Examining state-trait anxiety levels in youth soccer players across various variables

Background and Aim: Football is one of the most popular and widespread sports worldwide. The development of a talented football player and his progress in a successful career usually starts with a good infrastructure education. Football infrastructure aims to provide young athletes with basic skills and prepare them for professional football. In addition to the physical and technical development of football players, their psychological state is also very important. In this study, state-trait anxiety levels in football youth age groups were examined according to various variables Material and Methods: The purpose and significance of the study were explained to the football players participating in the research. Afterwards, the Demographic Information Form and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children were completed. Descriptive values were presented as percentages, maximum, minimum, mean, and standard deviation. Shapiro-Wilk normality distribution test was performed on the data and it was found that they did not show a normal distribution. (p<0.05). Therefore, non-parametric analyses were performed. Differences between the players' age, years of sports experience, position, city of residence, family income level, and number of siblings, as well as the scores obtained from the questionnaires, were analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis test. Pairwise differences between groups were examined using Dunn's post-hoc test. The Mann-Whitney U test was applied to analyze differences in the presence of a family history of athletes. Data analysis was conducted using JASP software (version 0.19.1, Netherlands), with the statistical significance level set at p<0.05. Results: The state-trait anxiety levels of the football players participating in the research were examined according to their sports age, age and position. When examined by sports age group, it was observed that the mean scores of state and trait anxiety did not change. When examined by age group, it was observed that the 11-year-old group had the lowest value, and as the age increased, the anxiety score increased at a low rate. When examined in terms of position, it was observed that the midfield group had the highest value. Conclusion: The state-trait anxiety levels of the football players participating in the research were tested according to their sports age, age and position, and it was determined that their anxiety levels varied according to each variable. Keywords: Football, youth, anxiety, stress, age