The use of relaxation techniques to increase self-confidence and reduce performance anxiety in squash players

AbstractThe effect of transcendental meditation on self-confidence is reported; one-way ANOVA revealed that self-confidence increases over time but only after 2 weeks of the start of the intervention. Qualitative data on the mechanisms of this effect reveal that it could be due to increased time for reflective practice and enhancing executive control. This is consistent with control theory (Jones, 1995) on the nature of performance anxiety in sport.IntroductionIn the domain of Sport Psychology, there is a substantial amount of theory and practice surrounding performance anxiety in practically all sporting contexts. Here two individuals will be presented with an identified deficit in one particular mental faculty which research suggests is pertinent to performance in sport. These two individuals play squash in competitive tournaments at University. Performance anxiety can vary in intensity and direction, and is a feeling of apprehension open to psychological interpretation and marked by biological indicators such as increased heart rate and galvanic skin responsiveness (Jones and Swain, 1993). Relaxation techniques refer here to any intervention aimed at either reducing or reinterpreting the anxiety than an individual is feeling (Hanton and Jones, 1999). Jones (1995) advocated the multidimensional anxiety conceptualisation and subsequently developed a model of control to separate the nature and genesis of beneficial and detrimental anxiety in the literature. The multidimensional nature of anxiety in this model refers to the different qualitative ways in which performance anxiety can vary such as the presence and nature of cognitive intrusions and the temporal patterning of the anxiety response. The cognitive ability of an individual to appraise their anxiety and maintain executive control over their perceptions will ultimately define whether this anxiety helps or hinders them during performance. There is empirical support for the notion that facilitative interpretation of anxiety and greater executive control can elevate performance (Jones, 1995; Jones, Hanton and Swain, 1994; Jones and Swain, 1993) but this theory is developed from an overview of past research, and does not substantially acknowledge the potential weaknesses of this research. Moreover it fails to enter into a thorough debate over the mechanisms which could be responsible for the differing interpretations of anxiety between people. Without this, interpretation is left to completely determine the effect of anxiety and therefore the effect becomes inherently unpredictable. Martens, Burton, Vealey, Bump and Smith (1990) conceptualised cognitive and somatic anxiety as separate phenomena. They theorise that cognitive anxiety will be inversely related to performance and somatic anxiety will have an inverted U-shaped relationship with performance. Importantly these authors also found a positive linear relationship between self-confidence and performance. This suggests that some somatic anxiety is needed for optimal performance, and perhaps self-confidence is also needed to curb cognitive anxiety and maintain composure in the presence of somatic anxiety. It should be noted though that Martens et al. (1990) used an obsolete measure of anxiety (Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2) which does not incorporate measures of the athlete’s interpretation of their anxiety, focusing solely on intensity. This is a huge flaw since it is now widely acknowledged that psychologically talented and self-confident athletes can direct their anxiety towards facilitative ends (O’Brien, Hanton and Mellalieu, 2005). Jones, Hanton and Swain (1994) suggest that it is the interpretation of anxiety which is of upmost importance. But the causes of differences in interpretation are not explored in this research. There is some evidence to suggest that self-confidence; the belief in one’s own ability to successfully complete the task at hand has a substantial influence over an individual’s ability to control or direct their anxiety (Carver and Scheier, 1988; Jones et al., 1994; Hanton, Mellalieu and Hall, 2004). This study will therefore focus on the effectiveness of an often used intervention; relaxation strategies in improving self-confidence.HypothesisThere will be significant improvement in participants’ self-confidence after relaxation therapy. This increased self-confidence will significantly improve performance.Literature reviewWith the proposed theoretical frameworks outlined above in mind, there are many potential interventions which could be suggested to act on the propose d source of negative performance. This review will focus on research into the effects of relaxation therapies on the state of mind of athletes in competitive environments. These include stress inoculation training, mental imagery, massage, EMG biofeedback, progressive relaxation and various forms of meditation. Stress inoculation training involves guided relaxation, mental imagery and making self-statements, it has been shown to be effective in improving gymnastic performance (Mace and Carroll, 1986). Mental imagery (Jones and Stuth, 1997) and massage (Jooste and Khumalo, 2012) have also shown to produce positive results. The above research measures success mainly in terms of stress and objective distress reduction, it did not however aim to help athletes to reinterpret their stress. Also individual differences pose a serious risk in terms of confounding variables in such research. A very important study here is Eppley, Abrams and Shear (1989) who examined the effects of various forms of relaxation therapy against each other. The effect sizes of the reduction in trait anxiety were reported, making this piece of research particularly prominent since not every study will report this statistic. The authors found that most therapies had similar effect sizes, but transcendental meditation had a significantly larger effect size. At the least this has implications to inform the type of interventions which are most effective at reducing anxiety, and the authors even made efforts to control for confounding variables to strengthen their conclusions. However the justification for this research is in question (at least in a sporting context) because of other research to show that anxiety can be beneficial depending on how it is interpreted (Jones et al., 1994). This means that anxiety should not necessarily be seen solely as something to be eliminated; perhaps a better res earch question would examine the qualities which cause people to differ in their interpretation of their anxiety, and suggested coping strategies should focus more on appraisal than reduction of anxiety. Transcendental meditation therapy was therefore settled upon for use in this study because unlike other therapies of this kind it offers ample opportunity for reflection and direction of anxiety which is so often cited as important (Hanton, Cropley and Lee, 2009). The control model and the theory or Martens et al. (1990) provide the theoretical rationale for this investigation.MethodParticipantsThe participants in this study were two individuals; one male, one female recruited from the University squash club who frequently competed in highly competitive tournaments. These two individuals were specifically identified using a short questionnaire administered just before the start of the tournament to identify weaknesses in self-confidence regarding squash performance. Participants were both aged 18-20 and considered themselves to be playing at a non-professional club level in highly competitive tournaments. Participants were verbally advised on the nature of the experiment and their fr eedom to withdraw at any time.InstrumentationThe dependent variable to measure is self-confidence. Competitive state anxiety was measured with the Revised Competitive State Anxiety-2 (Cox, Martens and Russell, 2003) but only the self-confidence sub-scale was used. The questionnaire is available in the appendix.Design and ProcedureParticipants were tested pre-intervention, at one week intervals during the intervention to monitor changes, and finally at post-intervention. Participants were not tested around the time of a tournament to avoid confounding effects of anxiety. After the intervention, semi-structured interviews were administered to both participants. A full transcript of these interviews is available in the appendix. The intervention consisted of three weeks of guided meditation, in which participants were encouraged to think deeply about meaningful things in their lives and to let their thoughts wander. They were encouraged also to think of themselves in relation to the wo rld. This style of transcendental meditation involves little guidance and a quiet, supportive environment in which self-expression is encouraged. Sessions lasted one hour and took place 4 times a week.ResultsA one-way repeated measures ANOVA was performed for both participants. Table 1 shows the descriptive statistics for the variables at each measurement period. As can be seen mean self-confidence ratings gradually increase with time during and after the intervention. The standard deviation also appears to increase however, showing more variability in ratings of self-confidence as therapy progresses. Table 1 Descriptive statistics for self-confidence ratings IntervalMeanStandard Deviation Pre-test183.2 Week 1154.1 Week 2245.7 Post-test284.6 Table 2 displays the post hoc tests for the comparisons between the measurements at the four time intervals. The overall ANOVA showed a significant effect of the treatment (F(3, 3)=9.356, p