A A INFLUÊNCIA DA EXPERIÊNCIA, DA MODALIDADE E DO SEXO NOS NÍVEIS DE ANSIEDADE DE CARATECAS DE ALTO RENDIMENTO

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The objective of this study was to investigate the anxiety levels of high-performance athletes and to assess the influence of competitive experience, of the modality that corresponds to gender, on anxiety levels before starting a competition at the national level. The study included 49 karateka of both sexes, aged between 18 and 50 years (25.40 years ± 7.17). The athletes were divided into different groups, according to the investigated variable: competitive experience (years of competitive practice), modality that competed in the championship and gender. The Competitive State Anxiety Inventory – 2r (CSAI-2r) was used, answered before the athletes' debut in the competition. The results show that gender was the only variable that influenced the results (p<0.05), with men showing higher self-confidence scores and lower cognitive anxiety scores, compared to women. However, men presented higher scores for self-confidence in relation to the subscales of anxiety (somatic and cognitive) (p<0.05), while women did not present differences between the subscales (p>0.05). For the other variables (experience and modality), the results did not show differences between the groups (p>0.05). Regarding experience, the group with less experience did not present differences between the subscales (p>0.05), while the other groups presented higher scores for self-confidence in relation to the anxiety subscales (somatic and cognitive) (p<0.05). Treating the modality, the two groups presented higher scores for self-confidence in relation to the subscales of anxiety (somatic and cognitive) (p<0.05). It can be concluded that gender was the only variable that influenced levels of anxiety before two athletes started competition, but due to the low number of participants, it was not possible to generalize two results for other than the sample investigated.