ABSTRACT

In recent years research and theory development in sport psychology has been constantly focused on performance anxiety has given its strong impact on sport performance. The aim of this study is to validate a multiple mediation model, in which the coping strategies are mediating the effect of achievement goals on performance anxiety. The sample included N=116 professional athletes (members of national league handball and volleyball teams), with ages ranging between 13 to 19 years old (m=16, SD= 1.63). All the instruments have been adapted for Romanian population: Coping Inventory for Competitive Sports (CICS), Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire (TEOSQ), and The Sport Anxiety Scale 2 (SAS-2). The obtained results by path analysis sustains the mediating role of task-oriented and disengagement-oriented coping in the relationship between task orientation and performance anxiety, offering further support to the multidimensional model of anxiety.

KEYWORDS: competitive anxiety, achievement goals, coping strategies, path analysis

PAGES:109-124