Psychological Reports, 1997,81, 1139-1147.

O Psychological Reports 1997

ANTECEDENTS OF INTENSITY AND DIRECTION DIMENSIONS

OF COMPETITIVE ANXIETY AS A FUNCTION OF SKILL'
SHELDON HANTON AND
School of Sport €T Cultural Studies
University of Wales Institzrte Cardzff
GRAHAM JONES
Sport Psychology Research Grozrp
Department of Physical Edzrcation, Sports
Science 6 Reoeatior~Managemenf
Loughborotrgh University

Summay.-Described here is a follow-up and extension of the study reported by

Hanton and Jones in 1995. Situational antecedents of both 'intensity' (level) and 'di-
rection' (facilitative/debilitative) dimensions of precompetitive state anxiety in 97 &re
and 114 nonelite comoetitive swimmers were examined. Antecedents were assessed via
the modified swimming version of the PreRace Questionnaire, while cognitive anxiety,
somatic anxiecy, and self-confidence were measured via the modified version of the
Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 one hour before competition. Step-wise multi-
ple regression analyses on the intensity scores indicated that cognitive anxiety in the
elite group was significandy related to Perceived readiness (5.6%) and Internal envi-
ronment (9.6%). while no predictors emerged in the nonehte group; scores on somar-
ic anxiecy correlated wich those on Incernal environment (9.4%) and Position goal
(14.4%) in the elite group, and by Attitude towards previous performance (4.7%) and
Internal environment (8.5%) in the nonehte group. Set€-confidence was predicted by
Perceived readiness in the elite group (30.3%) and the nonelite group (16.9%). In the
case of h e direction scores (facilitative/debilitative interpretations), no significant cor-
relations of scores on cognitive anxiety or somatic anxiety emerged for the elite group;
however, in the nonelite group the Coach influence factor predicted cognitive anxiety
(4.5%) and somatic anxiety (4.9%). These findings show that common and unique
antecedents of 'intensity' and 'direction' exist for swimmers as a function of their skill
and also highlight the importanc role of the coach in the maintenance of Eacilitative
interpretations of anxiety by nonehte performers.

The multidimensional conceptuahzation of conlpetitive anxiety in sport

has become well established since the development of Martens, Burton, Vea-
ley, Bump, and Smith's (1990) Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI
-2). This questionnaire examines sport-specific 'intensities' of cognitive and
somatic anxiety and self-confidence and has stimulated considerable re-
search. However, this inventory has been criticized recently for its limited
examination of only the 'intensities' of reported symptoms. The question-
naire essentially does not measure a directional component to the anxiety,
that is, the nature of the performer's interpretation of those symptoms in
terms of whether they are fachtative or debhtative to the upcoming per-
formance (Jones, 1995). Since the contribution of directional perceptions by

'Address correspondence ro Sheldon Hancon, Ph.D., School of Sport, University of Wales Insti-
tute Cardiff, Cyncoed, C a r M , CF2 6XD, UK or e-mail (SHanton@uwic.ac.uk).
1140 S. HANTON & G. JONES

