The influence of emotional states on dancesport performance

Competitive dancesport (DS) performance is a multifactorial phenomenon influenced by physical and mental factors. The emotions experienced by athletes in competition were strongly linked to their sports performance. The hours before the competition were characterized by a gradual increase in both positive and negative emotions. Their control helped athletes to optimize their performance, as they needed to interpret competition choreographies in addition to executing technical aspects. However, to our knowledge, no studies have investigated the direct relationship between performance and emotional states in DS. The aims were four: (I) to investigate the influence of anxiety and self-confidence on DS performance; (II) to examine the influence of years of experience and perceived preparedness on performance outcomes; (III) to identify the optimal emotional state levels for peak performance and (IV) to investigate differences among different athletes¿ level and class. The design of the study was observational. Participants were 71 Italian DS athletes divided into three groups (22 B-class, 25 C-class, 24 D-class). During a local competition day, participants completed a questionnaire in a paper form divided into two sections: the first aimed to know demographic information of participants, including their experience in DS field, perceived preparedness and previous winnings in the current class, while the second section included the Italian version of the Revised Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2R). To assess athletes¿ performance, the final classification of the competition was taken into consideration. The results showed that both overall and relative variables from the CSAI-2R significantly predicted performance outcomes (p<.05), although somatic anxiety did so to a lesser extent. Significant differences emerged among athletes of different classes in terms of years of experience (p=.000), perceived preparedness (p=.000), cognitive anxiety (p=.000) and self-confidence (p=.000). The optimal levels for good performance were cognitive anxiety (11.61 ± 2.27), somatic anxiety (15.77 ± 1.72) and self-confidence (15.12 ± 2.56). This study confirmed the importance of pre-competitive emotional states, particularly anxiety and self-confidence, in influencing athletic performance in DS athletes. These findings underscore the need for targeted interventions to help DS athletes manage cognitive and somatic anxiety effectively while enhancing self-confidence. Practical applications include psychological training to foster emotional control and pre-competitive preparation, which may contribute to maximizing performance, par-ticularly at advanced competitive levels. Overall, this study contributes to the emerging understanding of the emotional factors impacting DS performance and offers insights for practical applications in sports psychology, reinforcing the value of emotional training in enhancing athlete resilience and performance outcomes. This doctoral work was accepted for publication in `Sports¿, a high-impact journal in the first quartile in Sports Science (Appendix 3).

Author dc:creator

• Aliberti, Sara

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Cherubini, Domenico
• Raiola, Gaetano

• Managing
• Emotional states
• Anxiety
• Self-confidence
• Dancers
• Gestión
• Estados emocionales
• Ansiedad
• Autoconfianza bailarines

Statement dc:rights

• Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10952/9425

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repositorio.ucam.edu:10952/9425