IMPACT OF SYSTEMATIC DESENSITIZATION AND RATIONAL EMOTIVE BEHAVOUR TECHNIQUES IN THE MANAGEMENT OF COMPETITIVE ANXIETY AMONG FOOTBALL PLAYERS IN JALINGO, TARABA STATE, NIGERIA

This study investigated the impact of systematic desensitization and rational emotive behavour Techniques in the management of competitive anxiety among football players in Jalingo, Taraba State, Nigeria. Three groups of players consisting of Control, Experimental I (Rational emotive technique) and Experimental II (Systematic Desensitization) were selected. The average age of players involved in the was 25.34 with a standard deviation of 5.235 years. The experimental group A were exposed to use of systematic desensitization treatment, while experimental group B was treated with Rational emotive behaviour technique. The control group was not exposed to either of the behaviour management techniques. The instruments used was adapted from Competitive State Anxiety Inventory (CSAI-2) by Martens, Burton, Vealey, Bump and Smith (1990). Measured opinions were based on a four-point scale with a midpoint of 2.50 as the benchmark. Data collected were analysed with the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), IBM version 26. Statistics used included descriptive statistics of means and standard deviations. Result revealed that systematic desensitization and rational emotive for behavour management techniques could significantly reduce competitive anxiety among football players. The study did not find such behavioural adjustment among players in the control group who were not expose to either of the behavour management techniques. It is therefore recommended that either systematic desensitization and rational emotive techniques could always be used to build players confidence before major competitions in the state.