Medición de procesos psicológicos y sociales en aficionados al deporte: adaptación al español del Identification with a Psychological Group Scale y Moral Disengagement in Sport Scale / Medição de processos psicológicos e sociais em seguidores de esportes: adaptação para o espanhol da escala Identification with a Psychological Group e Moral Disengagement in Sport Scale / Measurement of psychological and social processes in sports fans: adaptation to Spanish of the Identification with a Psychological Group Scale and Moral Disengagement in Sport Scale

En los últimos años han aumentado los estudios científicos que evalúan procesos psicológicos y sociales en aficionados al deporte, destacando aquellos relacionados con las agresiones y el comportamiento antisocial. Dos de los constructos clave para entender la violencia entre aficionados deportivos son la identificación grupal y la desconexión moral. El objetivo de la presente investigación fue la adaptación de los instrumentos Identification with a Psychological Group Scale y del Moral Disengagement in Sport Scale al español, en una muestra de 400 aficionados a diversas modalidades deportivas. Para ambos cuestionarios se realizaron los siguientes análisis de datos: análisis factoriales confirmatorios, análisis de fiabilidad mediante el cálculo de a de Cronbach y la fiabilidad compuesta, así como análisis de invarianza de los modelos de medida en función de si los participantes eran aficionados al fútbol u a otra modalidad deportiva. Las respuestas a los ítems mostraron buenas propiedades psicométricas para dos modelos unifactoriales, de nueve ítems en el caso de la identificación grupal y siete ítems para desconexión moral. Ambas adaptaciones presentaron buenos indicadores de fiabilidad en ambas perspectivas, y de homogeneidad de los modelos de medida en función del moderador multigrupal. Las adaptaciones resultaron satisfactorias y permiten evaluar de forma breve dos constructos clave en la comprensión de los procesos psicológicos y sociales de violencia y comportamiento antisocial en el deporte. (AU)

In recent years, scientific studies evaluating psychological and social processes in sports fans have increased, highlighting those related to aggression andantisocial behaviour. Two of the key constructs to understand violence among sports fans are group identification and moral disengagement. The objective of this research is the adaptation of the Identification with a Psychological Group Scale and the Moral Disengagement in Sport Scale to Spanish, in a sample of 400 sports fans of various sports modalities. The following data analyses were performed for both questionnaires: confirmatory factor analysis, reliability analysis by calculating Cronbach's aand composite reliability, as well as invariance analysis of the measurement models depending on whether the participants were soccer fans or to another sports modality. The responses to the items showed good psychometric properties for two unifactorial models,with nine items in the case of group identification and seven items for moral disengagement. Both adaptations presented good reliability indicators in both perspectives, and of homogeneity of the measurement models based on the multigroup moderator. The adaptations were satisfactory and allow a brief evaluation of two key constructs in understanding the psychological and social processes of violence and antisocial behaviour in sport. (AU)

Nos últimos anos, aumentaram os estudos científicos que avaliam processos psicológicos e sociais em seguidores esportivos, destacando-se aqueles relacionados à agressividade e ao comportamento antissocial. Dois dos construtos-chave para entender a violência entre torcedores são a identificação com o grupo e o desengajamento moral. O objetivo desta pesquisa foi a adaptação para o espanhol dos instrumentos Identification with a Psychological Group Scale e Moral Disengagement in Sport Scale, em uma amostra de 400 seguidores de diversas modalidades esportivas. Para ambos os questionários foram realizadas as seguintes análises de dados: análise fatorial confirmatória, análise de confiabilidade por cálculo de Cronbach ae confiabilidade composta, bem como análise de invariância dos modelos de medição dependendo se os participantes eram seguidores de futebol ou de outra modalidade esportiva. As respostas aos itens apresentaram boas propriedades psicométricas para dois modelos unifatoriais, comnove itens no caso de identificação grupal e sete itens para desengajamento moral. Ambas as adaptações apresentaram bons indicadores de confiabilidade em ambas as perspectivas e de homogeneidade dos modelos de mensuração baseados no moderador multigrupo. As adaptações foram satisfatórias e permitem uma breve avaliação de dois construtos fundamentais na compreensão dos processos psicológicos e sociais da violência e do comportamento antissocial no esporte. (AU)

Relationship between Sports Practice, Physical and Mental Health and Anxiety-Depressive Symptomatology in the Spanish Prison Population.