Jones (1991), research has developed in support of the u d t y of this addi-

tional dimension (Jones & Hanton, 1996; Jones, Hanton, & Swain, 1994;
see Jones, 1995 for review).
Despite growth in certain areas of research on competitive anxiety
adopting a multidimensional approach, the examination of the antecedents
of anxiety has lagged. This is surprising since the identification of factors
associated with anxiety symptoms should fachtate the development of appro-
priate precompetition psychological interventions.
Martens, et al. (1990) proposed that the two modes of anxiety have cld-
ferent sources and hypothesized that the situational antecedents of the inten-
sity of cognitive anxiety and self-confidence are environmental factors relat-
ing to the performers' expectations of success; that is, perceptions of abhty
and those of the opponent. Antecedents which increase somatic anxiety are
thought to be nonevaluative, of shorter duration, and largely consist of con-
dtioned responses to environmental s t i m d (Martens, et a/., 1990; Morris,
Davis, & Hutchings, 1981). These might include warm-ups prior to competi-
tion, importance of the match, social facilitation effects, or preparation in
the locker room.
Despite the lack of attention to antecedents, a small number of studies
have provided some interesting findings (Gould, Petlichkoff, & Weinberg,
1984; Jones, Swain, & Cale, 1990). Specifically, the study which stimulated a
resurgence within this line of research was that of Jones, et a/. (1990), using
a measure of antecedents specific to running, the PreRace Questionnaire.
Findmgs indicated that the antecedents of cognitive anxiety in elite collegiate
middle-&stance runners were factors associated with Perceived readiness, At-
titude towards previous performance, and Position goal; self-confidence was
predicted by Perceived readiness and External environment. No antecedents
of somatic anxiety emerged.
Following Jones, et a/. (1990) research, further stuches have addressed
antecedents for an individual sport via the modification of the original Pre-
Race Questionnaire (Hanton & Jones, 1995; Lane, Terry, & Karageorghis,
1995a). First, Hanton and Jones' work (1995), of which this paper provides
an extension, examined antecedents for elite competitive swimmers. Support-
ing Jones, et al.'s (1990) findings, cognitive anxiety and self-confidence
scores were also predicted by a Perceived readmess factor; however, the im-
portance of how one places in the event and the competitive environment
were sign$icandy related to scores on somatic anxiety (see Hanton &Jones,
1995). Second, Lane, et al. (1995a) established more support for the impor-
tance of perceived physical and mental readiness in predicting scores on all
three anxiety components in duathletes. Together, these studes highlight the
need to develop instruments to assess antecedents of anxiety in indvidual
sports.
 ANTECEDENTS: INTENSITY AND DIRECTION OF ANXIETY 1141

Despite this research, little is known about the possible antecedents of

the directional component of competitive anxiety since the majority of previ-
ous studies have examined only the correlates of the intensity of anxiety.
One exception is Lane, Terry, and Karageorghis's (1995b) path analysis
study of triathletes, which established relationships between scores on the
Recent form and somatic anxiety drection and, when combined with
Coach's influence with direction of scores on cognitive anslety.
Given the established body of literature supportmg the importance of
assessing the performers' interpretations of their precompetition psychologi-
cal state, this appears a worthy question to address. Thus, the study report-
ed here investigated antecedents of both intensity and lrection of competi-
tive anxiety. Also, prior studies of antecedents have focused solely on elite
performers so this study extends previous work by reporting a comparison
of performers of high and low skill.

Participants
The participants were 211 competitive swimmers from a variety of swim-
ming events whose ages ranged from 13 to 29 years (M= 18.98 yr., SD=
2.58). Elite (n=97) and nonehte ( n = 114) swimmers were lstinguished on
the basis of their achievement (ehte) or nonachievement (nonehte) of the
quahfymg standard time set by the Amateur Swimming Association of Great
Britain for participation in Senior National Championships or Olympic
Swimming Trials.
Measurement of Anxiety Antecedents
Situational antecedents were measured by a PreRace Questionnaire
which was originally developed by Jones, et al. (1990) and subsequently
adapted by Hanton and Jones (1995) for use with swimmers. The adapted
version measures five factors of 'Perceived Readiness,' 'Attitude Towards
Previous Performance,' 'Position Goal,' 'Coach's Influence,' and 'Internal En-
vironment' (see Hanton & Jones, 1995). These factors accounted for 68.8%
of the variance, with internal consistencies ranging from .63 and .78 in
Jones, et al.'s (1990) study. An identical factor structure was formed for the
quest~onnairewith swimmers in Hanton and Jones' (1995) study.
Measurement of Comperitive State Anxiety
A modified version of the Competitive Stace Anxiety Inventory-2 (Mar-
tens, et al., 1990) was used to measure intensity and direction of cognitive
anxiety, somatic anxiety, and self-confidence prior to performance. The scale
was comprised of the original 27 items, with nine items in each subscale.
The response scale asked each subject to rate the intensity of each symptom
on a scale anchored by 1 ("not at all") and 4 ("very much so"). Thus, possi-
1142 S. HANTON & G. JONES

