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THE EFFECTS OF EIGHT WEEKS SPORT ROCK CLIMBING TRAINING ON ANXIETY
DICLE ARAS1, ALAN W. EWERT2
1Faculty of Sport Sciences, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey - 2School of Public Health, Indiana University Bloomington, IN,
USA
Introduction
Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent type
of psychiatric disorder(1, 2) and, in some cases, can
affect the quality of life (QoL) much more than
chronic medical disorders(3). Similarly, lack of regu-
lar physical activity and improved reduced physical
fitness levels are related to cardiovascular disease,
hypertension, stroke, osteoporosis, type 2 diabetes,
obesity, colon cancer, breast cancer as well as anxi-
ety and depression(4, 5, 6, 7).
Some meta-analyses studies have demonstrat-
ed a consistent inverse relationship between exer-
cise and anxiety, with exercise resulting in a small
to moderate reduction on levels of anxiety(8, 9, 10). As
a result of these findings Wipfli et al. (2011) recom-
mend that exercise can be used as a method for pre-
vention and treatment for anxiety(11). According to
Wipfli, Rethorst, & Landers (2008), exercise can an
effective method for reducing anxiety similar to
stress management education, stretching and yoga
activities, group therapy, mediation and relaxation,
and as effective as cognitive behavioral therapy(10).
They do, however, report that pharmacological
treatments can be more beneficial on reducing anxi-
ety than exercise(12).
Acta Medica Mediterranea, 2016, 32: 223
Received May 30, 2015; Accepted January 02, 2016
ABSTRACT
Regular physical activity can be an efficient method for prevention for anxiety. The purpose of the study is to examine the effects
of 8 weeks of sport rock climbing (SRC) training on anxiety in healthy sedentary adults. A total number of nineteen students participa-
ted in this study voluntarily composing of a control group (CG, n=10, age 21.90 ± 1.66 years, height 168.50 ± 4.40 cm, weight 61.18 ±
7.08 kg) and an experimental group (EG, n=9, age 21.11 ± 2.31 years, height 167.33 ± 6.44 cm, weight 59.31 ± 8.39 kg). After the EG
had been taught basic climbing and rope techniques, body composition and aerobic power measurements were taken for both groups.
The EG engaged in climbing training by using a top-rope method for 60 minutes a day with an intensity level of 70 % of HR reserve,
three days a week for eight weeks. The CG did not engage in any systematic physical activity program during the study. The
Competitive Sport Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2) was given to participants twice. The EG completed the Inventory 20 minutes before
the first and the last climbing trial. The CG completed the Inventories on first and last day of 8 weeks period. The results indicated
significant changes in all CSAI-2 results for EG, including cognitive (p_=_0.002) and somatic anxiety (p_=_0.032) reduced, self-con-
fidence (p_=_0.001) increased. This current study is one of the first research efforts examining the psychological effects of eight weeks
SRC training. Results demonstrated that eight weeks of SRC training significantly reduces cognitive and somatic anxiety and increases
self-confidence. In addition to the psychological effects, eight weeks of SRC training also improved the VO2max of participants. This
study suggests that SRC can be useful as a regular physical activity in controlling and improving anxiety in the study sample.
Key words: Sport rock climbing; cognitive anxiety; somatic anxiety; self-confidence.
