questionnaire:
- Measures the different typesof state (cognitive and somatic)andself confidence
Pros CSAI-2R Questionnaire (4)
- Cheap
- Can be completed anywhere
- Easy and quick to conduct
- Relatively validAssessment
Cons CSAI-2R Questionnaire (3)
- Relies on self report.Thereforesusceptible to bias (athletes may alter answers to be more socially acceptable)
- Significant knowledge needed to interpret results
- The 1-4 Likert scaledoesn’tallow participant to expand on their answers
Stress process: (4)
- Cause of stress
- Stress response (Person’s reactions & personality)
- Stress experience (psychological interpretation leads to physiological response)
- Actual behaviour(outcome)