ble intensity scores on each subscale ranged from 9 to 36. Martens, et al.
(1990) reported the internal consistency vla Cronbach coefficients alpha rang-
ing from .79 to .90 for the intensity responses. In addition, the Direction
scale developed by Jones and Swain (1992) was included for the cognitive
and somatic anxiety items in which each symptom was rated on a scale an-
chored by -3 ("very debilitative") and + 3 ("very facilitative"). Thus, possi-
ble direction scores on each subscale ranged from -27 to +27. Swain and
Jones (1996) reported internal reliabhty analyses for scores on the direction
scale of .83 for cognitive anxiety and .72 for somatic anxiety.
Procedure
The sample was drawn from six ddferent swim meets during the 1992
and 1993 seasons. The majority of the nonelite subjects (n=78) were exam-
ined at the British Universities Sports Federation Open Championships, and
the majority of the ehte swimmers (n =75) at the British Olympic Swimming
Trials. The PreRace Questionnaire and Competitive State Anxiety Invento-
ry-2 were administered in that order to the participants one hour prior to
their main competitive event. Before completing the questionnaires, each in-
dividual was presented standardized instructions based on the recommenda-
tions of Martens, et al. (1990). The instructions informed the swimmers of
the need for honest responses and an indication of their feelings "right
now."

Descriptive Statistics for the PreRace Questionnaire and Modified Competitive

State Anxiety Inventory-2
The mean scores and standard deviations from the two questionnaires
are presented in Table 1. Mean PreRace Questionnaire factor scores indi-
cated, in comparison to the nonelite group, that the elite performers held
more favorable perceptions of readiness, had a more positive attitude to-
wards their previous performance, perceived they were more capable of
achieving their positional race goals, held a more positive opinion of the
coaches' influence, and rated the competitive environment as more suitable
for performance.
Scores on the modified Competitive State Anxiety Lnventory-2 gave
similar scores on the intensity of anxiety, but with the elite performers re-
porting more facilitative anxiety interpretations and greater intensity of self-
confidence2 than the nonelite group (see Jones, et al., 1994, for details).

2Direction of self-confidence was noc examined in view of high correlations benveen scales for
intensity and direction in previous research, which suggests the scales essentially examine the
same psychological state (see Jones, Swain, & Hardy, 1993).
 ANTECEDENTS: INTENSITY AND DlRECTION OF ANXIETY 1143

TABLE 1
DESCRIPTIVE FORTHE P R E ~ c EQUESTIONNAIRE
STATISTICS
AND COMPETIT~VESTATE~ E T INVENTORY-2
Y

Measure Nonelite, 12: 114 Elite, 11: 97

M SD M SD
PreRace Questionnaire
Perceived Readiness
Atutude Towards Previous Performance
Posirion Goal
Coach M u e n c e
Internal Environment
Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2
Cognitive Anxiety Intensity
Cognitive Anxiety Direction
Somatic Anxiety Intensity
Somatic Anxiety Direction
Self-confidence Intensity

Prediction of Dimensions of Intensity and Direction for Anxiety

Stepwise multiple regression analyses were employed to establish which,
if any, of the five PreRace Questionnaire factors best predicted the intensity
and cbrection of the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 components in
the elite and nonelite groups.
Cognitive Anxiety
The results shown in Table 2 indicate that two of che five factors were
significantly related to intensity of cognitive anxiety in the elite group. The
Perceived readiness factor was the major precbctor, although it only account-
ed for 5.6% of the variance. The second significant predctor was Internal
environment, which, when considered together with Perceived readiness, ac-
counted for 9.6% of the total variation in cognitive anxiety. Both factors
were negatively related to the intensity of cognitive anxiety, in that the great-
er the perceived readiness and the more favorable the perception of the pool
concbtions, the lower the intensity of cognitive anxiety. No significant pre-
dictors of cognitive anxiety intensity emerged for the nonelite swimmers.
No significant prechctors of the direction of cognitive anxiety emerged
in the ehte group; however, in the nonelite swimmers Coach's Influence pre-
&cted the direction of cognitive anxiety, accounting for 4.5% of the vari-
ance. The relationship was positive in that the more positive the perception
of the coach the more fachtative the perception of cognitive anxiety.
Somatic Anxiety
The factor of Internal environment emerged as the major predctor of
somatic anxiety intensity in the elite group, accounting for 9.4% of the total
variance. Position goal was the second predctor in the elite group, provid-
 S. HANTON & G. JONES

