Table 2.

Summary of anxiety studies in elite athletes

Authors	Type	Purpose	N (male:female)	Sport; country	Main findings
Abrahamsen et al. [31]	Quantitative; cross-sectional, observational	Achievement motivation for performance anxiety	190 (101:89)	Various; Norway	Females reported greater performance worry, concentration disruption and somatic anxiety than males. Perceptions of a performance climate predicted performance worry for both sexes and concentration disruption for females. Perceived ability predicted less performance worry for females and males
Hatzigeorgiadis and Chroni [32]	Quantitative; longitudinal, observational	Pre-competition anxiety and coping	9 (9:0)	Swimming; Greece	Facilitative perceptions of anxiety symptoms were related to more adaptive cognitive and behavioural outcomes. Swimmers perceiving their anxiety states as facilitative reported more approach- and less avoidance-coping strategies than swimmers perceiving their anxiety states as debilitative
Jones et al. [33]	Quantitative; cross-sectional, observational	Anxiety and performance	211 (sex not reported), 97 elite athletes	Swimming; UK	Elite performers interpreted anxiety as more facilitative to performance than non-elite performers. Furthermore, self-confidence was higher in the elite group. Findings supported the distinction between intensity and direction of competitive state anxiety symptoms
Koivula et al. [34]	Quantitative; cross-sectional, observational	Effects of anxiety, self-confidence, self-esteem	178 (109:69)	Various; Sweden	Self-esteem based on respect for self was associated with more positive patterns of perfectionism, while self-esteem dependent on competence aspects showed more negative perfectionism. Negative patterns of perfectionism were related to higher levels of cognitive anxiety and lower levels of self-confidence