Highlights Salivary cortisol and trait anxiety correlated negatively with junior track and field athletic performance. Salivary cortisol explains a unique variance in youth`s sport performance. Salivary cortisol mediates the anxiety performance relationship in junior athletes. The intents of the study were (i) to investigate changes in psychophysiological responses during different training phases of a Jamaican junior track and field season; (ii) to identify the predictive relationships between salivary cortisol, trait anxiety and performance across a season and (iii) to characterize whether salivary cortisol mediates relationships between trait anxiety and performance. The study was grounded in the Theory of Challenge and Threat State in Athletes (TCTSA). Fifty-one Jamaican junior track and field athletes included 26 females (age: 15.9 ± 1.0 years) and 25 males (age: 16.4 ± 1.7 years) participated in the study. Salivary cortisol and trait anxiety levels were collected before bedtime (between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m.), three times across a season: i.e., during a 12-week preparatory (PREP) phase and twice during a 12-week competitive phase [during an 8-week pre-competition (PRE-COMP) and during a 4-week peak competition (COMP) phase]. Performance data were collected throughout the competitive phase. A main effect emerged for salivary cortisol levels (p < 0.001) and trait anxiety scores (p < 0.001) across the athletic season. The competition phase elicited the highest levels of salivary cortisol, and trait anxiety. A main effect of gender emerged for competitive trait anxiety (female > male). Trait anxiety negatively predicted performance during both PRE-COMP and COMP phases. Salivary cortisol negatively predicted performance during COMP, explaining 15 % of unique variance in performance beyond trait anxiety. Mediation indicated a significant indirect effect (i.e., the effect of trait anxiety through cortisol on performance; R2 = 0.33, p < 0.001) but an insignificant direct effect. Findings suggests cortisol, trait anxiety and performance are related and jointly change with competition demands. The negative relations between psychophysiological responses with performance may have indicated athletes responded to peak competition in terms of threat rather than challenge. The study showed that the TCTSA, may provide a useful framework to guide training tasks helpful for performance.
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