Original articles   

The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 2001 June;41(2):263-8

Copyright © 2002 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Psychophysiological stress in judo athletes during competitions

Filaire E., Sagnol M., Ferrand C., Maso F., Lac G.

From the Laboratoire de la Performance Motrice Bat Biologie B-Physiologie Les Cézeaux, Aubière (France) and * CRIS. Université Claude Bernard, UFRAPS Villeurbanne, France

Back­ground. The rela­tion­ships ­between psy­cho­phys­io­log­ical var­i­ables ­were inves­ti­gated by com­paring phys­io­log­ical ­responses (sal­i­vary cor­tisol and tes­tos­te­rone con­cen­tra­tions) and psy­cho­log­ical ­responses (meas­ured by the Com­pet­i­tive ­State Anx­iety Inven­tory-2 -­CSAI-2-and by the ­State-­Trait Anx­iety Inven­tory -­STAY-) ­prior to ­judo com­pe­ti­tions at two ­levels (­regional ­versus inter­re­gional).
­Methods. ­Twelve ­male ­judo com­pet­i­tors at inter­re­gional ­level (­mean age 22.2±1.6 ­years) ­entered the exper­i­men­ta­tion ­after ­informed con­sent. ­Judo ath­letes com­pleted the ­CSAI-2 ­prior to ­both com­pe­ti­tions and col­lected ­saliva for cor­tisol and tes­tos­te­rone anal­ysis on ­three occa­sions: ­during a ­resting day (base­line ­values) and ­prior to and ­after ­both com­pe­ti­tions. ­Trait ­scales of the ­STAI (Y-2) ­were ­used ­during a ­resting base­line ­period ­with no ­stressful sit­u­a­tions in ­order to ­measure ­participant’s ­self ­reported anx­iety.
­Results. Cog­ni­tive and ­somatic anx­iety ­were ­higher in inter­re­gional cham­pion­ships com­pared to ­regional cham­pion­ships ­whereas ­self-con­fi­dence was sig­nif­i­cantly ­lower. Cor­tisol ­levels ­increased ­sharply (­about 2.5 ­fold ­resting ­levels) ­throughout ­both com­pe­ti­tions ­with no ­changes in tes­tos­te­rone ­levels. Pos­i­tive rela­tion­ships ­between anx­iety com­po­nents (­somatic and cog­ni­tive anx­iety) and cor­tisol ­were ­noted in ­both com­pe­ti­tions.
Con­clu­sions. Sal­i­vary cor­tisol, ­together ­with anx­iety com­po­nents, may pro­vide a ­better sen­si­tive ­index of phys­io­log­ical ­stress ­than tes­tos­te­rone con­cen­tra­tions.