DOI:10.19193/0393-6384_2016_1_35
ABSTRACT
Regular physical activity can be an ecient method for prevention for anxiety. e purpose of the study is to examine the
eects of 8 weeks of sport rock climbing (SRC) training on anxiety in healthy sedentary adults. A total number of nineteen students
participated in this study voluntarily composing of a control group (CG, n=10, age 21.90 ± 1.66 years, height 168.50 ± 4.40 cm, weight
61.18 ± 7.08 kg) and an experimental group (EG, n=9, age 21.11 ± 2.31 years, height 167.33 ± 6.44 cm, weight 59.31 ± 8.39 kg). Aer
the EG had been taught basic climbing and rope techniques, body composition and aerobic power measurements were taken for both
groups. e EG engaged in climbing training by using a top-rope method for 60 minutes a day with an intensity level of 70 % of HR
reserve, three days a week for eight weeks. e CG did not engage in any systematic physical activity program during the study. e
Competitive Sport Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2) was given to participants twice. e EG completed the Inventory 20 minutes before
the rst and the last climbing trial. e CG completed the Inventories on rst and last day of 8 weeks period. e results indicated
signicant changes in all CSAI-2 results for EG, including cognitive (p_=_0.002) and somatic anxiety (p_=_0.032) reduced,
self-condence (p_=_0.001) increased. is current study is one of the rst research eorts examining the psychological eects of eight
weeks SRC training. Results demonstrated that eight weeks of SRC training signicantly reduces cognitive and somatic anxiety and
increases self-condence. In addition to the psychological eects, eight weeks of SRC training also improved the VO2 max of participants.
is study suggests that SRC can be useful as a regular physical activity in controlling and improving anxiety in the study sample.
Key words: Sport rock climbing; cognitive anxiety; somatic anxiety; self-condence.
DOI:10.19193/0393-6384_2016_1_35
Furthermore, it has been understood that peo-
ple who have low physical activity and physical fit-
ness level, often have high levels of anxiety(13, 14, 15, 16,
17, 18). Moreover, high levels of anxiety can impact an
athletes’ sport performance(19, 20, 21), and increase the
risk of injury(22). Furthermore, the positive effects of
exercise on levels of anxiety have been also
observed in sedentary adults with a variety of
chronic diseases(23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28).
Rock climbing is one of the basic movement
forms of human nature, and has been defined as a
physical activity where arms are used when legs are
not capable enough while moving on the rock
face(29). Rock climbing is a sports activity which has
both physical and psychological requirements(30, 31)
and is comprized of many sub-branches. The most
popular sub-branch is sport rock climbing (SRC).
SRC is a type where fixed anchors are placed in
specifically-determined intervals on the climbing
wall(32, 33, 34). Although SRC can appear to be a dan-
gerous sport, injury statistics actually suggest a
much safer activity with lower injury rates, when
compared to many common sports such as basket-
ball, soccer, volleyball, handball etc.(34).
In this present study we measure the chronic
psychological responses of long term SRC training
on anxiety by way of using the Competitive Sport
Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2). The CSAI-2 is one
of the most frequently used instruments to deter-
mine the anxiety level in the scientific researches.
This inventory evaluates cognitive anxiety, somatic
anxiety and self-confidence parameters which
affect cognitive and motor performance of human(35,
36, 37). Cognitive anxiety is the mental component of
anxiety, and causes negative self-evaluations and
doubts. Somatic anxiety includes physiological
components and affects the organism directly.
While self-confidence is not a method to measure
anxiety, it has been defined as a belief to implement
a task(38).
Background
A number of studies have investigated the psy-
chological effects of SRC on anxiety and other out-
comes. The earlier studies about SRC and anxiety
investigated acute effects of different ascent meth-
ods and techniques on anxiety in the literature.
Some researchers found that anxiety level was
increasing while the lead climbing method which
contains risk of falling than top rope climbing
method which doesn’t contain risks of falling and
hitting the ground(39, 40, 27). Other researchers have
found no difference between these methods(41, 42, 43).
Commonly, however, it is observed that the first
ascent of a climbing route caused more anxiety
level than its second ascent(40, 44). Nieuwnfuys et al.
(2008) reported that the route placed in high
induces high level of anxiety than its same placed
in low(45). Even though these studies have not exam-
ined the chronic influences of SRC, their findings
can be helpful to understand the anxiety and self-
confidence scores of climbers. Aras & Akalan
(2014) evaluated the anxiety levels of twenty-six
intermediate sport rock climbers(39). They reported
the cognitive anxiety level 15.81, somatic anxiety
14.08, and self-confidence 30.62 by using CSAI-2
during top-roping. Draper, Jones, Fryer, Hodgson,
& Blackwell (2010) determined the cognitive anxi-
ety 16, somatic anxiety 14, and self-confidence 29
in nine intermediate sport rock climbers(42). In
another research, Draper et al. (2012) found the
cognitive anxiety 18.6, somatic anxiety 18.6, and
self-confidence 27.1 during top roping in nineteen
intermediate sport rock climbers(41). Dickson et al,
(2012) observed the cognitive anxiety 15, somatic
anxiety 15, and self-confidence 30 during top-rope
climbing in fifteen elite sport rock climbers(46).
