Effects of Systematic Desensitization on State Anxiety, Fear of Depth and Interest to Continue to Sport Participation in Female Swimming Beginners

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 M.A in Sport Psychology, Department of Physical Education and Sport Science, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch, Isfahan, Iran.

2 Associate Professor in motor behaviour, Department of Physical Education and Sport Science, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan (Khorasgan)Branch, Isfahan, Iran

Abstract

Introduction: Fear of depth is one of the most important barriers to swimming learning. The purpose of this study was to investigate effect of a systematic desensitization on state anxiety, fear of depth, and interest in continuing to sport participation in female swimming beginners.
Method: By a semi-experimental research design with pre-test post-test and control group a total sample of 30 female swimming beginners (20-30 year-old) were selected through purposeful sampling method and were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. The experimental group received regular desensitization for eight 60-minute sessions, whereas the control group involved in daily activities during the training period. Three instrument of the study: State Anxiety Inventory, Fear-of-depth Questionnaire, and Interest in Continuing Sports Participation Questionnaire completed in the Pre-test and post-test by both groups and data were analyzed using an Analysis of Co-variance test.
Results: The findings showed that regular desensitization significantly reduced means of state anxiety and fear of depth and promoted interest in the continuing sports participation in experimental group than control.
Conclusion: The systematic desensitization have positive impact on female swimming beginners with fear of depth and is recommended to them which increase their interest in continuing sports participation as well.








 


 


 

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