Congruence of Actual and Retrospective Reports of Precompetition Affect and Anxiety for Young Volleyball Players

Abstract

The current study examined the accuracy of retrospective recall of affect and competitive anxiety in 38 youth beach volleyball players, who were randomly assigned into two equal groups: participants who watched a video of their precompetition preparation before responding to the items, and players who did not watch a videotape. All completed the modified competitive State Anxiety Inventory–2 1 hr., and the affect grid 5 min., before a competition and again 2 days later. Accuracy in recalling anxiety and affect by these players was significant in both conditions ( rs = .59–.76 and .41–.59, respectively). However, in the video condition, item responses showed markedly higher percentages of agreement for the Somatic and Cognitive Anxiety subscales and the affect grid than those for the no-video condition (52.6–78.9% and 36.8–52.6%, respectively). Analysis of variance indicated that watching a video for precompetition preparation improved the accuracy of retrospective recall of anxiety and arousal. Video feedback of performance increased the accuracy of retrospective report of affect and anxiety in these young athletes.