No literature was identified that specifically
examined the effects of eight weeks SRC on anxi-
ety in the literature. However, the chronic effects of
different long term physical activity programs on
anxiety have been investigated both in healthy and
with chronic illness sedentary adults. For example,
where participants with chronic low back pain
joined, the effect of a one week yoga program on
anxiety was examined. As a result, it was observed
that this exercise caused significantly reduces in
state and trait anxiety(47).
Wipfli et al. (2011) examined the effect on
anxiety levels caused by a seven-week aerobic
exercise program(11). Although no significant differ-
ences were found in both the experimental and con-
trol group, they reported greater reduce in experi-
mental group. Another study was made by
Guszkowska and Sionek (2009) where it was
reported that after a twelve-week aerobic exercise
program a reducing was seen in trait anxiety level
in sedentary women(48). Carraro and Gobi (2012)
examined the effect of a twelve-week exercise pro-
gram on anxiety in people with intellectual dis-
abilies, and they found significant differences on
state and trait anxiety(49). Khademi and Rahimi
(2012) found the cognitive and somatic anxiety
224 Dicle Aras, Alan W. Ewert
effects caused by two eight-week aerobic exercise
programs done by high school students(50). Lokos et
al. (2013) reported that the attending to swimming
and complex sport therapy for 18 months improves
the QoL through reduction of anxiety in children
with spinal column disorders and asthma(51).
Another research was made with non-athlete female
college students. The results of this study showed
that a ten-week aerobic exercise program effect on
state and trait anxiety significantly(52). Aidar et al.
(2012) found significantly differences on state and
trait anxiety after 12 weeks of resistance exercise
training in adults who had ischemic stroke(53). Some
review articles pointed, the reducing on anxiety
symptoms are seen as independent from activity
types (walking, running, resistance training, yoga,
tai-chi and etc.)(8, 54). This change can be seen in peo-
ple with chronic mental or physical illness as well
as in healthy adults. The examples given above sup-
port this information.
Therefore, the aim of the study is to examine
the effects of 8 weeks of sport rock climbing (SRC)
training on anxiety, and to understand whether SRC
can be suggested as a type of physical activity to
control anxiety level in sedentary and relatively
healthy adults. We hypothesized that the anxiety
level would be decreased, and the self-confidence
level would be increased after eight weeks of sport
rock climbing training in healthy sedentary adults.
Methods
Participants
A total number of 19 students from Ankara
University, Turkey, Faculty of Sport Sciences, par-
ticipated this study voluntarily composing either a
control group (n = 10, age 21.90 ± 1.66 years,
height 168.50 ± 4.40 cm, weight 61.18 ± 7.08 kg)
or an experimental group (n = 9, age 21.11 ± 2.31
years, height 167.33 ± 6.44 cm, weight 59.31 ±
8.39 kg). The students were not randomly assigned.
The experimental group consists of people who had
not been doing any regular physical training for at
least six months and would not participate in any
regular physical training other than climbing exer-
cises for eight weeks. The control group is com-
posed of volunteers who have not been doing any
regular physical activity for at least six months and
will not participate in any systematic exercise pro-
gram for eight weeks.
The research was approved by Ankara
University Medical Faculty Clinical Researches
Ethics Committee and then Informed Consent
Forms were filled out by all participants for control
and experimental groups.
Data collection procedure
At the beginning of the 8 week-period the fol-
lowing measurements were made for both the con-
trol and experimental groups.
Body composition
Body weights were measured with Avis 333
plus (Korea) analyzer and Holtain branded stadiot-
meter with 1-mm distance was used to measure
heights (Holtain, U.K.).