TABLE 2
SUMMARY O F STEPWSE REGRESSION:
,MULTIPLE SIGNIFICANTPREDICTORS
O F COGNITIVEANXIETY,
SOMATICANXIETYA N D SELF-CONFIDENCE
Competitive State Anxiety PreRace Questionnaire R R~ F
Inventory-2 Subcomponent Factor
Cognitive Anxiety
Elite ( n = 9 7 )
Intensity Perceived readiness 0.24 0.06 5.68"
Internal environment 0.3 I 0.10 5.00"
Direction
Nonelire ( n = 114)
Intensity
Direction Coach's influence 0.21 0.05 5.25"
Somatic Anxiety
Elite
Intensity Internal environment 0.3 1 0.09 9.83 t
Position g o d 0.38 0.14 7.94t
Direction
Nonelite
Intensity Attitude towards previous
performance 0.22 0.05 5.50'
Internal environment 0.29 0.09 5.14"
Direction Conch's influence 0.22 0.05 5.81'
SeE-confidence
Elite Perceived readiness 0.55 0.30 4 1.36t
Nonelite Perceived readiness 0.4 1 0.17 22.71t
tp<.01. * p < .05.

ing an additional 4.8% of the explained variance. Scores on Attitude

towards previous performance emerged as the major predictor for intensity
of somatic anxiety in the nonelite group, accounting for 4.7% of the vari-
ance. Lnternal environment was the second predctor, which when
considered in conjunction with the Attitude towards previous performance
factor, provided an additional 3.8% of the variance. All the factors for the
elite and nonelite groups were negatively related, in that the greater the per-
ceived ddficulty of the goal and the more difficult it was to achieve, the
greater were scores for intensity of somatic anxiety. Also, the more favorable
the perception of the last race the lower the intensity of somatic anxiety.
No significant predictors of direction in somatic anxiety emerged in the
elite group; however, for the nonelite swimmers ratings on Coach's influence
were correlated with scores for the drection of somatic anxiety, with 4.9%
of the variance in the form of a positive relationship.
Self-confidence
Intensity of self-confidence scores were significantly predicted in both
groups by the Perceived readmess factor, accounting for a much greater per-
 ANTECEDENTS: INTENSITY AND DIRECTION OF ANXIETY 1145

centage of the variance than in the cases of cognitive and somatic anxiety,
i.e., elite 30.3% vs nonehte 16.9%. The relationship was positive whereby
the greater the perception of perceived readmess the greater the intensity of
self-confidence.
DISCUSSION
This study represents a partial replication, but also further extension, of
previously reported findings (Hanton & Jones, 1995). The central aim was
to examine and compare the antecedents of drection as well as intensity of
nonelite and elite competitive swimmers. As such, this represented an explo-
ratory investigation in which it was Micult to formulate specific hypotheses.
However, find~ngsfrom previous research have established that Competitive
State Anxiety Inventory-2 intensity subscales have both different and com-
mon antecedents (Gould, et al., 1984; Jones, et al., 1990). Factors relating to
expectations of success predicted scores on both cognitive anxiety and self-
confidence, and antecedents of somatic anxiety significantly related to envi-
ronmental stirnd (Hanton & Jones, 1995).
Cognitive anxiety shared no common antecedents between the two
groups. Intensity of cognitive anxiety scores of the A t e swimmers were pre-
dicted by Perceived readmess and Lnternal environment; however, no
significant ~redictorsemerged in the nonelite group. Perceived readmess has
consistently been put forward as a significant predictor of cognitive anxiety
(Jones, et al., 1990; Lane, et al., 1995a), although
- it accounted for only a rel-
atively small percentage of the variance in the study reported here. One pos-
sible reason for this could be that the original PreRace Questionnaire was
designed for use with the specific population of male middle-&stance run-
- -

