Highlights • High-level opponent may be perceived by players as a higher threat to their status. • The higher the opponent level, the higher salivary cortisol concentration. • The higher the challenge, the lower the players' self-confidence. • Anxiety is likely associated to the players' uncertainties to maintaining status. • Elevated pre-match testosterone concentration occurs despite the opponent level. Abstract This study examined the effect of playing matches against different opponent teams (hard match; HM, medium match; MM, and easy match; EM) on pre-match testosterone concentration (T), pre-to-post match cortisol (C) concentration, and pre-competitive anxiety (CSAI-2 questionnaire) in 20 elite male basketball players. One training session (TS) was also assessed (control condition). Saliva steroids were determined by ELISA. The pre-T concentration was significantly lower for the TS (163 ± 54 pmol L- 1), compared to the three official matches (EM: 208 ± 82 pmol L- 1, MM: 213 ± 57 pmol L- 1, and HM: 218 ± 37 pmol L- 1) (p < 0.05). A significant change in C from pre-to-post was observed for all conditions (TS [5.8 ± 3.7 vs 14.4 ± 9.4 ?mol L- 1], EM [10.1 ± 4.9 vs 17.3 ± 10.2 ?mol L- 1], MM [13.0 ± 7.4 vs 21.5 ± 8.3 ?mol L- 1], and HM [18.9 ± 5.8 vs 31.4 ± 5.3 ?mol L- 1] (p < 0.05). A higher PRE-C was observed for the HM, compared to TS and EM (p < 0.05) and a higher POST-C concentration for the HM was detected, compared to the TS, EM, and MM (p < 0.05). A lower anxiety level was observed for the EM (somatic: 15.0 ± 3.7; cognitive: 15.8 ± 4.5 arbitrary units [AU]) compared, to the MM (somatic: 16.4 ± 3.5; cognitive: 17.7 ± 4.0 AU) and HM (somatic: 15.8 ± 3.9; cognitive: 18.3 ± 3.9 AU) (p < 0.05) and a higher self-confidence was observed for the TS (28.9 ± 5.1 AU), compared to the HM (26.7 ± 3.0 AU) (p < 0.05). These results suggest that playing against a high-level opponent may cause a higher psychobiological stress, likely because opponent level may be perceived as threating to the social status in a given hierarchy.
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