An Outline of Performance Anxiety in Female Athletes

An Outline of Performance Anxiety in Female Athletes Gena Petrick 102160287 University of the Fraser Valley Roger Friesen February 21, 2012 Introduction Have you ever felt an overwhelming feeling of fear or nervousness, prior to competing in an important event? Did it affect your ability to perform? If so, you may be familiar with performance anxiety. An athlete suffering from performance anxiety often will perceive competitive situations as threatening, which can result in feelings of apprehension, fearfulness and tension (Patel, Omar, Terry, 2010). Interestingly, studies have found the prevalence of sport-related performance anxiety to be much higher in female athletes than male athletes (Thatcher, Thatcher,†¦show more content†¦Factors and Influences Common factors that can contribute to performance anxiety include; fear of performance failure, negative social evaluation and/or physical harm, as well as disruption of a well learned routine (Cox, p.201, 2007). The effects of these factors can be further heightened in correlation with importance of an event, or the level of competition. These fears and feelings of anxiety may affect the athlete’s perception of their abilities and hinder their self-confidence, which can be detrimental to their performance. Patterns of perfectionism can also lead to sport-related anxiety, mainly involving setting exceptionally high performance standards of oneself (Cox, p.202, 2007). Setting high standards can often be beneficial to a performance, but athletes that succumb to unrealistic thoughts, that nothing but a perfect/ideal performance is good enough, are more likely to experience negative emotions and heightened levels of anxiety due to the discrepancy between ideal and current self/sit uation (Koivula, Hassmà ©n, Fallby, 2001). Recommendations Management of performance and competitive anxiety can be challenging. The first strategy would be to consult with a clinical psychologist, who will often suggest a behavioural approach. These approaches have been found to be the optimal coping strategy for sport-related anxiety, specifically Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) (Patel etShow MoreRelatedEating Disorders And Body Image Issues1655 Words   |  7 Pagespressure from coaches. In sports, there is a heavy praise on athletes who can stay fit and thin, causing more young people to constantly focus on being thin. (source 4) Even athletes without an eating disorder might have a constant focus on being as thin as possible! This is very unfortunate, because development of an eating disorder may cause an athlete’s performance rate to decrease, even though what was wanted was a higher performance rate. 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