Effects of psychological interventions on competitive anxiety in sport: A meta-analysis

Objectives: This study reviewed the effects of psychological interventions on competitive anxiety in sport. Design: Meta-analysis and systematic review. Method: PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, SPORTDiscus, Web of Science, ProQuest, and Sage databases were searched for experimental studies that fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Risk of bias was assessed using the 12 criteria Cochrane Review Book Group tool. Hedge's g and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated and pooled using a random effects model employing the Hartung-Knapp-Sidik-Jonkman (HKSJ) method. Results: The search strategy identified 37 studies which fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The meta-analysis was conducted on 34 studies after removal of outliers. The results showed an overall small to medium-sized effect for psychological interventions on competitive anxiety in athletes (g = -0.42; 95% CI, -0.58 to -0.25). Subsequent subgroup analyses showed that this finding was robust regardless of experimental design, anxiety measure, anxiety type, gender, country, sport, intervention component, intervention delivery method, and intervention duration. The results indicated that the effects might be greater for athletes of higher levels of competition as compared to those from lower levels of competition. Separate meta-analyses also suggested that there were medium to large-sized effects for cognitive anxiety (g = -0.54) and self-confidence (g = 0.55) intensity, and a small to medium-sized effect for somatic anxiety (g = -0.36) intensity. Conclusion: The findings from this review study provide a robust evidence base for the use of psychological interventions to help reduce competitive anxiety in athletes. Future studies need to investigate how psychological interventions might affect the directional interpretation of anxiety symptoms.