Effects of Therapy on Athletic Anxiety

Abstract
In our hypothesis research shows that athletes tend to reduce on their anxiety levels after they undergo any sort of therapy. This study tested the prospective effects of therapy sessions on patients. The study will also test the prospective effects of hope, depression and anxiety, using a Beck Anxiety Inventory Test. A test was randomly carried out on participants who were athletes. This study seeks to show how the experiments were carried and the reaction of the participants prior to the tests performed on each individual participant. The implications of this research and findings are discussed, along with the potential directions for the future research.

EFFECTS OF THERAPY ON ANXIETY
Overview of the Present Research We hypothesize that through therapy sessions with a sports psychologist, these athletes will report lower feelings of anxiety during a high-stressed situation, compared to the athletes that received no therapy. In order to test this hypothesis, participants were randomly assigned to a High-Anxiety Condition or to a Low-Anxiety Condition. Anxiety was brought to light by having participants give unrehearsed answers about questions pertaining to their performance immediately following a game. After inducing anxiety (or not), all participants completed a Beck Anxiety Inventory Test. We predict that the student athletes exposed to a high level of anxiety will score lower on the Beck Anxiety Inventory Test than those who were not exposed to the anxiety-inducing treatment.
Method
Participants 30 male undergraduates student athletes from the University of Texas at Tyler participated in the study in exchange for extra credit in the course of their choosing (age ranged from 18 to 45, M+ 19.20, Sd+1.01). It was not necessary to exclude or replace any participants from either treatment condition.
Procedure
Participants were scheduled individually for a procedure lasting approximately 10 minutes. Upon arrival at the laboratory each participant was escorted to a private room for questioning from members of the media. Each participant was assigned to a Low or High-Anxiety Condition. High-Anxiety Condition. Participants randomly assigned to the High-Anxiety Condition read and signed an informed consent document, and the research assistant answered any questions they had. This group of participants did not have previous experience working with a sports psychologist through therapy sessions. Therefore, they did not receive therapy designed to help manage stressful situations to decrease anxiety levels. With only 5 minutes’ notice, the athletes were notified that they would speak in front of a group of reporters asking them questions about the previous game. After the interview, the subjects then completed a Beck Anxiety Inventory test to offer a self-report of levels of anxiety.
Low-Anxiety Condition. Participants assigned to the Low-Anxiety Condition read and signed an informed consent document, and the research assistant answered any questions they had. This group of participants received previous therapy sessions with a sports psychologist in the attempts to better prepare them for high-stress situations, thereby avoiding high levels of anxiety. The participants met with a sports psychology for a total of 8 weeks, 2 sessions per week. After the same game as the High-Anxiety Condition participants, the Low-Anxiety Condition participants were notified that in 5 minutes they would speak to a group of reporters asking them questions about the game. After the interview, the subjects then completed a Beck Anxiety Inventory test to offer a self-report of anxiety levels.
Results
Participants’ levels of anxiety were measured using the Beck Anxiety Inventory test after being interviewed by reporters. This measure was subjected to an independent samples t-test to assess our hypothesis that