[Athletic performance, self-esteem and temperamental profile : Which relationship?]. / Le rendement sportif, l'estime de soi et le profit temperamental: Queslles relations?

BACKGROUND: Several authors emphasize the close relationship between self-esteem and athletic performance; such a relationship may raise the following question: by saying "strong" or "without any physical condition", is it a fair presentation of the individual's abilities or he reveals the most fundamental aspects of his personality, such as emotional temperament? OBJECTIVES: To evaluate self-esteem, physical self and temperamental profile in a group of sportsmen, and to look for a relationship between these variables and athletic performance. METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional, descriptive and analytic study in 80 young handball players of the "senior" category. We assessed self-esteem using the Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale, physical self-using the Physical Self-Inventory (PSI), and temperamental profile using the Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Paris and San Diego Auto-questionnaire (TEMPS-A). Athletic performance was evaluated by the team coach by means of a score ranging from 1 to 10. RESULTS: High self-esteem was correlated to female gender (p=0.03), to an early start of physical activity (p<0.01), and certain dimensions of the physical self: perceived physical value (p=0.02), appearance (p<0.01), and the global score (p=0.01). Athletic performance was correlated to high self-esteem (p<0.01) and to two dimensions of the physical self: the global score (p=0.01) and the perceived physical value (p<0.01). Hyperthymic temperament was associated with high self-esteem (p=0.001). Good athletic performance was associated with hyperthymic (p<0.01) and cyclothymic (p<0.01) temperament. Low athletic performance was associated with depressive (p=0.04) and irritable (p=0.01) temperament. CONCLUSION: Our study shows the close relationship between selfesteem, temperamental profile and athletic performance. We suggest that the intervention of a psychiatrist or a psychologist aimed at improving sportsmen's' self-esteem might help to achieve better athletic performance. In this intervention, the individual temperamental profile should be taken into account.

Alexithymia impact on type 1 and type 2 diabetes: a case-control study.

OBJECTIVES: This paper focus on studying the prevalence of alexithymia in diabetes type 1 and type 2 and its impact on diabetes's clinical and therapeutic characteristics. We also studied the relationship between alexithymia and emotional disorders in diabetics. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study involved a sample of 125 diabetic patients, among whom 50 had type 1 and 75 had type 2 diabetes mellitus compared with respectively 70 and 52 control subjects matched for age and sex. Alexithymia was assessed using the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, while emotional disorders were evaluated using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. RESULTS: Type 1 diabetics were more alexithymic than controls while type 2 diabetics had higher cognitive component score than control subjects. Alexithymic type 1 diabetics had a higher average of fasting blood sugar than non-alexithymic patients did (P=0.021). Moreover, with type 1 diabetes, erectile dysfunction was associated with difficulties in identifying feelings (P=0.012). We found that the presence of depression was a predictor of alexithymia in type 1 diabetes (ß=1.78, P=0.04) and the presence of psychiatric history was indicative of the presence of alexithymia in type 2 diabetes (ß=2.09, P=0.042). CONCLUSION: Given the impact of alexithymia on diabetes types 1 and 2, the detection and treatment of alexithymic subjects are important for a better prognosis of diabetic disease.

Prevalence and Impact of Anxiety and Depression on Type 2 Diabetes in Tunisian Patients over Sixty Years Old.

Objectives. To estimate the prevalence of anxiety and depression using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) in a population aged over sixty years with type 2 diabetes and to study the impact of anxiety and depression on glycemic balance and disease outcome. Results. The prevalence of anxiety and depression in the 62 subjects included in the study was, respectively, 40.3% and 22.6%. We found a relationship between these disorders and complicated diabetes. The subjects having an imperfectly balanced diabetes had a higher average anxiety score than those having a good glycemic control (9.1 ± 4.2 versus 6.5 ± 3.1; P = 0.017). No relationship was found between diabetes balance and depression. Conclusion. Association between anxiety and depressive disorders and diabetes is frequent and worsens patients' outcome, in terms of diabetes imbalance as well as in terms of diabetic complications. Our study shows that there is need for physicians to detect, confirm, and treat anxiety and depressive disorders in elderly diabetic patients.