Associations between competitive anxiety, athlete characteristics and sport context: evidence from a systematic review and meta-analysis

Rocha, Viviane Vedovato Silva; Osório, Flávia de Lima

doi:10.1590/0101-60830000000160

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Review Article • Arc. Clin. Psychiatr. 45 (3) • 2018 • https://doi.org/10.1590/0101-60830000000160 linkcopy

Associations between competitive anxiety, athlete characteristics and sport context: evidence from a systematic review and meta-analysis

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Background: There is a vast literature investigating the possible associations between competitive anxiety, athlete variables and sports context. As far as we are concerned, there is no study which has compiled such findings to produce more robust evidence on this topic.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to conduct an exploratory systematic review of the literature followed by a meta-analysis in order to investigate possible associations between competitive anxiety, social-demographic characteristics, profile of the athlete and sports context.

Methods: Systematic searches of PubMed, PsycInfo, Web of Science, Lilacs and SciELO electronic databases were performed to identify studies published between January 2006 and January 2018, including a manual search in the references of the selected studies.

Results: A total of 59 studies were included for qualitative synthesis and 27 for meta-analysis. More robust associations were observed between competitive anxiety and female gender, lower age, and less experience time.

Discussion: Knowing the variables which exert influence on competitive anxiety can be relevant to plan specific treatment and intervention programs, enabling the athlete's development beyond technical and physical preparation.

