Habilidades psicológicas en una muestra de jóvenes deportistas cubanos: Diferencias según sexo y deporte / Psychological skills in a sample of young Cuban athletes: Differences according to sex and sport

El estudio de las habilidades psicológicas en el deporte constituye un campo de investigación de constante vigencia y actualidad para orientar la preparación psicológica con el fin de optimizar el rendimiento, especialmente en jóvenes deportistas en proceso de desarrollo. La presente investigación tiene como objetivo caracterizar las habilidades psicológicas en una muestra de deportistas escolares y juveniles de ambos sexos y diferentes deportes de la provincia de Villa Clara, Cuba. Se desarrolló un estudio descriptivo transversal en el que participaron 87 jóvenes deportistas, donde el 62.1% (n=54) eran mujeres y el 33% (n=33) hombres, con una edad cronológica promedio de 14.75 años (DT=1.74) y una experiencia deportiva de 4.67 (DT=1.90). Fue aplicado el Inventario Psicológico de Ejecución Deportiva para la medición de las habilidades psicológicas, cuyos datos fueron procesados mediante estadísticos descriptivos e inferenciales. Se obtuvo que la autoconfianza, la motivación, el control de afrontamiento positivo y de la actitud constituyen los puntos fuertes, mientras que el control de afrontamiento negativo, de la atención y visuoimaginativo son las habilidades de menor desarrollo. Solamente el control de afrontamiento positivo es significativamente mayor en los deportistas masculinos y los beisbolistas poseen una preparación psicológica superior al resto de los deportistas analizados. Se concluye destacando la necesidad de estimular el control de las emociones negativas, la atención y las imágenes mentales en los jóvenes deportistas analizados, así como la relevancia del trabajo psicológico especializado en la preparación de los jóvenes deportistas. (AU)

The study of psychological skills in sport constitutes a field of research of constant validity and topicality to guide psychological preparation in order to optimize performance, especially in young athletes in the process of development. The aim of this research is to characterize the psychological skills in a sample of young athletes of both sexes and different sports from the Villa Clara province, Cuba. A cross-sectional descriptive study was developed in which 87 young athletes participated, where 62.1% (n=54) were women and 33% (n=33) men, with an average chronological age of 14.75 years (SD=1.74) and a sports experience of 4.67 (SD=1.90). The Psychological Inventory of Sports Execution was applied to measure psychological skills, whose data were processed through descriptive and inferential statistics. It was found that self-confidence, motivation, positive coping control and attitude constitute the strong points, while negative coping control, attention and visuo-imaginative control are the least developed skills. Only positive coping control is significantly higher in male athletes and baseball players have a higher psychological preparation than the rest of the athletes analyzed. The need to stimulate the control of negative emotions, attention and mental images in the young athletes analyzed is highlighted, as well as the relevance of specialized psychological work in the preparation of young athletes. (AU)

Bibliotherapy and food cravings control.

The use of self-help manuals or bibliotherapy could be an effective resource to treat obesity, but their effects on the elaborative processes of food cravings remain unclear. The present study examined whether bibliotherapy can effectively reduce food cravings in an overweight and obese adult population. 80 participants were randomly allocated either to the Self-help Manual group or the Intention-control group. They had to apply each resource over a period of 3 months whenever they felt a craving arise. During the baseline period most of the participants reported grazing as the main cause of their weight gain. Compared to baseline, the results of the third month of the follow-up revealed that intentions had paradoxical effects on food thought suppression, preoccupation with food, negative affect and guilty feelings; but the Self-help Manual promoted positive changes on the food cravings trait and its dimensions, food thoughts suppression, emotional and behavioural reactions to intrusions and BMI. These findings suggest that the Self-help Manual could be useful in reducing food cravings.