Skydiving as Emotion Regulation: The Rise and Fall of Anxiety Is Moderated by Alexithymia
in Journal of Sport and Exercise PsychologyClick name to view affiliation
We investigated alexithymia and the fuctuation of anxiety in skydiving women. Alexithymia significantly moderated the pre- to postjump fluctuation of state anxiety such that only alexithymic skydivers’ anxiety diminished as a consequence of performing a skydive. This suggests that skydiving is an effective means of emotion regulation for alexithymic women. However, the significant rise in anxiety shortly after landing suggests that any emotional benefits are short-lived. No anxiety fuctuations emerged for nonalexithymic skydivers. The Alexithymia × Time interaction remained significant when controlling for age, experience, and trait anxiety. Results are discussed in terms of the potential dependence on risk-taking activities for alexithymic women.
Woodman is with School of Sport, Health, & Exercise Sciences, University of Wales–Bangor, Bangor, Gwynedd, U.K.; and Cazenave and Le Scanff are with UFR-STAPS Université d’Orsay, Paris, France.
© 2023 Human Kinetics