Keywords:
Competitive anxiety; performance anxiety; athlete; sport; evaluation

	Studies included			Sample				Methodological Aspects
Ref.	Author (Year) Country	n	Age (Years) Mean (sd)/Range	Sport	Training (Years) Mean (sd)	Source of Recruitment	Design	Anxiety Instruments	Interest variables	Method Quality (%)
¹⁹	Bertuol & Valentini (2006) BRA	35♀ 33♂	12-16	A, V	< 1.0	CE	CS	SCAT	SG/AT/CO	50%
²⁰	Carré et al. (2006) CAN	14♂	18.2 (1.48)	HK	NI	CE	CS	CSAI-2	CO	61%
²¹	Fernandes & Nunes (2006) BRA	9♂	27.8 (NI)	FT	> 5.0	CE	CS	STAI-S	CO	59%
²²	Han et al. (2006) KOR	277♂	17.3 (2.99)	A, BB, CR, D, G, R, RG, J, JV, S, SW, TW, SW, WT	NI	NI	CS	STAI-ST	AT/CO	55%
²³	Stavrou et al. (2006) GRC	52♀ 47♂	20.0 (4.5)	A, CC, ST, SW	> 7.9 (4.6)	CE	CS	CSAI-2D	CO	61%
²⁴ *	Gonçalves & Belo (2007) BRA	47♀ 58♂	15.2 (1.76)	F, H, SW, SSW, V	NI	LP	CS	SCAT	SG/AT/CO	61%
²⁵	Haneishi et al. (2007) USA	18♀	18-24	S	NI	CE/LP	CS	SAS	AT	55%
²⁶ *	Vasconcelos-Raposo et al. (2007) BRA	529♂	23.0 (4.23)	S	11.21 (4.47)	LP	CS	CSAI-2	SG/AT/CO	55%
²⁷ *	Abrahamsen et al. (2008) NOR	89♀ 101♂	17.8 (5.7)	A, BD, G, O, SW, T	NI	CE	CS	SAS	SG	61%
²⁸ *	García et al. (2008) ESP	48♀ 49♂	14.7 (1.3)	J	NI	CE	CS	CSAI-2	SG	57%
²⁹ *	Géczi et al. (2008) HUN	52♂	U-18: 16.78 (NI) A-18: 27.21 (NI)	IHK	NI	LP	CS	CSAI-2	SG	50%
³⁰ *	Hanton et al. (2008) UK	97♀ 120♂	20.4 (2.92)	A, C, RG, T	NI	NI	CS	SAS-M CSAI-2M	AT	61%
³¹	Kaplan et al. (2008) TUR	22♂	22.6 (2.0)	S	10.8 (1.9)	CE	PL	STAI-S	CO	48%
³²	Ramiro et al. (2008) ESP	18♀	24.0 (3.9)	HK	NI	CE	CS	STAI-S	AT	52%
³³	Abenza et al. (2009) ESP	10♂	NI	B	NI	CE	CS	STAI-ST	CO	52%
³⁴ *	Filaire et al. (2009) FRA	8♀ 8♂	♀: 20.2 (1.0) ♂: 22.2 (2.8)	T	10.5 (3.2)	CE	CS	CSAI-2D	SG	55%
³⁵ *	Géczi et al. (2009) HUN	95♂	16-20	IHK	NI	CE	CS	CSAI-2	SG	57%
³⁶ *	Grossbard et al. (2009) USA	498♀ 540♂	11.5 (1.5)	BB, HK, S, V	NI	CE	CS	SAS-2	SG	64%
³⁷	Guillén & Sánchez (2009) ESP	84♀	FD: 23.2 (4.0) NT: 24.9 (3.4)	B	> 5.3 (4.9)	CE	CS	STAI-ST	SG/CO	50%
³⁸	Kim et al. (2009) KOR	12♂	EL: 16.2 (1.38) NEL: 15.8 (0.75)	G	NI	CE	CS	CSAI-2	AT	52%
³⁹	Draper et al. (2010) NZL	9♂	20.3 (1.1)	CB	2.75 (1.75)	AS	E	CSAI-2R	CO	42%
⁴⁰	Fernandes & Silva (2010) BRA	110♂ 151♂	JJ: 23.0 (5.06) SF: 18.1 (5.08)	JJ, SF	> 4.02 (4.08)	CE	CS	CSAI-2	SG/AT	57%
⁴¹	Ferreira et al. (2010) BRA	12♀	21.5 (2.9)	V	≥ 8.0	CE	CS	SCAT	SG/CO	34%
⁴²	Interdonato et al. (2010) BRA	73♂	13.2 (1.88)	B, J, S, SW, V	3.43 (1.79)	LP	CS	SCAT	SG/AT/CO	57%
⁴³ *	Nicholls et al. (2010) UK	55♀ 252♂	21.3 (2.8)	VS	> 9.1 (5.2)	CE	CS	CSAI-2R	SG/AT/CO	52%
⁴⁴	Aguirre-Loaiza & Bermúdez (2011) COL	93♂	17.4 (2.0)	S	7.7 (1.9)	CE	CS	STAI-S	SG/AT/CO	70%
⁴⁵ *	Kolayis & Sari (2011) TUR	44♀ 82♂	20.5 (2.93)	J	8.86 (3.84)	CE	CS	CSAI-2 STAI-S	SG/AT	50%
⁴⁶ *	León-Prados & García (2011) ESP	8♀ 8♂	♀: 10.6 (1.19) ♂: 20.6 (2.92)	AG	> 2.0	CE	CS	CSAI-2RD	SG/AT/CO	61%
⁴⁷ *	Modroño & Guillén (2011) ESP	19♀ 60♂	24.7 (5.8)	W	NI	CE	CS	CSAI-2 SCAT	SG/AT	57%
⁴⁸	Parry et al. (2011) AUT	3♀ 9♂	42.5 (3.6)	TH	> 5.0	CE	CS	CSAI-2	CO	50%
⁴⁹	Radochonski et al. (2011) POL	132♀♂	20.5 (4.5)	A, K	NI	NI	CS	CSAI-2	CO	52%
⁵⁰ *	Vieira et al. (2011)BRA	28♀ 47♂	14-19	A	♀: 3.95 (2.45) ♂: 3.39 (2.12)	CE	CS	CSAI-2	SG	57%
⁵¹ *	Borrego et al. (2012) PRT	44♀ 322♂	17.1 (1.6)	S	NI	CE	CS	CSAI-2	SG	57%
⁵²	Singley et al. (2012) USA	8♀ 14♂	18-40	SD	NI	LP	CS	CSAI-2M	CO	64%
⁵³ *	Souza et al. (2012) BRA	18♀ 33♂	17.8 (2.85)	SW	> 4.11 (4.25)	CE	CS	CSAI-2 SCAT	SG/AT	64%
⁵⁴	Villas Boas et al. (2012) BRA	48♂	12-13	F	NI	CE	CS	CSAI-2	AT/CO	45%
⁵⁵	Asghar et al. (2013)	793♂	12-18	HK, S	NI	LP	CS	CSAI-2	SG	61%
⁵⁶ *	Fernandes et al. (2013) BRA	70♀ 233♂	24.2 (5.07)	B, F, H, J, JJ, K, R, S, SF, SW, T, V	9.03 (5.92)	NI	CS	CSAI-2R	SG/AT/CO	66%
⁵⁷ *	Ibarzábal (2013) ESP	40♀ 52♂	29.1 (5.61)	BB	11.02 (4.79)	CE	CS	CSAI-2	SG	57%
⁵⁸	Jeong & Park (2013) KOR	9♀ 57♂	KR: 43.2 (NI) NKR: 33.5 (NI)	T	> 8.0	CE	CS	CSAI-2	SG	66%
⁵⁹ *	Morales et al. (2013) ESP	14♀ 10♂	NT: 22.3 (2.11) IT: 24.1 (1.78)	J	NI	CE	CS	CSAI-2R	AT/CO	57%
⁶⁰	Parnabas & Mohamood (2013) MYS	147♀♂	NI	S	NI	CE	CS	CSAI-2	SG	57%
⁶¹	Ramis et al. (2013) ESP	422♀♀ 363♂	12.7 (2.20)	AG, B, H, SW, SSW, T, WP	NI	CE	CS	SAS-2	CO	55%
⁶² *	Ruiz-Juan & Zarauz (2013) ESP	71♀ 330♂	♀: 45.7 (10.25) ♂: 47.9 (9.14)	A	NI	CE	CS	CSAI-2R	SG/AT/CO	52%
⁶³	Arruda et al. (2014) BRA	24♂	17.8 (0.4)	B	NI	CE	CS	CSAI-2	CO	66%
⁶⁴ *	Fernandes et al. (2014) BRA	71♀ 196♂	24.3 (5.62)	B, H, F, FV, J, JJ, K, MC, R, S, SF, SW, V	10.03 (5.62)	CE	CS	CSAI-2R	AT	66%
⁶⁵ *	González & Fayos (2014) ESP	22♀ 90♂	27.4 (4.9)	SW, T, V	NI	LP	CS	STAI-ST	SG/AT/CO	68%
⁶⁶	Han et al. (2014) KOR	33♀♂	NI	BS	NI	CE	CS	CSAI-2 STAI-T	AT	57%
⁶⁷	Silva et al. (2014) BRA	13♀	16.3 (1.1)	V	4.7 (NI)	CE	PL	CSAI-2 BAI SSA	CO	59%
⁶⁸ *	Stenling et al. (2014) AUS	163♀ 152♂	♀: 19.4 (3.0) ♂: 20.6 (4.0)	FB, IHK	♀: > 10.1 ♂: > 12.1	CE	CS	CSAI-2R	SG	73%
⁶⁹	Wolf et al. (2014) CAN	108♀ 144♂	20.32 (1.85)	B, IHK, V	> 10.03 (4.22)	CE	CS	CSAI-2D	SG/AT/CO	61%
⁷⁰	Cunniffe et al. (2015) UK	24♂	26.2 (0.9)	RG	NI	CE	PL	CSAI-2R	AT/CO	55%
⁷¹	Fernandez-Fernandez et al. (2015) ESP	12♀	13.0 (0.3)	T	6.0 (2.8)	CE	PL	CSAI-2R	AT/CO	52%
⁷²	Pesce et al. (2015) ITA	25♂	28.6 (5.34)	KB	NI	CE	PL	STAI-S	CO	59%
⁷³ *	Machado et al. (2016) BRA	24♀ 23♂	16.1 (0.34)	V	4.9 (1.99)	CE	CS	CSAI-2	SG/AT	84%
⁷⁴ *	Kurimay et al. (2017) USA	20♀ 80♂	10-60	TT	NI	CE	CS	CSAI-2R	SG	75%
⁷⁵ *	Hagan et al. (2017)	E: 21♀ 26♂ SE: 14♀ 29♂	26.7 (5.29)	T	9.6 (5.12)	CE	CS	CSAI-2D	SG	89%
⁷⁶ *	Nikseresht et al. (2017)	14♂	11.7 (0.82)	SW	NI	CE	CS	SCAT	SG	77%
⁷⁷	Arruda et al. (2017)	12♂	18.6 (0.50)	B	NI	CE	CS	CSAI-2	CO	77%