The objective of this study was to evaluate, in a group of Galician inmates, if there were variations in the levels of physical and mental health and anxiety-depressive symptomatology, depending on the sports' practice performed. The relationship between these constructs was also investigated. The sample was composed of 509 people deprived of liberty in prisons in the Autonomous Community of Galicia, Spain. A quantitative methodology was used, with the questionnaire as an information collection instrument, Student's t-tests, Pearson's correlation analysis and a stepwise regression analysis were carried out. The results indicated that those who performed physical activity during their stay in prison had higher levels of physical and mental health, as well as lower indicators of anxiety-depressive symptoms. People who did not practice sports showed a decrease in their perceived health levels when compared to those perceived in their pre-prison stage. A negative association was shown between perceived health levels and anxiety-depressive symptomatology. Perceived physical health, alone, explained 35% of the variance in perceived mental health. These results add to knowledge about the relationships between perceived health, anxiety-depressive symptoms and sports practice in the group of people deprived of liberty, highlighting the importance of promoting physical activity in penitentiary institutions.

Former Road Cyclists Still Involved in Cycling Report Lower Burnout Levels Than Those Who Abandoned This Sport.

Despite the numerous benefits associated with sport practice, many children and adolescents end up quitting it year after year, with a stable dropout rate between 10 and 19 years of age. Among the causes of sport abandonment, the scientific literature highlights the presence of burnout as a fundamental factor. In this regard, the aim of the present study was to investigate the levels of the three components of sport burnout-emotional and physical exhaustion, reduced sense of accomplishment, and sport devaluation-reported by a sample of young (former) athletes, depending on whether their sport abandonment was relative (i.e., change to another sport modality) or definitive. In particular, participants were former agonist road cyclists, who have been divided into three groups on the basis of what they did after abandoning road bicycle racing, namely: (a) those still involved in cycling, either in a different specialty (e.g., mountain bike) or with a different role (e.g., coach for kids); (b) those who started practicing a different sport; and (c) those who definitively abandoned sports. The general hypothesis was that, with respect to those who changed sport and those who definitively abandoned it, those still involved in cycling would report experiencing lower levels of the three burnout components during the last year practicing it. To test this hypothesis, the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire (ABQ; Raedeke and Smith, 2001) was administered to 85 young former road cyclists. The results seem to support the hypothesis for two out of the three components, namely, emotional and physical exhaustion and sport devaluation; on the other hand, for reduced sense of accomplishment, no difference among the three groups emerged. Further research is needed to deepen the understanding of such processes, also in relation with other relevant constructs; yet, the results of the present study should already raise the awareness of sport organizations on the need to deal with this and related phenomena by adopting appropriate strategies to ensure the well-being of young athletes, thus trying to reduce early dropout.

Pressing Crowd Noise Impairs the Ability of Anxious Basketball Referees to Discriminate Fouls.

The decision-making processes of referees in sports are affected by many factors, including the pressure of spectators. While the home/visitor bias has been previously investigated, the role of crowd noise has been less studied. In the present study, we investigated how the crowd noise (calm vs. pressing) influence the decisions of basketball referees, when examining videos of potential fouls. In doing so, we also considered the level of competitive anxiety of referees (low vs. high anxiety), as factor potentially interacting with the pressure exerted by the spectators. A 2 × 2 ANOVA (Crowd noise x Anxiety) revealed a significant interaction [F (1,28) = 7.33; p < 0.05; η p 2 = 0.21; power = 0.74], with the highly anxious referees showing poorer performances in the pressing crowd condition [t (14) = 2.24; p < 0.05; d = 0.64]. The results indicate that the crowd noise does not seem to affect the referees' decisions, unless we consider the anxiety. The present findings suggest that the decisions of referees with high anxiety might be more easily influenced by external factors like crowd noise. Based on these results, referees' federations should consider the possibility to develop training protocols dedicated to highly anxious referees, to avoid their decisions from being biased by spectators' pressure.

