Association between competitive anxiety, hardiness, and coping strategies: a study of the national handball team

Abstract

Competitive anxiety is an important factor in an athlete’s performance. It varies significantly in its strength and depends on gender, ethnicity, role, and training experience. Due to the importance of the hardiness and coping strategies for overcoming difficulties, It was hypothesized that competitive anxiety can be associated with these mechanisms as well as anxiety traits. Relationships between competitive anxiety, hardiness, coping strategies, anxiety trait, and anxiety state are investigated. Nineteen female players of the national handball team aged between 22 and 35 participated in the study. Russian versions of Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WCQ), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Sports Competition Anxiety Test (SCAT), and Personal Values Survey III-R (PVSIII-R) were used. While their hardiness scores were higher than the ones reported for non-athletes, no association between hardiness and competitive anxiety was revealed. Distancing and Escape-Avoidance coping strategies were positively correlated with anxiety traits. The negative association between Self-Controlling and Seeking Social Support was considered to be inherent for a sample on the female national handball team. It was concluded, the strength of competitive anxiety is not associated with coping strategies and hardiness. A connection between the direction of competitive anxiety with coping mechanisms and hardy attitudes can be assumed for further researches.