Qualitative variables	n	At least one evidence of influence in competitive anxiety#
Sociodemographic		No	Yes*
Gender (Female x Male)	21	7 [¹⁹^,⁴⁵^,⁴⁶^,⁴⁷^,⁵⁰^,⁶⁹^,⁷³]	♀ >: 12 [²⁴^,²⁷^,³⁴^,³⁶^,⁴³^,⁵¹^,⁵³^,⁵⁶^,⁶²^,⁶⁵^,⁶⁸^,⁷⁴] \| ♂ >: 2 [⁵⁷^,⁷⁵]
Age (Younger x Older)	18	7 [²⁴^,³⁵^,⁴²^,⁴⁴^,⁴⁶^,⁵⁸^,⁷⁶]	Younger >: 9 [²⁶^,²⁸^,²⁹^,⁴⁰^,⁴¹^,⁴⁵^,⁴⁷^,⁵³^,⁶²] \| Older >: 2[¹⁹^,³⁶]
Nationality/Ethnics**	3	0	3 [⁵⁵^,⁵⁸^,⁶⁰]
Educational Level (Higher x Lower)	2	1 [⁴⁴]	Higher >: 1 [⁴⁵]
Income (Higher x Lower)	1	0	Higher >: 1 [⁴⁴]
Place of Birth (Interior x Capital)	1	1 [⁴⁴]	0
Athletes' Profile		No	Yes*
Experience (Less x More)	13	5 [⁴⁰^,⁵⁶^,⁶⁴^,⁶⁹^,⁷³]	Less >: 7 [²⁶^,³⁰^,⁴⁰^,⁴⁴^,⁴⁵^,⁵³^,⁶²] \| More >: 1 [¹⁹]
Competition Level (Lower x Higher)	11	4 [²⁴,³²^,⁴⁶^,⁴⁷]	Lower >: 6 [²⁶^,³⁰^,³⁸^,⁵³^,⁵⁹^,⁶⁵] \| Higher >: 1 [⁴³]
Previous Performance (Worse x Better)	4	0	Worse >: 3 [²²^,⁶⁶^,⁷¹] \| Better >: 1 [⁶⁹]
Status (Nonstarter x Starter)	5	5 [²⁵^,⁵⁴^,⁶⁹^,⁷⁰^,⁷³]	0
Team Position**	4	3 [²⁶^,³⁷^,⁵⁴]	1 [⁴⁴]
Sport Context		No	Yes*
Temporal Pattern (Pre x Post Competition)	8	2 [²³^,²⁵]	Pre >: 5 [³¹,⁴¹^,⁴⁸^,⁵²^,⁷¹] \| Post >: 3 [³¹^,⁷¹^,⁷²]
Type of Sport (Individual x Team)	6	1 [²⁴]	Individual >: 4 [¹⁹^,²²^,⁴²^,⁴³] \| Team >: 1 [⁵⁶]
Sport Modality**	7	2 [³⁹^,⁴²]	5 [²²^,⁴⁹^,⁶¹^,⁶²^,⁶⁵]
Place of Competition (Away x Home)	6	3 [⁶³^,⁶⁷^,⁷⁰]	Away >: 3 [²⁰^,²³^,⁶⁹]
Type of Competition (Official x Unofficial)	5	0	Official >: 5 [²⁵^,⁵⁹^,⁷¹^,⁷²^,⁷⁷]
Opponent's Level (Higher x Lower)	3	1 [⁶⁹]	Higher >: 2 [³³^,⁷⁷]

