Effect of Self-Control and Anxiety on Training Performance in Young and Novice Parachuters

There has been growing awareness of the importance of self-control and anxiety and their relationships to coping skills during stressful situations. 44 high school students from a military academy were trained to perform a parachute jump and tested during the training course on performance, trait anxiety, and self-control. No effects of self-control and trait anxiety on training performance were noted. However, subjects high in trait anxiety and self-control performed the best, while subjects high in trait anxiety and low in self-control performed most poorly. These results reinforce other work and suggest that performance in parachuting may be due more to self-control than to anxiety.