Arousal, Stress, and Anxiety

Arousal

blend of psychological and physiological activation, varying in intensity along a continuum (activation)

Anxiety

negative emotional state with feelings of worry, nervousness, and apprehension associated with activation or arousal of the body

*component of activation

trait vs state

trait- part of yourself, general disposition

state- moment dependent changes

*higher trait anxiety is more likely to have more state anxiety

Trait anxiety

an acquired disposition that predisposes a person to perceive a wide range of objectively nondangerous circumstances as threatening and to respond to these with disproportionate state anxiety levels

state anxiety

moment to moment changes in feelings of nervousness, worry, and apprehension associated with arousal of the body

cognitive state anxiety

moment to moment changes in worries and negative thoughts

somatic state anxiety (physiological)

moment to moment changes in perceived physiological arousal, bodily changes

• sweat, breathing, heart rate, temp

perceived control state anxiety

the degree to which one has the resources and ability to meet challenges

stress

substantial imbalance between physical and psychological demands placed on an individual and their response capability under conditions in which failure to meet demands has important consequences

• resources do not meet demands

stress process

do my resources meet the demands of the situation

stages of stress process

stage 1 environmental demand (physical and psychological)

stage 2 individuals perception of the environmental demand

stage 3 stress response (arousal, state anxiety, bodily response)

stage 4 behavioral consequences (performance or outcome)

intervention

stage 1 - removing the threat

stage 2 - changing perception

stage 3 - breathing exercising, managing responses

stage 4 - changing actions

drive theory

as an individuals arousal or state anxiety increases performance increases

• simple (well learned and well engrained) but physical > weight lifting, sprinting

• negative effects on activities that require focus and precision > golf, darts

inverted-U hypothesis

as arousal increases, so does performance up to an optimate point. further increases in arousal past this point decreases performance.

high and low physiological arousal = bad performance

best performance = optimate (moderate) physiological arousal

individual zones of optimal functioning hypothesis

we all have a zone of optimal state anxiety which may not fall directly in the middle of the low to high anxiety continuum

• hard to measure accuracy

• depends on situation, activity and perception of physiological responses

zone - automaticity, thoughts are not distracting, reduced anxiety

not what interventions are based off of - zone is unreliable

multidimensional anxiety theory

type of anxiety matters

• cognitive anxiety > negatively related to performance

• somatic anxiety > inverted U

*difficult to separate cognitive and somatic anxiety

Cusp Catastrophe theory

effects of physiological arousal depend on cognitive anxiety

• complex interaction

cognitive anxiety not necessarily bad

• inverted-U is true when an athlete has low cognitive anxiety

• when an athlete has high cognitive anxiety, increases in physiological arousal result in a rapid and dramatic decline in performance

  • bringing back physiological arousal slightly will not optimize performance

reversal theory

how arousal affects performance depends on an individual’s interpretation of their arousal level

• pleasant - excitement

• unpleasant - anxiety

this view is interesting, but too few studies have been conducted to draw firm conclusions

facilitative and debilitative anxiety

an individuals interpretation of anxiety symptoms is important for understanding anxiety - performance relationship

intensity - how much anxiety one feels

direction - a person’s interpretation of anxiety

role of psychological skills training

facilitative or debilitative depends on

perception of control on the situation

when in control anxiety is perceived as helpful

arousal is multifaceted

physical activation

interpretation of activation (individual differences)

effects on performance depends

individual interpretation

• facilitative or debilitative

• psyching up or psyching out

optimal levels of arousal lead to

peak performance

• interaction of physiological activation and cognitive activation

excessive arousal and catastrophes are

difficult to reverse

how arousal influences performance

increases in arousal and state anxiety cause increases in muscle tension

• leads to fatigue and coordination difficulties

holding hockey stick tighter because of muscle tension changes the way you hit the puck

increases in arousal and state anxiety decreases

effectiveness of attention, concentration, and visual search patterns

• narrows attentional field

• decreases environmental scanning

• shifts attention to dominant style

• shifts attention to inappropriate cues

attentional narrowing

low arousal attentional field is too broad

high arousal attentional field is too narrow

what you can do step 1

identify athletes sources of stress and anxiety

environmental and individual

help to minimize disruptive sources of stress/anxiety

typical sources of stress and anxiety

importance of game

type of sport

uncertainty

trait anxiety

self-esteem

performance expectancies

performance experience

other common sources of psychological stress

fear of failure

feelings of inadequacy

loss of internal control

guilt

social evaluation

current physical state

what the coach thinks/will say

not performing up to ability

what you can do step 2

recognize how personal and situational factors interact to influence arousal, anxiety, and performance

what you can do step 3

identify optimal combo of arousal related emotions needed for best performance

teach athletes techniques to regulate emotions

what you can do step 4

recognize the signs of increased arousal in performers (or decreased)

recognizing symptoms of arousal and state anxiety

cold, clammy hands

constant need to urinate

profuse sweating

negative self-talk

dazed look in the eyes

feeling ill

headache

cotton (dry) mouth

constant sickness

difficulty sleeping

increased muscle tension

butterflied in stomach

inability to concentrate

what can you do step 5

tailor coaching and instructional practices to individuals

sometimes arousal and state anxiety must be reduced and other times maintained, and other times facilitated

what you can do step 6

develop confidence in performers to help them cope with increased stress and anxiety

improving performance when not in optimal state (expanding the zone)

• practice opportunities

• balance challenge and success

• control the controllable

• controlled breathing

• negative though stopping

• staying in the present, process, positive