Pandemic Impacts on Athlete Competitive Anxiety and Its Relationship with Sex, Competitive Level and Emotional Self-Control: A Cohort Study before and after COVID-19

David Tomé-Lourido (), Dolores Ponte, María José Sampedro and Constantino Arce
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David Tomé-Lourido: Department of Psychology, Faculty of Educational Studies, Campus de Elviña, University of A Coruña, 15071 A Coruña, Spain
Dolores Ponte: Department of Social Psychology, Basic Psychology, and Methodology, Faculty of Psychology, Campus Vida, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15705 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
María José Sampedro: Department of Social Psychology, Basic Psychology, and Methodology, Faculty of Psychology, Campus Vida, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15705 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Constantino Arce: Department of Social Psychology, Basic Psychology, and Methodology, Faculty of Psychology, Campus Vida, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15705 Santiago de Compostela, Spain

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 12, 1-12

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic caused a great emotional impact on the general population, with specific consequences in the field of sport and physical activity. The present study was conducted to meet two objectives: (1) to investigate if the pandemic had an impact on competitive anxiety and if the sex and competitive level played a mediating role, and (2) to investigate if the relationship between emotional self-control and anxiety was affected by the pandemic. An amount of 608 Spanish athletes participated, divided into two cohorts, before and after the pandemic. Measurements of competitive anxiety and emotional self-control were made at both time points, which were processed by combining analysis of variance and regression models. Differences were found in competitive anxiety before and after COVID-19, with athlete’s competitive level acting as a mediating variable. For high-level athletes, there was an increase in anxiety, while for lower-level athletes, there was a decrease in anxiety. The pandemic seems to have led to higher levels of anxiety in elite athletes, compared to amateur athletes. There was no interaction between the sex of the participants and the cohort. Emotional self-control remained a significant predictor of low competitive anxiety levels.

Keywords: COVID-19; cohorts; competitive anxiety; emotional self-control; sport (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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