Independent Variables	Moderator Analysis	Effect Size (95% CI)	Cochran Q	I2 (95% CI)	Egger (95% CI)
	Somatic dimension (SCA)	0.24 (0.02 to 0.45)	84.43 (df = 15); p < 0.0001	82.2% (71.6% to 87.7%)	1.60 (-0.74 to 3.95); p = 0.17
GENDER	Cognitive dimension (CCA)	0.26 (0.10 to 0.43)	119.09 (df = 19); p < 0.0001	84.0% (76.5% to 88.3%)	1.04 (-1.18 to 3.26); p = 0.34
♀ x ♂ (Ref.)	State-CA	0.25 (0.10 to 0.41)	141.41 (df = 30); p < 0.0001	78.8% (70.0% to 84.1%)	-0.78 (2.89 to 1.33); p = 0.46
	Trait-CA	0.78 (0.35 to 1.21)	217.91 (df = 6); p < 0.0001	97.2% (96.3% to 97.8%)	10.38 (3.77 to 16.99); p = 0.01
	Somatic dimension (SCA)	0.29 (0.02 to 0.55)	24.14 (df = 7); p = 0.0011	71.0% (24.0% to 84.3%)	1.55 (-0.64 to 3.73); p = 0.13
AGE	Cognitive dimension (CCA)	0.11 (-0.13 to 0.36)	44.71 (df = 8); p < 0.0001	82.1% (64.6% to 88.9%)	1.85 (-0.77 to 4.50); p = 0.14
Younger x Older (Ref.)	State-CA	0.38 (0.16 to 0.60)	28.78 (df = 11); p = 0.0025	61.8% (13.1% to 78.1%)	1.31 (-0.57 to 3.18); p = 0.15
	Trait-CA	-0.08 (-0.25 to 0.10)	20.30 (df = 6); p = 0.0024	70.4% (13.0% to 84.7%)	0.86 (-2.09 to 3.82); p = 0.48
	Somatic dimension (SCA)	0.23 (-0.05 to 0.50)	18.32 (df = 4); p = 0.0011	78.2% (26.6% to 89.1%)	3.14 (-5.16 to 11.45); p = 0.32
EXPERIENCE	Cognitive dimension (CCA)	0.25 (0.03 to 0.47)	7.20 (df = 3); p = 0.0659	58.3% (0% to 84.1%)	3.55 (3.17 to 3.90); p = 0.001
Less x More (Ref.)	State-CA	0.21 (0.03 to 0.40)	24.07 (df = 7); p = 0.0011	70.9% (23.6% to 84.2%)	3.19 (-0.10 to 6.47); p = 0.05
	Trait-CA*	––	––	––	––
	Somatic dimension (SCA)	0.29 (-0.37 to 0.94)	19.01 (df = 4); p = 0.0008	79.0% (31.2% to 89.4%)	5.13 (-3.87 to 14.12); p = 0.17
COMPETITIVE LEVEL	Cognitive dimension (CCA)	0.21 (-0.31 to 0.73)	57.30 (df = 6); p < 0.0001	89.5% (80.8% to 93.2%)	-0.32 (-6.11 to 5.50); p = 0.90
Lower x Higher (Ref.)	State-CA	0.22 (-0.23 to 0.67)	73.27 (df = 10); p < 0.0001	86.4% (77.2% to 90.8%)	0.17 (-3.21 to 3.55); p = 0.91
	Trait-CA*	––	––	––	––

