THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 LOCKDOWNS ON PRE-COMPETITION ANXIETY LEVELS IN PROFESSIONAL AND AMATEUR ATHLETES

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate and compare professional and amateur athletes’ pre-competition anxiety levels using a CSAI-2 scale which includes three subscales; cognitive state anxiety, somatic state anxiety and self-confidence before and after Covid-19 lockdown. The hypotheses of this research were that Covid-19 lockdown would have a significant effect on athletes’ pre-competition anxiety levels. Methods: 57 athletes (41 males, 16 females) from 10 different countries were provided with an online Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2) questionnaire, which included 60 questions in order to collect data about athletes’ cognitive state anxiety, somatic state anxiety and self-confidence levels before and after Covid-19 lockdown. Results: It was determined that the differences between the scores of Cognitive state anxiety, Somatic state anxiety and Self-confidence subscales of the athletes included in CSAI-2 before and after Covid-19 lockdown are found to be statistically significant (p<0.05). Conclusions: While the Cognitive state anxiety and Somatic state anxiety scores of both amateur and professional athletes increased after Covid-19 lockdown, their Self-confidence scores decreased. Their age, gender, level of education, playing an individual sport or a team sport or being an elite or non-elite athlete did not have an effect on increased pre-competition anxiety levels. Acknowledgements: I wish to express my sincere appreciation to my supervisor Thalia Panayi (MSc, MA) who provided me with her tireless assistance and her commitment in completing this difficult task. I also would like to express my sincere gratitude to Dr. Koulla Parpa for her all-embracing positivity, devotion to her science and to her students. Furthermore, I would like to thank University of Central Lancashire Cyprus and their amazing staff. To conclude, I cannot forget to thank my family for all the unconditional support in this very intense academic year during the times of pandemic and isolation.