An Examination of the Pre-competition and Post-competition State Anxiety Levels of Russian Women’s National Volleyball Team Athletes

Abstract

This study of 14 Russian women’s national volleyball team athletes aimed to determine their pre-competition and post-competition state anxiety levels according to some variables. This descriptive study used the Competition State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2) developed by Martens, Burton, Vealey, Bump and Smith (1990). This inventory has 9 items in 3 sub-factors: cognitive anxiety, somatic anxiety and self-confidence.

A comparison of the pre-competition and post-competition anxiety levels found no statistically significant differences in cognitive anxiety (p>0.05), somatic anxiety (p>0.05) and self-confidence (p>0.05). The highest pre-competition somatic anxiety score fell after the competition, while cognitive anxiety and self-confidence increased after the competition when it was low. There were no statistically significant differences in the athletes’ pre-competition and post-competition anxiety levels by age or income. Considering that success does not occur without a certain level of anxiety, coaches should consider the impact of psychological factors in technical and tactical training.