Williams Sarah E, Quinton Mary L, Veldhuijzen van Zanten Jet J C S, Davies Jack, Möller Clara, Trotman Gavin P, Ginty Annie T
School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom.
The Wright Institute, Berkeley, CA, United States.
Front Psychol. 2021 Mar 29;12:568580. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.568580. eCollection 2021.
Mastery imagery (i.e., images of being in control and coping in difficult situations) is used to regulate anxiety. The ability to image this content is associated with trait confidence and anxiety, but research examining mastery imagery ability's association with confidence and anxiety in response to a stressful event is scant. The present study examined whether trait mastery imagery ability mediated the relationship between confidence and anxiety, and the subsequent associations on performance in response to an acute psychological stress. Participants ( = 130; 55% male; = 19.94 years; = 1.07 years) completed assessments of mastery imagery ability and engaged in a standardized acute psychological stress task. Immediately prior to the task, confidence, cognitive and somatic anxiety intensity, and interpretation of anxiety symptoms regarding the task were assessed. Path analyses supported a model whereby mastery imagery ability mediated the relationship between confidence and cognitive and somatic anxiety interpretation. Greater mastery imagery ability and confidence were both directly associated with better performance on the stress task. Mastery imagery ability may help individuals experience more facilitative anxiety and perform better during stressful tasks. Improving mastery imagery ability by enhancing self-confidence may help individuals successfully cope with anxiety elicited during stressful situations.
掌控意象（即处于掌控之中并在困难情境中应对的意象）被用于调节焦虑。想象此类内容的能力与特质自信和焦虑相关，但研究掌控意象能力与应对压力事件时的自信和焦虑之间关联的研究却很少。本研究考察了特质掌控意象能力是否介导了自信与焦虑之间的关系，以及随后在应对急性心理应激时对表现的关联。参与者（(n = 130)；55%为男性；(M = 19.94)岁；(SD = 1.07)岁）完成了掌控意象能力评估，并参与了一项标准化的急性心理应激任务。在任务即将开始前，评估了自信、认知和躯体焦虑强度，以及对与任务相关的焦虑症状的解读。路径分析支持了一个模型，即掌控意象能力介导了自信与认知和躯体焦虑解读之间的关系。更强的掌控意象能力和自信都与在应激任务中表现更好直接相关。掌控意象能力可能有助于个体体验到更具促进性的焦虑，并在压力任务中表现得更好。通过增强自信来提高掌控意象能力可能有助于个体成功应对压力情境中引发的焦虑。