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[TFN1] ^*
= studies included in meta-analysis; ♀ = women; ♂ = men; A = Athletics; A-18 = above 18 years; AG = Artistic Gymnastics; AS = Artificial Situation; AT = Athlete's characteristics; AUS = Australia; AUT = Austria; B = Basketball; BAI = Beck Anxiety Inventory; BB = Bodybuilding; BD = Badminton; BRA = Brazil; BS = Baseball; C = Cricket; CAN = Canada; CB = Climbing; CC = Cycling; CE = Competitive Event; CO = Context characteristics; COL = Colombia; CR = Ci-reum; CS = Cross-sectional; CSAI-2 = Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2(D = Direction; M = Modified by researchers; R = Revised); D = Discus; E = Experimental; EL = Elite; F = Futsal; FB = Floorball; FD = First Division; FRA = France; FT = Fistball; FV = Footvolley; G = Golf; GER = German; GRC = Greece; H = Handball; HK = Hockey; HUN = Hungary; IHK = Ice Hockey; IT = International; ITA = Italy; J = Judo; JJ = Jiu-Jitsu; JV = Javelin; K = Karate; KB = Kickboxing; KR = Korean; KOR = Republic of Korea (South Korea); LP = Local practice; MC = Motocross; MYS = Malaysia; n = Sample size; NEL = Non elite; NI = Not informed; NKR = Not Korean; NOR = Norway; NT = National; NZL = New Zealand; O = Orienteering; PL = Prospective longitudinal; POL = Poland; PRT = Portugal; R = Running; REF = Reference number; RG = Rugby; S = Soccer; SAS = Sport Anxiety Scale (-2: second version; M = Modified by researchers); SCAT = Sport Competition Anxiety Test; SD = Skydiving; SF = Surf; SG = Sociodemographic characteristic; SPA = Spain; SSA = Subjective Anxiety Scale; ST = Shooting; STAI = State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (S = only state subscale; T = only trait subscale; ST = both state and trait subscale); SW = Swimming; SSW = Synchronised Swimming; T = Tennis; TH = Triathlon; TUR = Turkey; TT = Table Tennis; TW = Taekwondo; UK = United Kingdom; USA = United States of America; U-18 = under 18 years; V = Volleyball; VS = Various sports; W = Windsurf; WP = Water Polo; WT = Wrestling.