Sport/Exercise Psychology Chapter 13: Arousal Regulation

Are stress, arousal, and anxiety inevitable? 

• yes 

Is stress, arousal, and anxiety controllable?

• yes

How would you help an athlete understand stress, arousal, and anxiety?

• identify sources and symptoms

• recognize the interaction

• ID best recipe of emotions

• tailor practices to meet individual needs

• develop confidence and coping skills

What are some sources to psychological stress?

• fear of failure

• social evaluation

• feelings of inadequacy

• loss of control

• physical state

• coach’s opinion

What is more important, how individuals cope with anxiety, or how much anxiety they experience?

• How they cope with anxiety

In order to increase self-awareness of arousal, what must happen?

• you must be aware of arousal/anxiety in order to control it

What is the emotional thermostat?

• the arousal levels people have

• some people run hot (high arousal) and other run cold (low arousal)

How would you help someone control their emotional thermostat?

• identify the best recipe of emotions for performance

• teach athletes to regulate arousal related emotions

What are symptoms of arousal and state anxiety? 

• sweating, cold hands, dry mouth, headaches, muscle tensions 

• negative self-talk 

• butterflies in stomach 

• inability to concentrate

What are the three categories of anxiety reduction techniques?

• somatic

• cognitive

• multimodal

What are somatic techniques?

• breathing control and muscle relaxation

• relaxing body

• relaxation response

What are cognitive techniques?

• thought stopping (recognize when you’re having negative thoughts and tell yourself to stop

• thought replacement (actively replace thoughts you don’t like with thoughts you like)

What are multimodal techniques?

• stress inoculation 

• combo of somatic and cognitive 

Why should somatic and cognitive techniques be used together in a multimodal approach? 

• mind and body are closely related 

• mind body connection 

What are some somatic techniques?

• progressive muscle relaxation: tensing and releasing muscle groups to relieve stress

• Breath control (deep, centered, boxed)

What are some Cognitive techniques?

• Autogenic training: repeated mental phrases. “my arms and legs are heavy. My arms and legs are warm”. Has somatic effect

What effect do somatic and cognitive techniques have on each other?

• somatic techniques have cognitive effects

• cognitive effects have somatic effects

What are some examples of multimodal techniques? 

• Stress management training (SMT)

• Stress Inoculation training 

What is stress inoculation training?

• exposure to stress gradually to build coping skills

What are the steps to stress inoculation training?

1. prepare

2. deal

3. cope

4. evaluate

What are the components of the whole package of sports stress management?

• mental appraisal

• physiological response

• cognitive restructuring training

• relaxation skills training

• integrated coping response

Mental appraisal

• athlete evaluates and interprets the situation

Physiological response

• the body’s stress reaction

Cognitive restructuring training

• replacing negative thoughts with constructive ones

Relaxation skills training 

• somatic relaxation 

Integrated coping response

• when the athlete has developed both cognitive and somatic coping skills

What is the matching hypothesis?

• anxiety management techniqeu’s are matched to a particular problem

What anxiety management techniques should be used for mental relaxation, physical relaxation, and if someone’s uncertain of what to do?

• Mental relaxation - cognitive

• Physical relaxation - somatic

• Uncertain - multimodal

What is coping?

• process of constantly chaining cognitive and behavioral efforts to manage specific external and/or internal demands or conflicts appraised as taxing or exceeding one’s resources

what are the types of coping?

• Problem focused: plans, self-talk, time management

• Emotion focused: meditation, reappraisal, withdrawl

What are some problem focused categories? 

• information gathering 

• precompetition and competition plans 

• goal setting 

• time management skills 

• problem solving 

• increasing effort 

• self-talk 

What are some emotion focused categories?

• meditation

• relaxation

• wishful thinking

• reappraisal

• self-blame/withdraw

To get the highest effects of coping, should problem and emotion focused be combined?

• yes

What are some on-site relaxation tips?

• smile, have fun, stay present

• practice stressful scenarios

• use game plans and stay focused

What is some arousal inducing techniques?

• Raise arousal deliberately: elevate physiological activation and mental alertness 

• pregame speeches 

• goal statements and cue words 

• imagery/visualization 

• music 

• Goal = optimal arousal level 

What are some ways to energize yourself as an athlete?

• increase breathing

• act energized

• use mood words

• listen to music

• use imagery

• have a pre-game routine