EXAMINING THE EFFECT OF ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND COACH COMMUNICATION ON PRE-COMPETITION ANXIETY: A RESEARCH ON ACTIVE STUDENT ATHLETES

This research was conducted to investigate of academic success and coach communication level on pre-competition anxiety and self-confidence levels of students who do active sports. The sample consists of a total of 216 student athletes (age: 20.63±4.57), 89 female and 127 male. Pre-competition anxiety was measured with the "Revised Competition State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2R)". Academic success was evaluated based on the participants' grade point average. “t test, ANOVA and Pearson Correlation test” were used. Cognitive anxiety (CA) level of students was 8.63 points (high); physical anxiety (PA) level was 8.51 points (medium); self-confidence (SC) level was 15.29 points (high). There is a significant and positive relationship between academic success and coach communication level (p=0.28; r=0.150); However, there was a significant and negative relationship between coach communication level and pre-competition CA (p=0.000; r=-0.279) and a significant and positive relationship with SC level (p=0.000; r=0.292). CA, PA and SC scores of students were significantly different according to gender (p=0.001; p=0.002; p=0.001); However, there was no significant difference according to sports age, coach type, education level and coach gender (p>0.05). As a result, it has been determined that students who do active sports have serious CA before the competition and very high SC. While the grade point average of the participants increases, the level of coach communication also increases. While coach communication level increases, their cognitive anxiety decreases and self-confidence increases. Therefore, while the grade point average increases, cognitive anxiety level decreases and self-confidence level increases. Increased academic success positively affects pre-competition anxiety.