Life Skills Training for Anxiety and Football Performance in Adolescent Players

This randomized behavioral study will evaluate whether an eight-week life skills training program will reduce cognitive sport anxiety and improve football performance in non-elite adolescent football players in China. A total of 160 players aged 14 to 17 years from 16 teams will be allocated individually within team-by-gender strata to either a life skills training group or a usual-training control group. The intervention will include 16 small-group sessions delivered twice per week for 45-60 minutes. Assessments will be conducted at baseline, immediately after the eight-week intervention, and four weeks later. The primary psychological outcome will be cognitive anxiety derived from the Worry and Concentration Disruption subscales of the Sport Anxiety Scale-2. The primary performance outcome will be a baseline-referenced Football Performance Index derived from passing accuracy, shooting accuracy, dribbling time, and agility time. The study hypothesis is that life skills training will reduce cognitive anxiety and improve football performance, and that greater reduction in cognitive anxiety immediately after the intervention will be associated with better football performance at follow-up.

Inclusion Criteria: * Age 14 to 17 years at enrollment. * Current membership in a non-elite/non-professional football team. * At least one year of prior football participation. * Regular participation in team football training. * Ability and willingness to attend study assessments and, if allocated to the intervention, the life skills training sessions. * Written informed consent from a parent or legal guardian and age-appropriate assent from the adolescent participant before study participation. Exclusion Criteria: * Current membership in a national football team. * Current professional football contract. * Current membership in a first-tier professional football academy. * Any medical, musculoskeletal, or psychological condition that, in the judgment of the study team, would make participation in football-performance testing or the behavioral intervention unsafe or inappropriate. * Inability to complete baseline assessment or comply with essential study procedures.