The Effect of Competitive Anxiety on the Injury Level of Student-Athletes of Karadeniz Technical University

Abstract

Psychological factors have been significantly confirmed in athletic performance, sports injury prevention, sports rehabilitation, and as an effective means of managing stress and anxiety in competitions. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of competitive anxiety on the injury level of student-athletes of Karadeniz Technical University.

The method of this research is descriptive and correlational. The statistical population includes all athletes of Karadeniz Technical University, which are equal to 320 people. To determine the sample size, Cochran’s sample size estimation formula was used and the number of samples was 175, the gender random sampling method selected. First, to report sports injuries to describe the extent of injuries in the limbs (upper limbs, lower limbs, and trunk) and different parts of the body (joints, muscles, and bones), the report form of sports injuries was used and SCAT questionnaire was used to measure competitive anxiety. We analyzed data using SPSS software. We used regression because of the normality of the data in competitive anxiety tests and the occurrence of sports injuries.

The research findings show that the average competitive anxiety of male athletes is 14.11 and the competitive anxiety of female athletes is 14.49. Competitive anxiety also has a significant positive effect on sports injury. The beta coefficient also shows that competitive anxiety predicts 0.33 changes in sports injury.

Therefore, it can be said that as the level of competitive anxiety of athletic students increases, so does their level of injury, and to control sports injuries, mental skills should be increased and we should control the competitive anxiety of athletes.