ARTICLE INFO

Article Type

Original Research

Authors

Rezapour Mirsaleh   Y (1)
Esmaeelbeigi   M (1)
Salari   H (*2)






(*2) Physical Education Department, Humanities & Social Sciences Faculty, Ardakan University, Ardakan, Iran
(1) Counseling Department, Humanities & Social Sciences Faculty, Ardakan University, Ardakan, Iran
(1) Counseling Department, Humanities & Social Sciences Faculty, Ardakan University, Ardakan, Iran

Correspondence

Article History

Received:  September  11, 2018
Accepted:  November 11, 2018
ePublished:  May 15, 2019

BRIEF TEXT


The competitive state anxiety refers to all the temporary excitement of the athlete in the competitive environment of the sport, which is associated with concern and tension.

Competitive state anxiety refers to all temporary emotions of an athlete in a competitive sporting environment, which is associated with anxiety and tension [5]. This anxiety involves three dimensions, including cognitive, physical and emotional. ... [6-8]. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is one of the approaches that can help athletes to experience less conflict with the competition's competitive environment [9]. ACT is the non-judgmental and complete acceptance of an experience in the present situation and also the removal of obstacles [10]. ... [11-13]. Sharp studied the impact of therapeutic interventions on anxiety disorders. The results of his study showed that ACT could be used as an appropriate treatment for anxiety disorders [14]. In a study, Ferdinand et al. examined the effect of ACT in patients with anxiety disorder. Their results showed that this treatment was effective for anxiety in the participants [15]. ... [16-20].

The aim of the present study was to determine the effectiveness of ACT on the competitive state anxiety of veterans, who are football athletes.

This study was a semi-experimental research with post-test pre-test and follow-up design with control group.

This study was conducted on 30 veterans, who were football athletes in Yazd province in 2012-2013.

Thirty athletes were selected by random sampling method and randomly divided into the experimental and control groups (each group: 15 subjects). The subjects were first informed about the research and its objectives, time and educational sessions schedule and were asked to refer on the dates announced to participate in the training program they agreed. The samples were selected according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Prior the briefing sessions for athletes, those who announced their willingness and met the inclusion criteria were identified. They were provided with the necessary explanations and asked for commitment to follow the training program. Accordingly, 30 subjects were selected as the sample. The inclusion criteria included at least two years of professional playing football (national competitions), at least diploma degree, no history of specific psychological disorder, and the maximum age of 50 years, and also being absent for more than two sessions was considered as the exclusion criterion.

To assess the dependent variable, the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2) was used. It was developed by Martens et al. in 1990 [6], containing 17 questions and three subscales, including mental anxiety, physical anxiety and confidence. Its validity was also confirmed by concurrent validity [6]. The internal reliability coefficient of CSAI-2 was reported0.85 and 0.83, respectively [21]. It was standardized in Iran by Mehrsafar et al. and they showed that it has a relatively appropriate validity and obtained content validity ratio of 0.74 and content validity index of 0.97 [22]. The essential permissions were obtained from the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs in Yazd province and the informed consent was also obtained from the participants and the ACT training sessions then performed for the experimental group. These training sessions were held at the time all participants agreed and an easy access place was considered, as well. They trained in eight 120-min weekly group sessions. Each session included a review of the task of the previous session, training the topics directly, intragroup discussion, conclusion and introducing the assignment for the next session. The training program was based on the ACT 8-session protocol developed by Hayes (Table 1) [23]. Through the training the control group did not receive any intervention. Both groups completed CSAI-2 before, at the end and two months after the study. After collecting data in the follow-up, the control group was also received the training as the experimental group. Data analysis was performed by SPSS-20 software, using Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Levene's tests to examine the natural distribution of variables and homogeneity of variances, ANOVA test with repeated measures to investigate the research hypotheses and also Bonferroni post-hoc test to evaluate the changes through the study and sustainability of the effect of treatment in the follow-up.

The mean age of the athletes was 23.16±62.2 and 22.93±0.76 years in the experimental and control groups, respectively. 7 veterans in the experimental group and 8 in the control group had injuries less than 25%, 7 veterans in the experimental group and 5 in the control group had 25-50% injuries and one veteran in the experimental group and 2 in the control group had 50-70% injuries. Athletes in the experimental and control groups had 2.3±0.7 and 8.2±0.85 years experience in the selected provincial and national soccer competitions. Six subjects in the experimental group and four in the control group also were participated in other sport competitions for selection for veterans plus football.The mean scores of athletes in both groups were almost equal in the competitive state anxiety components in the pre-test, whereas in post-test, there was a significant difference in the control and experimental groups. ACT significantly changed competitive state anxiety scores in athletes in the pre-test, post-test and follow-up in all three subscales, including physical, cognitive and emotional anxiety. According to the changes in scores, ACT could significantly reduce the scores of physical and cognitive anxiety and increase the confidence of athletes (Table 1).There was a significant difference between the mean scores of physical, cognitive and emotional anxiety in the pre-test, post-test, and follow-up (p <0.01). No significant difference was found in competitive state anxiety in the post-test and follow up, whereas the athletes in the experimental group obtained significantly higher scores in the follow-up (p <0.05). Therefore, the effect of treatment in the follow-up phase remained stable in all three subscales, including physical and cognitive anxiety and confidence (Table 2).

... [24]. Since the competitive conditions of the sporting events, especially in professional athletes, can lead to the increased anxiety and increased negative performance in a person [8], ACT via affecting the athlete to deal with the competition's competitive environment, can have a positive effect on the reduction of state competitive anxiety [9]. Studies show that the psychological characteristics of a football player plus influencing how to play (especially in relation to fair play) may affect the level of concentration, reaction time, levels of anxiety and readiness [12]. ACT can help the athlete to perceive internal and external realities and accept them by increasing awareness and attention to the present [13].

Designing similar studies in the same time in athletes from other cities is recommended to generalize the results of this study appropriately.

This research was limited to the football and veterans of Yazd province, which may affect the generalization of the results of the research to other athletes from other sport fields and other provinces.

Acceptance and commitment therapy is effective in reducing the level of anxiety (cognitive and physical) and increasing self-confidence in veterans, who are football athletes.

The researchers are grateful to the all participants in this research, as well as the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs of Yazd province.

None declared.

Prior the research, the essential coordination was made with the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs of Yazd and the subjects' consent was obtained and they were assured of the confidentiality of information.

This study was supported by the authors.

TABLES and CHARTS

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