title: Insecure attachment and anxiety in student athletes.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The main purpose of our research was to examine attachment type and competition anxiety in high school student athletes and general high school students.
  
  
  METHODS
  We recruited 465 student athletes and 543 general students to participate in our study. The Revised Korean version of the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale (K-ECRS) and the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2) were given to all students.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In χ2 tests, athletes showed attachment types in the following order of prevalence: fearful, dismissive, and preoccupied, compared to the fearful, preoccupied, and dismissive order observed in general students. In parametric, independent t-tests, athletes reported significantly higher cognitive anxiety scores, relative to general students. Further, athletes with insecure attachment compared to those with secure attachment reported higher cognitive anxiety scores and self-confidence scores. In both the athletes with insecure attachment and general students with insecure attachment groups, the K-ECRS anxiety subscale was significantly correlated with CSAI-2 total score. In post hoc analysis in the athletes with insecure attachment group, the K-ECRS anxiety subscale was also significantly correlated with the CSAI-2 cognitive anxiety subscale.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that anxious athletes with an insecure attachment style tend to exaggerate threats from both external and internal sources, which negatively affect their performances.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Chung‑Ang University Medical School , Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: D H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zaichkowsky
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D056352:Athletes / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009769:Object Attachment; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales