Competitive Anxiety or Coronavirus Anxiety? The Psychophysiological Responses of Professional Football Players After Returning to Competition During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Overview

Journal Psychoneuroendocrinology

Specialties Endocrinology
Neurology
Psychiatry

Date 2021 May 28

PMID 34049198

Citations 12

Authors

Amir Hossien Mehrsafar

Ali Moghadam Zadeh

Jose Carlos Jaenes Sanchez

Parisa Gazerani

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to examine the relationship between competitive anxiety, fear/anxiety of COVID-19, and autonomic and endocrine stress responses in professional football players after returning to competition during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Ninety male professional football players (age: 26.33 ± 2.48 yr) volunteered to participate in this study, which included an official competition. Psychophysiological responses, including the Fear of COVID-19 Scale, the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale, and the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 Revised, were collected 30 min before the competition. In addition, salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) and salivary cortisol (sCort) were collected at 8 a.m. and 15 min before the competition.

Results: The main findings, based on the Pearson correlation, showed significant positive correlations between COVID-19 anxiety and somatic competitive anxiety (p = 0.01), cognitive competitive anxiety (p = 0.01), and competition response of sCort and sAA (p = 0.01). Moreover, fear of COVID-19 was positively correlated with COVID-19 anxiety (p = 0.01). On the contrary, the awakening response of sCort and sAA was not found to be correlated with psychological parameters (all p > 0.05). The analysis also indicated that there was no significant correlation between self-confidence with other psychological and physiological variables (all p > 0.05). The regression analysis showed that cognitive anxiety was a relevant predictor for the competition response of sCort and sAA (p < 0.05). Moreover, COVID-19 anxiety was the only predictor of somatic and cognitive anxiety (p < 0.05).

Conclusions: The present study provides the first preliminary evidence that COVID-19 anxiety and competitive anxiety might pose a negative impact on the athletic performance of professional football players during COVID-19 pandemic competitions. Thus, research is needed to build a strategy to reduce the psychophysiological stress related to COVID-19 and competition response.

Citing Articles

Saliva as a diagnostic tool in soccer: a scoping review.

Ferreira J, Jimenez M, Cerqueira A, Rodrigues da Silva J, Souza B, Berard L PeerJ. 2024; 12:e18032.

PMID: 39421430 PMC: 11485103. DOI: 10.7717/peerj.18032.

Return to play of young and adult professional athletes after COVID-19: A scoping review.

Ceglie N, Petito A, Cibelli G J Exerc Sci Fit. 2024; 22(3):208-220.

PMID: 38549622 PMC: 10973587. DOI: 10.1016/j.jesf.2024.03.005.

Assessment of Female Hormonal Influence on COVID-19 Vaccine Response: A Prospective Cohort Study.

Selvam S, Ramadoss R, Shanmugam R, Sundar S, Ta L, Ramani P Cureus. 2024; 16(2):e54417.

PMID: 38510901 PMC: 10950846. DOI: 10.7759/cureus.54417.

Impact of COVID-19 on football attacking players' match technical performance: a longitudinal study.

Luo L, Sun G, Guo E, Xu H, Wang Z Sci Rep. 2024; 14(1):6057.

PMID: 38480764 PMC: 10937722. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-56678-y.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the psychological aspects and mental health of elite soccer athletes: a systematic review.

Andrade A, DOliveira A, Neiva H, Gaertner G, da Cruz W Front Psychol. 2024; 14:1295652.

PMID: 38333426 PMC: 10850388. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1295652.

References

Strahler J, Skoluda N, Kappert M, Nater U . Simultaneous measurement of salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase: Application and recommendations. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2017; 83:657-677. DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2017.08.015. View

Hays K, Thomas O, Maynard I, Bawden M . The role of confidence in world-class sport performance. J Sports Sci. 2009; 27(11):1185-99. DOI: 10.1080/02640410903089798. View

Vandenberg O, Martiny D, Rochas O, van Belkum A, Kozlakidis Z . Considerations for diagnostic COVID-19 tests. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2020; 19(3):171-183. PMC: 7556561. DOI: 10.1038/s41579-020-00461-z. View

van Stegeren A, Wolf O, Kindt M . Salivary alpha amylase and cortisol responses to different stress tasks: impact of sex. Int J Psychophysiol. 2008; 69(1):33-40. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2008.02.008. View

Reardon C, Bindra A, Blauwet C, Budgett R, Campriani N, Currie A . Mental health management of elite athletes during COVID-19: a narrative review and recommendations. Br J Sports Med. 2020; . DOI: 10.1136/bjsports-2020-102884. View

Barnes M, Sax P . Challenges of "Return to Work" in an Ongoing Pandemic. N Engl J Med. 2020; 383(8):779-786. PMC: 7317659. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMsr2019953. View

. World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki: ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects. JAMA. 2013; 310(20):2191-4. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2013.281053. View

Simpson N, Gibbs E, Matheson G . Optimizing sleep to maximize performance: implications and recommendations for elite athletes. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2016; 27(3):266-274. DOI: 10.1111/sms.12703. View

Ruffault A, Bernier M, Fournier J, Hauw N . Anxiety and Motivation to Return to Sport During the French COVID-19 Lockdown. Front Psychol. 2021; 11:610882. PMC: 7773808. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.610882. View

10.

McAloon C, Collins A, Hunt K, Barber A, Byrne A, Butler F . Incubation period of COVID-19: a rapid systematic review and meta-analysis of observational research. BMJ Open. 2020; 10(8):e039652. PMC: 7430485. DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-039652. View

11.

Rice S, Gwyther K, Santesteban-Echarri O, Baron D, Gorczynski P, Gouttebarge V . Determinants of anxiety in elite athletes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Br J Sports Med. 2019; 53(11):722-730. PMC: 6579501. DOI: 10.1136/bjsports-2019-100620. View

12.

Lautenbach F, Laborde S, Klampfl M, Achtzehn S . A link between cortisol and performance: An exploratory case study of a tennis match. Int J Psychophysiol. 2015; 98(2 Pt 1):167-73. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2015.10.002. View

13.

Ulrich-Lai Y, Herman J . Neural regulation of endocrine and autonomic stress responses. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2009; 10(6):397-409. PMC: 4240627. DOI: 10.1038/nrn2647. View

14.

Hakansson A, Moesch K, Jonsson C, Kentta G . Potentially Prolonged Psychological Distress from Postponed Olympic and Paralympic Games during COVID-19-Career Uncertainty in Elite Athletes. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020; 18(1). PMC: 7792570. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18010002. View

15.

Kocak O, Kocak O, Younis M . The Psychological Consequences of COVID-19 Fear and the Moderator Effects of Individuals' Underlying Illness and Witnessing Infected Friends and Family. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021; 18(4). PMC: 7917729. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18041836. View

16.

Ahorsu D, Lin C, Imani V, Saffari M, Griffiths M, Pakpour A . The Fear of COVID-19 Scale: Development and Initial Validation. Int J Ment Health Addict. 2020; 20(3):1537-1545. PMC: 7100496. DOI: 10.1007/s11469-020-00270-8. View

17.

Mahmud M, Talukder M, Rahman S . Does 'Fear of COVID-19' trigger future career anxiety? An empirical investigation considering depression from COVID-19 as a mediator. Int J Soc Psychiatry. 2020; 67(1):35-45. PMC: 7335942. DOI: 10.1177/0020764020935488. View

18.

Salari N, Hosseinian-Far A, Jalali R, Vaisi-Raygani A, Rasoulpoor S, Mohammadi M . Prevalence of stress, anxiety, depression among the general population during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Global Health. 2020; 16(1):57. PMC: 7338126. DOI: 10.1186/s12992-020-00589-w. View

19.

Allwood M, Handwerger K, Kivlighan K, Granger D, Stroud L . Direct and moderating links of salivary alpha-amylase and cortisol stress-reactivity to youth behavioral and emotional adjustment. Biol Psychol. 2011; 88(1):57-64. PMC: 3270695. DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2011.06.008. View

20.

Capranica L, Condello G, Tornello F, Iona T, Chiodo S, Valenzano A . Salivary alpha-amylase, salivary cortisol, and anxiety during a youth taekwondo championship: An observational study. Medicine (Baltimore). 2017; 96(28):e7272. PMC: 5515742. DOI: 10.1097/MD.0000000000007272. View