Anticipatory Stress: Pain Threshold and Cortisol in Athletes The Effects of Anticipatory Stress on Pain Threshold and Cortisol Responses in Male and Female Athletes

Abstract: Participating in a competitive athletic event, for example a routine practice or game, can produce anticipatory elevations in cortisol and pain threshold in male and female college athletes (basketball and soccer players). In an attempt to bridge the theoretical gap between competition-induced analgesia (CIA) and stress-induced analgesia (SIA), the present study investigated the association between subjective and physiological measures of stress to nociceptive response in the context of competitive athletics. Heat withdrawal latencies confirmed expectations that the anticipatory stress of competition can elicit analgesic effects in both basketball and soccer players. Salivary cortisol in soccer players was consistent with this result, showing significant elevations prior to a game compared to practice and baseline sessions, but did not follow this same pattern among basketball players. These results provide evidence for HPA activation of the stress response and its subsequent interaction with th