Prematch anxiety levels and rates of injury in rugby
Date
1988
Authors
Scott, David
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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship of injury rate in rugby with competitive trait anxiety, cognitive anxiety, somatic anxiety, self-confidence and percentage change in heart rate. A secondary purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between state anxiety, as measured by the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2), and state anxiety, as measured by percentage change in heart rate. No significant relationship was found between rate of injury, and competitive trait anxiety , as measured by the Sport Competition Anxiety Test (SCAT); cognitive anxiety, as measured by CSAI-2; somatic anxiety, as measured by CSAI-2; self-confidence, as measured by CSAI-2; and percentage change in heart rate. These results indicated that anxiety, when isolated from other factors , is not a significant factor in regard to injury rate. A relationship between rate of injury and perceived game difficulty was found not to be significant. Furthermore, nonsignificant relationships were also found between CSAI-2 measures of cognitive and somatic anxiety and percentage change in heart rate. However, a significant relationship was revealed between self-confidence and percentage change in heart rate, r ( 41) = -32, p < .05. The finding of nonsignificant relationships between heart rate and cognitive and somatic (CSAI-2) anxiety measures reflects a gap which persists in our understanding about the nature of anxiety. The study revealed the difficulty of establishing a common, significant factor with regard to the incidence of injury in rugby. No one variable, such as anxiety, would seem to be of single most importance. Rather it would seem that is a collection of variables which, acting together, contribute to injury.