ners. Despite extensive interviews with competitive swimmers to establish

how they generally feel during the period imme&ately preceding a race, the
ddference in the constitution of the samples may have been more influential
than first thought. It should be emphasized that, while the correlations are
statistically significant, they do represent minimal predictive uthty. Further,
this issue highlights the necessity for researchers to explore alternative meth-
ods to examine anxiety antecedents such as path analysis techniques or struc-
tural equation modelling procedures. Interestingly, this Perceived readmess
factor was a common antecedent for the ehte and nonelite groups in the
prediction of rated self-confidence, accounting for greater percentage of the
variance. This provides some support for the notion that cognitive anxiety
and self-confidence do share common antecedents in elite performers, but
factors exist which are unique to each (Hanton & Jones, 1995; Jones, et al.,
1990; Martens, et al., 1990). Specifically, in the study reported here, Per-
ceived readmess was a common antecedent to intensity of cognitive anxiety
and self-confidence but Internal environment was unique in that those
1146 S. HANTON & G. JONES

scores predicted intensity of cognitive anxiety but not of self-confidence.

From a practical viewpoint, this finding suggests that similar intervention
strategies to enhance self-confidence may be appropriate for elite and non-
elite swimmers; however, d~fferentstrategies may need to be implemented
for the treatment of cognitive anxiety. Favorable perception of readiness are,
therefore, important if high self-confidence is to be achieved in both groups.
Coaches should ensure that both elite and nonelite swimmers perceive them-
selves as physically and mentally ready by structuring training sessions and
encouraging psychological techniques such as positive and reinforcing self-
talk or imagery (see Hardy, Jones, & Gould, 1996 for reviews).
There was a common antecedent of intensity of somatic anxiety. The
factor of Lnternal environment was the major predictor in the elite group
and the second step prehctor in the nonelite swimmers, in conjunction with
Attitude towards previous performance. This was the only common anteced-
ent of intensity anxiety in the study. The factor accounted for more of the
variance in the elite swimmers than cognitive anxiety, provilng partial sup-
port for the hypothesis that somatic anxiety is more related to environmental
stimuli than cognitive anxiety (Martens, et al., 1990). This provides support
for Hanton and Jones (1995), that suitability of pool conditions for nonehte
performers is also an important source of information on which to base per-
formance expectancies, as was the case for the elite group.
The findings for the prehctors of the scores for direction are interest-
ing, especially regarding the nonelite swimmers. There were no common
antecedents in the elite and nonelite groups as no predictors of the scores
for direction of cognitive or somatic anxiety emerged in the elite swimmers.
This is surprising in view of the recent research evidence which suggests the
importance of directional perceptions for performers of high skill (Jones, et
al., 1994; Jones & Swain, 1995). Ratings of Coach's influence, however,
emerged as the major predictor of direction of scores on both cognitive and
somatic anxiety in the nonelite group supporting the findings of Lane, et a / .
(1995b). This factor was the only antecedent of direction in the study. This
suggests a possible dependence and reliance in the nonelite swimmers upon
a supportive coach which has clear implications for coaching practice. Ln
contrast, the elite group may assume a more internal locus of control in
terms of their psychological states prior to performance, so their interpreta-
tions of their responses may not be dependent upon external factors. To fa-
chtate perceptions of cognitive and somatic anxiety in nonelite swimmers,
the coach should ensure these are perceived positively in training sessions
and at previous competitions by the swimmers in the period leading up to a
competition.
The findings from this study support the importance of examining the
drection of performers' anxiety states as well as their intensity. This research
 ANTECEDENTS: INTENSITY AND DIRECTION O F ANXIETY 1147

reiterates that skill is an important individual ddference variable in the com-

petitive state anxiety response and the need to examine antecedents of
competitive anxiety in specific sports.
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Accepted September 23, 1997.