Aerobic power
Test protocol of Bruce treadmill was used for
the determination of aerobic power in this study.
VO2max measurement was made by a Viasys-
Oxycon branded MasterScreen-CPX spirometer
(Hoechberg, Germany) and RAM branded 770 M
treadmill (CAMIN, Italy). Heat, humidity, air vol-
ume and gas calibrations of the device were made
before each measurement. Bruce protocol was start-
ed with a 10 % incline and 2.72 km/h, the incline
was increased by 2 % and the speed was increased
by 1.28-1.44 in every three minutes. The test con-
tinued this way until the participant could not con-
tinue anymore. The mask was cleaned with a spe-
cial solution before each measurement and spirom-
eter tribune was dried. Test protocol was explained
to the participant and the participant was told not to
hold any part of the treadmill during the test. After
the participants wore their masks the test was start-
ed. VO2max values obtained at the last minute of
the test were accepted as the real VO2max values
of the participants and HRmax values were taken as
average HR. In this research the duration of climb-
ing training was determined as one hour, frequency
as three days a week and intensity as 70 % as rec-
ommended in the literature to improve the health-
related physical fitness parameters(55, 56).
Heart rates were determined by using the
HRreserve method [Target HR = (percentage of
load) x (HRmax - HRrest) + HRrest] during train-
ing(55). HRrest and HRmax values taken from Bruce
treadmill test protocol were used in calculation with
an intensity level of 70 % and monitored during
climbing exercises. Each participant completed the
climbing exercise within the ± 5 HRtarget range.
Training HRs were continuously monitored with a
Polar Team 2 (Polar, Finland) model device and
The effects of eight weeks sport rock climbing training on anxiety 225
when the participants got out the requested range,
their target HRs were preserved by changing climb-
ing pace.
Procedures
The experimental group was given a one-week
climbing training before the first climbing session.
Basic climbing techniques as well as safe usage of
materials and rope techniques were taught.
Before a one-hour climbing exercise, a stan-
dard warm-up and cool-down protocol was applied
composing of a 5-minute run and 10-minute
stretching. Warm-up running exercise was done at a
lower level as recommended(56). In stretching exer-
cises, each move was planned to take 30 seconds
for the neck, arms, body and legs respectively.
Following warm-up exercises, the participants put
on their safety harness and were connected to the
rope system to start climbing. The participants used
climbing chalk, chalk bag and rock climbing shoes
while climbing. They were allowed to use any
handhold they wanted to and step wherever they
wanted and told not to stop during the actual climb-
ing. The participants were lowered to the bottom
within 10 seconds after each climb was completed
and then asked to continue with another climb.
SRC trainings were between 16:00 and 19:00
and done on the 12 m-high climbing wall which
was in A. U. Faculty of Sport Sciences Hall. All the
climbing exercises were done by using the top-rope
technique and a safety guy was assigned for each
climbing participant during the exercises.
Training ended with a 5-minute run and 10-
minute stretching exercises after climbing. Total
climbing distance was recorded every week by cal-
culating ascent numbers and height of the route.
Collection of anxiety inventories
Psychological measures for the study were
Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2).
Participants were instructed to respond to the inven-
tory. The CSAI-2 was given to participants twice.
The experimental group completed them by 20
minutes before the first climbing trial on the first
day and the last climbing trial on the last day in a
quiet room. The control group completed the inven-
tories on first and last day of eight weeks period
also in the same, quiet room. The CSAI developed
by Martens et al. and revised to CSAI-2 in 1990.
CSAI-2 is a 27-item inventory, and has three sub-
scales. Each subscale includes 9 items, with each
item being scored on a Likert scale of 1-4.
By way of using CSAI-2, cognitive anxiety,
somatic anxiety and self-confidence can be deter-
mined(38).
