Participation motivation and athletes' competitive anxiety, mediating role of psychological resilience and moderating role of sport commitment.

BACKGROUND: As competitive demands in sport increase, competitive anxiety has become an important concern for athletes. Such anxiety may interfere with athletes' performance during a specific competitive event and may also be associated with longer-term mental health difficulties. While existing research has focused on athletes' competitive anxiety, the understanding of its underlying psychological mechanisms remains insufficient. Based on the conservation of resources theory, this study intends to explore the relationship between participation motivation and athletes' competitive anxiety, with an emphasis on the mediating role of psychological resilience and the moderating role of sport commitment. METHODS: This study used a questionnaire survey to gather information from 711 Chinese university student athletes. The variables of participation motivation, psychological resilience, sport commitment, and competitive anxiety were measured. Structural Equation Modeling was used to analyze the data. RESULTS: The findings showed a significant negative link between participation motivation and competitive anxiety, with psychological resilience acting as a key mediating factor. Sport commitment significantly moderated the link between participation motivation and competitive anxiety. CONCLUSION: This study reveals the mechanisms through which participation motivation, psychological resilience, and sport commitment are associated with competitive anxiety among university student athletes. The results suggest that psychological resilience and sport commitment help reduce competitive anxiety, providing both theoretical foundations and practical guidance for psychological interventions aimed at university student athletes.