Anxiety and psychological variables of sports performance related to injuries in high-performance sportsmen

Introduction

The aim of this research is to analyze the relationships between anxiety and the psychological variables of sports performance, with the history of injuries in high-performance sportsmen.

Material and Methods

A cross-sectional and correlational study was designed selecting 63 sportsmen through a stratified random sampling (n= 21 softball, soccer and baseball respectively). To obtain the information and measure the variables, the Questionnaire on Sports Aspects and Injuries, the State -Trait Anxiety Inventory, the State in Competition Anxiety Inventory and the Psychological Inventory of Sports Execution were used. The analysis was carried out using the percentage distribution, mean, standard deviation, skewness, kurtosis, Kolmogorov - Smirnov, HSD Tukey de Anova and the Pearson correlation coefficient (p≤0.05).

Results

Softball sportsmen present greater anxiety in competitions (baseball .000; soccer .003) and soccer players have suffered more serious injuries (baseball .008; softball .027). The psychological variables of sports performance that established a relationship with injuries showed an inverse and significant direction such as self-confidence (number of injuries .020), attention control (number .034 and severity .009), negative coping control (number .008 and severity .008) and positive coping control (number .005 and severity .012).

Conclusions

A low self-confidence and limited skills to control attention and emotions, make up the vulnerability of the sportsmen studied, which means that a psychological preparation focused on these psychological processes will contribute to the prevention of injuries.