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Adolescent elite athletes and mental skills - A study of students in upper high school with sport profile

Törngren, Nina LU (2014) PSYP01 20132
Department of Psychology
Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate mental skills use among adolescents practicing sports on elite levels at an upper high school education with focus on sports. Different education profiles, school years and gender were looked at in two different contexts to see whether they affect mental skills. The questionnaire PACE, investigating mental skills in 13 different scales such as process goal, self-confidence and relaxation, was administered to 163 upper high school students, 101 males and 62 females. The participants were distributed between two different education profiles “National Sport Education” and “Physical Education Specialization”, two different school years, year one and year two and the contexts investigated was either... (More)
The aim of this study was to investigate mental skills use among adolescents practicing sports on elite levels at an upper high school education with focus on sports. Different education profiles, school years and gender were looked at in two different contexts to see whether they affect mental skills. The questionnaire PACE, investigating mental skills in 13 different scales such as process goal, self-confidence and relaxation, was administered to 163 upper high school students, 101 males and 62 females. The participants were distributed between two different education profiles “National Sport Education” and “Physical Education Specialization”, two different school years, year one and year two and the contexts investigated was either training or competition. A significant difference in mental skills was found between males and females in both practice and competition contexts. Females were found to report less self-confidence, lower outcome goal and less effective stress management, indicating the need for teachers and coaches to better address these issues. No significant difference was found between different education profiles in neither practice nor competition contexts. Also no significant difference was found between students in different school years, in neither of the two contexts. The upper high school athletes are training and competing in complex environments both at school and in their sport clubs. Since all types of environments and contexts influence mental skills it is suggested that both schools and sport clubs should try to find ways to improve females’ self-confidence and provide help to set realistic goals. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Törngren, Nina LU
supervisor
organization
course
PSYP01 20132
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
adolescent, mental skills, upper high school elite athletes
language
English
id
4689675
date added to LUP
2015-04-16 15:36:09
date last changed
2015-04-16 15:36:09
@misc{4689675,
  abstract     = {{The aim of this study was to investigate mental skills use among adolescents practicing sports on elite levels at an upper high school education with focus on sports. Different education profiles, school years and gender were looked at in two different contexts to see whether they affect mental skills. The questionnaire PACE, investigating mental skills in 13 different scales such as process goal, self-confidence and relaxation, was administered to 163 upper high school students, 101 males and 62 females. The participants were distributed between two different education profiles “National Sport Education” and “Physical Education Specialization”, two different school years, year one and year two and the contexts investigated was either training or competition. A significant difference in mental skills was found between males and females in both practice and competition contexts. Females were found to report less self-confidence, lower outcome goal and less effective stress management, indicating the need for teachers and coaches to better address these issues. No significant difference was found between different education profiles in neither practice nor competition contexts. Also no significant difference was found between students in different school years, in neither of the two contexts. The upper high school athletes are training and competing in complex environments both at school and in their sport clubs. Since all types of environments and contexts influence mental skills it is suggested that both schools and sport clubs should try to find ways to improve females’ self-confidence and provide help to set realistic goals.}},
  author       = {{Törngren, Nina}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Adolescent elite athletes and mental skills - A study of students in upper high school with sport profile}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}