Levels of manifest anxiety in athletes

Abstract

The aim of the study was to assess the levels of manifest anxiety in athletes. One hundred and fifteen athletes (16 females and 99 males) aged 15 to 25 years who were engaged in different team sports and 174 students (132 females and 42 males) aged 19-25 years, from the Medical Faculty in Skopje, who had sedentary life style were asked to anonymously fulfill the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale (TMAS), which measures trait anxiety. It is an acquired behavioral disposition to perceive an objectively safe object as threatening and dangerous and respond to it with anxiety, the intensity of which is not adequate to the objective situation. Mean value of the acquired TMAS scores in athletes was 13,07 ± 5,83, while medical students scored 21,65 ± 8,33 (p<0,05) on TMAS. Twenty nine percent of the athletes and 75 percent of medical students showed high levels of manifest anxiety (TMAS score higher than 15). There was no difference in mean TMAS scores between male athletes aged 15 to 18, and athletes aged 19 to 25. Athletes showed significantly lower levels of manifest anxiety compared to sedentary medical students.