A cluster analysis of precompetitive anxiety: Relationship with perfectionism and trait anxiety

The purpose of this study was to examine whether athletes of different sports clustered in meaningful ways, based upon their intensity, direction and frequency of cognitive and somatic anxiety using hierarchical cluster analysis, and to compare the subgroups of athletes on trait anxiety, perfectionism and self-confidence. One hundred and sixty six male and female athletes completed the Sport-Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, the Sport Anxiety Scale and the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 Revised including direction and frequency scales. Results revealed five-clusters labelled “anxious facilitators”, “anxious debilitators”, “low anxious facilitators”, “low anxious debilitators” and “ruminator debilitators”. Clusters differed significantly on concentration disruptions, trait somatic anxiety, worry, concern over mistakes, perceived parental pressure, and intensity and frequency of self-confidence. The importance of considering all dimensions of anxiety simultaneously when examining the functional nature of the construct and the five-clusters are discussed.