Children's competitive trait anxiety: the relation to parent directives, self-esteem, and perception of athletic competence

Factors impacting competitive sport anxiety are a relevant topic in the field of sports psychology as all athletes are likely to feel anxiety in competitive organized sport environments. Past research shows the directive performance-based feedback of parents can influence children’s perception of their athletic competence and whether they perceive competitive organized sport environments as threatening. The purpose of the present study is to assess the relationship between children’s competitive trait anxiety (CTA), parent directives, children’s self-esteem, and children’s perception of athletic competence during the initiation stage of the athletic career. Pearson correlation, multiple regression, and hierarchal regression analyses were conducted. Results revealed children’s perception of athletic competence and CTA were negatively correlated. Multiple regression analysis results revealed parent directives, children’s self-esteem, and children’s perception of athletic competence were significant predictors of CTA. Lastly, hierarchal regression analysis results revealed self-esteem can moderate the relationship between parent directives and children’s perception of athletic competence. The present study findings has important implications for how the social evaluation of parents can negatively impact children’s psychological state when in competitive sport environments, self-esteem, perception of athletic performance, and competitive organized sport enjoyment.