THE ASSESSMENT OF AGGRESSION AND ANXIETY IN YOUNG BASKETBALL AND HANDBALL PLAYERS

Background
Playing sports entails numerous forms of stress that athletes need to be able to manage in order to deliver the desired performance. It is also important that they release any accumulated tension in a way that would enable them to be more assertive.

Material and methods
The sample consisted of 147 athletes (age 13.93±1.22). The validated Hungarian version of the Buss-Perry (1992) Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ) and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children were utilized in the research (STAI-C). The statistical analyses were examined through SPSS 24.0. software, where values p≤0.05 were considered significant.

Results
Trait aggression had a positive correlation with state anxiety (r=0.17; p=0.04) and trait anxiety as well (r=0.17; p≤0.01). A positive correlation has been found between verbal aggression and trait anxiety (r=0.19; p=0.03), and state anxiety (r=0.17; p=0.44). A positive correlation can also be found between physical aggression and trait (r=0.28; p≤0.01) and state anxiety (r=0.16; p<0.05). Trait anxiety has been found higher in female athletes (33.47±7.01) than in males (29.75±5.81)(t=-3.24; p=0.04).

Conclusions
Based on the results, it was found that there is a strong correlation between anxiety and aggression. Thus, as it is crucial for everyday people to have appropriate coping skills, it would be also important for athletes.