2021-06-292021-06-292013Podlog, L., Lochbaum, M., Kleinert, J., Dimmock, J., Newton, M., & Schulte, S. (2013). The relationship between self-presentation concerns and pre-game affect among adolescent American football players. Journal of Sport and Health Science, 2(3), 168–175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jshs.2012.06.002https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jshs.2012.06.002https://hdl.handle.net/2346/87329CC BY-NC-NDBackground The influence of self-presentation concerns on the adolescent sport experience has received scant empirical attention. The purpose of this investigation was to prospectively examine the relationship among self-presentational concerns and pre-game affective states among middle and high school aged football players. Methods American football players (n = 112; mean age = 15.57 years) completed a measure of self-presentational concerns (SPSQ, McGowan, et al., 2008) a week prior to the measurement of selected pre-game affective states (i.e., attentiveness, self-assurance, serenity, and fear). Results Regression analyses revealed that concerns about appearing athletically untalented negatively contributed to the significant prediction (p < 0.001) of pre-game attentiveness, β = −0.43, R2adj = 19.5% (p < 0.001), and self-assurance, β = −0.38, R2adj = 11.9% (p < 0.01). Conclusion These findings highlight the importance of reducing self-presentational concerns in promoting positive pre-game mental states that likely impact the quality of athletes' competitive play and experience.engAttentivenessLongitudinalSelf-AssuranceSelf-PresentationArticle