Statistical analysis
All analyses were performed using the SPSS
20 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). At first, the dis-
tribution of data was tested to determine if the test
to be used for average comparison is parametric or
not. Normality distribution was tested with Shapiro
Wilk, as in both groups the number of participants
was below 50. Average differences were determined
with the parametric Paired Sample t-Test for the
data where distribution is normal and with the non-
parametric Wilcoxon Test for the data where distri-
bution was not normal. Independent-Sample t-Test
or Mann-Whitney U Test was used for pre-control
and experimental groups’ differences according to
distribution of the data. Alpha value was accepted
as 0.05 for all of the statistical analyses.
Results
The anxiety results obtained from CSAI-2 is
listed in Table 1.
According to Table 1, it can be seen that no
significant differences were found in any subscales
of anxiety inventory for the control group. We also
found no significant differences when comparing
the pre-control and experimental groups’ sub-
scales. However, when comparing pre and post
scores, significant changes were observed in all
CSAI-2 results for the experimental group. These
changes indicated a decrease in the anxiety scores.
See Figure 1. While cognitive anxiety (from 21.00
to 18.44, 12.19 %, p_=_0.002**) and somatic anxi-
226 Dicle Aras, Alan W. Ewert
Table 1: CSAI-2 results and their mean differences
obtained from pre and post tests.
*p<0.05, **p<0.01
ety (from 17.56 to 16.11, 8.25 %, p_=_0.032*)
decreased in reported levels, level of self-confi-
dence (from 27.78 to 31.11, 10.86 %, p_=_0.001**)
increased for the experimental group (Figure 1).
No significant changes were observed for the
control group that did not engage in the rock climb-
ing protocol. In addition to the CSAI-2 results
depicted in Figure 1, the distance of climbing was
approximately 300 m in the first and 900 m in the
last week, suggesting an increase in climbing skill,
familiarity with the climbing routes, physical fit-
ness or a combination of the three.
The VO2max, HRmax, HRrest values
obtained from Bruce treadmill test protocol for both
control and experimental groups, and HRtarget
range calculated by using the HRreserve method for
experimental group are shown in Table 2. In accor-
dance with the Table 2, the data suggest that the
experimental group reported a significant increase
only on VO2max after eight weeks of SRC training.
Discussion
The purpose of the study was to investigate
the chronic effects of eight weeks of sport rock
climbing training on cognitive and somatic anxiety
and self-confidence levels by using the CSAI-2 in
healthy sedentary adults, and to comprehend
whether SRC can be suggested as a type of physical
activity to control anxiety level. We hypothesized
that SRC training would be effective on anxiety and
self-confidence levels.
As expected, findings showed that there are no
significance differences in any of the CSAI-2 sub-
scales in the control group. However, we observed
positive significant changes between levels of cog-
nitive and somatic anxiety and self-confidence lev-
els in the experimental group after eight weeks of
SRC training. Perhaps not surprisingly, while cog-
nitive and somatic anxiety levels were reduced
(p_=_0.002, p_=_0.032), self-confidence
(p_=_0.001) was increased.
Besides many positive physiological effects of
regular physical activity(57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62). the findings
from this study suggest that when people engage in
rock climbing, they can reduce their cognitive and
somatic anxiety levels and increase their levels of
self-confidence. Several previous studies have
reported that a high level of anxiety and related ill-
nesses can be detrimental toward quality of life
both in physical and social terms.(63, 64, 65, 66). These
improvements demonstrate that SRC can be effec-
tive in enhancing QoL by reducing of anxiety and
increasing of self-confidence. This is an important
issue, given the reported cost of depression and
anxiety illness’ annual cost of $ 180 billion in
Europe and a $ 126 billion in the USA(11). Thus, the
potential value of activities such as SRC can be bet-
ter appreciated, if for no other reason than a health-
cost saving method.
While there have been several studies that
have examined the effects of different long-term
physical activity programs on anxiety in the litera-
ture.o our knowledge, this present study is one of
the first to investigate the anxiety influences from
eight weeks of sport rock climbing in healthy
sedentary adults. Research findings are in line with
the studies made with similar time periods and fre-
quencies(11, 47, 48, 50, 51, 53). Our results show a 12.19 %
decreasing on cognitive anxiety and an 8.25 % on
somatic anxiety, and a 10.86 % increasing on self-
confidence levels. The change rates after a two dif-
ferent aerobic exercise program were 19.70 and
26.16 % for cognitive and 24.27 and 24.35 % for
somatic anxiety(50). These findings are somewhat in
line with or greater than those of Tekur et al. (2012)
who reported 20.4 % reduction on state, and 16 %
on trait anxiety levels after doing a yoga program(47).
