Correlations of Emotional Distress and Anxiety with Regards to Athletes of 11-15 Years in Perceptual-motor Sports

Problem Statement: tests were applied on athletes aged between 11 ± 5 and 15 ± 3. The group of athletes are part of the Romanian Olympic Judo team and ski groups of sports clubs in Gheorgheni (HR), Baia-Sprie (MM), Topliţa (HR), Sibiu (SB) and Petrosani (HD). Purpose of Study: through this study, we analyse the correlations between the three psychological processes: emotional distress, attention and anxiety. Methods: The methods we have applied contain the following tests: AM – concentration and attention, AD – distributive attention, AP – perceptive attention, EMAS – emotional distress, PDE – anxiety. These were the initial tests we have used as starting points in our research. The purpose was to increase the sports performance through the application of mental training techniques. Findings and Results: to compare the scores / ranks on cognitive tests applied to the two groups of athletes, we have used nonparametric Mann-Whitney test (U) for unpaired samples. Materiality was α = 0.05 (5%), α = 0.01 (1%) or α = 0.001. To detect the correlation between two quantitative variables, we continued by using the Spearman rank correlation coefficient of (ρ). The analysis of correlation between coefficients was performed using Colton's rule. Polynomial regression was the method used to derive the mathematical equation of dependence of a continuous variable by another variable. Conclusions and Recommendations: The comparative analysis of the cognitive test scores applied on studied groups with statistical significance revealed positive correlations; except for the group ski EMAS, where the test values were negative.