Competitive Anxiety as a Predictor of the Occurrence, Quantity, and Severity of Injuries in Young Cuban Athletes

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The manuscript focuses on a relevant research question and contributes data from an underrepresented population (young Cuban athletes), which strengthens its contextual originality.

However, there are some methodological and conceptual concerns. The predictive language used throughout the manuscript exceeds what can be supported by a cross-sectional design. The study is cross-sectional, yet the manuscript repeatedly frames competitive anxiety as a “predictor” of injury. I would recommend to emphasize anxiety as one contributing component rather than a central determinant. Furthermore distinguishing between state and trait anxiety would substantially strengthen the study, both theoretically and methodologically. Given the predictive framing, I consider this highly important.

Regarding methods, it is unclear whether anxiety was measured before injuries occurred, during the injury period, or after injury experiences.

I would recommend:

• replace strong causal language (e.g., “predictor,” “increases probability”) with “associated with” unless the timing of injury relative to anxiety measurement is clearly established.
• clarify temporal sequence of anxiety and injury.
• strengthen the limitations section to more thoroughly discuss reverse causation

Futhermore it is also unclear how and based on what they categorized the severity of injuries, what the different categories mean. I would recommend to provide injury classification criteria.

I also have some comments regarding the sample. The sample ranges from 12 to 23 years (U-15 to U-23), with important developmental differences. Given that for example anxiety profiles differ developmentally and sports differ in injury patterns, it would be important to take these aspects into account.

In the light if the above mentioned aspects, the practical significance in applied sport settings requires more cautious interpretation.

Minor comments

• Some typographical inconsistencies (e.g., α= 76 should be α=.76).
• English editing is required in several sections (minor grammar issues).
• Clarify whether CSAI-2 reliability coefficients refer to the present sample or prior validation.
• Table formatting should be standardized (decimal places consistent).
• Replace “good fit” with specific model fit statistics.
• Provide exact p-values rather than .000.
• Define macrocycle duration more clearly.
• Table 2. Descripción de las variables y análisis de normalidad de los datos. (english version is needed)
• Reframe findings explicitly within multifactorial injury models

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This study has been executed competently. My main observation is that I was surprised that the literature had not been mined more effectively in relation to the psychology of injury and to competitive anxiety. A Google Scholar search for these two terms yields several articles that might make a valuable contribution to the background and context for this study.

The introduction sets out the research problem effectively. The gap in knowledge is identified with a clear and research-able main objective. There are some unsubstantiated assertions and/or ambiguous citations - for instance, to what specifically do the citations [ 1 ] refer in 51 - 61? The rationale is also predicated on a study that is almost 40 years old (i.e. Andersen & Williams, 1988).

The Materials and methods section is clear and would enable the study to be replicated.

The population (n = 131) looks heterogeneous with respect to sex, age and sport. It would add texture to the description of participants if the level of performance was also explicit.

The Results section presents the data Concisely and informatively.

The Discussion section links the findings of the study to previous literature - but note the earlier comments about the scope of the material cited. The substantive points are evidenced in the analysis and there is a helpful summative comment after each one.

The conclusions are succinct, relevant and appropriately circumspect.

For clarification:

75-77                 Is it being suggested here that volleyball is a 'high-intensity, contact team sport'?

327-328             The supplementary materials are not currently available at the URL cited.

Presentation:

Table 1               Volleyball.

Table 2               Title needs to be in English.

278                     danger

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf