title: Competitive state anxiety and performance in young female rhythmic gymnasts.
abstract: The study was designed to examine the competitive state anxiety and self-confidence of rhythmic gymnasts participating in the Greek national competition. 86 participants, ages 11 and 12 years, completed the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2, 1 hr. before competition. The athletes, classified by performance (high and low performance) and participation in the finals (finalists and nonfinalists), responded to the three subscales: Cognitive Anxiety, Somatic Anxiety, and Self-confidence. Analyses indicated differences in Self-confidence between high versus low performance groups and finalists versus nonfinalists. No significant differences were found on Cognitive and Somatic Anxiety. In a regression analysis, Self-confidence was the only significant predictor of performance for this sample. Implications refer to the development of strategies to enhance self-confidence in order to improve the gymnast's performance during competition.
authors.affiliation: University of Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Despoina
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tsopani
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dallas
authors.forename: Emmanouil K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Skordilis
mesh_terms: D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D001143:Arousal; D054874:Athletic Performance; D002648:Child; D003163:Competitive Behavior; D005260:Female; D006173:Gymnastics / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics; D012649:Self Concept