The effects of eight weeks sport rock climbing training on anxiety 227
Figure 1: CSAI-2 results for experimental group.
Table 2: HRrest, HRmax, and VO2max values and their
mean differences derived from pre and post test, and the
HRtarget values for experimental group.
*p<0.05, **p<0.01
and Aidar et al. (2012), who reported a 4.26 %
reduction on state and 7.64 % on trait anxiety after
a resistance exercise program. Similar changes also
observed after different kinds of aerobic activity
types(53). Wipfli et al. (2011) observed 9.91 %
decreasing on state anxiety(11) an 8.44 % reducing
was determined on trait anxiety by Guszkowska
and Sionek, (2009)(48), Carraro and Gobi (2012)
found 36.91 % reducing on state, and 36.39 % on
trait anxiety,(49) and Arazi et al. (2012) reported
the decreasing 38.87 % on state and 35.49 % on
trait anxiety(52).
Unlike many other team sports, rock climbing
often necessitates people taking risks and assuming
complete responsibility for their successes or fail-
ures during a rock climbing event. This situation
provides people with opportunities to observe their
limits and strengths, both in psychological and
physiological terms. Even if there is only a short
distance of falling during top-rope climbing, it usu-
ally causes a determination to finish the route with-
out falling. Moreover, participants often have a
chance to improve their psychological and physio-
logical awareness and perceived limits.
A developed sense of self-efficacy, occurring
as a result of the climbing process, can be another
reason for the observed reduction in levels of cog-
nitive and somatic anxiety and increases in self-
confidence after eight-week sport climbing training
in healthy sedentary adults. Self-efficacy has been
defined by Bandura (1997) as “belief in one’s capa-
bilities to organize and execute the courses of
action required to produce given attainments”(67).
Self-efficacy can be improved and this improve-
ment often depends on performance accomplish-
ment, verbal persuasion, vicarious experience and
emotional arousal, with the most powerful tech-
nique being performance accomplishment(68). An
important indicator of participants’ improved per-
formance was the increase in the climbing distance
at the end of the eighth week compared to the
beginning.
Conclusion
In this current study it is shown that eight
weeks of sport rock climbing training reduces cog-
nitive and somatic anxiety and increases levels of
self-confidence in addition to some increase in lev-
els of VO2max. While there are numerous other
types of activities to select, this study suggests that
rock climbing can be both psychologically and
physically helpful to both participants and exercise
practitioners. When considering the negative effects
and cost of anxiety disorders, as is true with other
forms of physical activity, rock climbing can be
used for the prevention and treatment of high levels
of anxiety.
Likewise, this study is important because it
represents the first research examining the psycho-
logical effects of eight weeks of sport rock climb-
ing. Despite the fact that this activity is substantial-
ly different from those used in daily life, the find-
ings from this study suggest that rock climbing
activities can be an effective mediator in lessening
levels of anxiety and increasing an individual’s self-
confidence. These improvements probably occur
depending on self-knowledge after being experi-
enced both of psychological and physiological lim-
its concurrently, and self-efficacy. Since these posi-
tive changes can be seen in only eight weeks of
training, sport rock climbing can be considered a
relatively efficient method. To develop a better
understanding of the dose-response phenomenon
within this type of activity, more research is needed
using other populations such as to children and
elderly, as well as different lengths of time.
Likewise, to increase the study sample and to
extend the study period would provide more valu-
able consequences. The researchers could consider
these limitations for further studies.
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_______
Corresponding author
DICLE ARAS, Ph.D.,
Faculty of Sport Sciences, Ankara University
Ankara
(Turkey)
230 Dicle Aras, Alan W. Ewert