Assessing the use of psychological skills by sports category and the relation with sports performance satisfaction.

BACKGROUND: The evaluation of psychological skills by athletes and their relationship with sports performance and satisfaction has been of great interest in recent decades. Likewise, there has been an emergent tendency to focus on developing specific psychological skills for each sport. The principal aim of this study was to determine the frequency with which athletes deploy psychological skills whilst competing and whether their frequency varies in accordance with the technical, tactical and physical characteristics of the sport in question. A further objective was to establish the connection between the frequency of use of psychological skills and athletes' degree of satisfaction with their performance. METHODS: The study comprised 1003 athletes practicing 43 different sports, grouped into 7 categories based on the similarities between them. Frequency of use of the psychological skills was measured with the Test of Performance Strategies 3. RESULTS: The data analyses allowed the following conclusions to be drawn: the degree to which psychological skills are used is dependent on the technical, tactical and physical characteristics of each sport; and the higher the frequency of the use of psychological skills, the greater the athletes' degree of satisfaction with their performance. CONCLUSIONS: These results allow athletes and coaches to increase levels of sports performance by working on the use of psychological skills, adapted to the technical, tactical or physical requirements of the category in which their sport is included. In addition, working on different psychological skills will improve their satisfaction with sports performance.

Incidencia del sistema de puntuación de las tareas sobre la carga mental del entrenamiento en fútbol / Incidence of the tasks scoring system on the mental load in football training / Incidência do sistema de pontuação de tarefas na carga mental de treinamento de futebol

El objetivo de este estudio fue examinar el efecto de la modificación del sistema de puntuación en dos tareas de entrenamiento en fútbol, sobre la carga mental percibida por los deportistas. Asimismo, se analizó la repercusión sobre aspectos condicionales. Los participantes fueron 40 jugadores pertenecientes a 4 equipos de la categoría sub-18 de división de honor, que llevaron a cabo 2 tareas de entrenamiento diferentes, la primera una posesión 5x5 y la segunda un partido 5x5 reducido. Cada tarea se desarrolló en días diferentes, con y sin modificación del sistema de puntuación. Así, para comprobar la percepción de carga mental se utilizó el cuestionario NASA - Task Load Index y la fatiga mental se analizó mediante la escala Visual Analogical Scale. Además, se valoró su percepción de esfuerzo y la carga externa con GPS. Los resultados demostraron que la modificación del sistema de puntuación afectó de manera significativa a la carga y fatiga mental en ambas tareas, incidiendo más en la situación de partido reducido que en la posesión. Además, se pudo comprobar que había diferencias respecto a la carga física realizada, demostrándose que ambas variables, a pesar de estar relacionadas, se comportan de forma diferente. De esta forma, los resultados encontrados permiten una primera aproximación a la importancia de cuantificar y controlar la carga mental en el deporte, teniendo en cuenta que puede incidir de manera diferente a la carga física

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of the modiffcation of the scoring system on two football training tasks, on the mental load perceived by the athletes. Likewise, the repercussion on conditional aspects was analyzed. The participants were 40 soccer players belonging to four teams of the U18 division of honor, who carried out two different training tasks, the first a 5x5 possession and the second a reduced 5x5 match. Each task was developed on different days, with and without modiffcation of the scoring system. "us, to verify the perception of mental load, the NASA - Task Load Index questionnaire was used and mental fatigue was analyzed using Visual Analogical Scale. In addition, their perception of effort and the external load with GPS system were evaluated. The results showed that the modiffication of the scoring system signifficantly affected the load and mental fatigue in both tasks, affecting more in the situation of reduced match than in possession. In addition, it was found that there were differences in relation to the physical load, showing that both variables, although related, affect differently. Therefore, the results obtained allow a first approximation to the importance of quantifying and controlling the mental load in sport, taking into account that it can have a different effect on the physical load

O objetivo deste estudo foi examinar o efeito da modificação do sistema de pontuação em duas tarefas de treinamento de futebol, sobre a carga mental percebida pelos atletas. Da mesma forma, o impacto nos aspectos condicionais foi analisado. Os participantes foram 40 jogadores pertencentes a 4 equipes da divisão de honra da divisão U18, que realizaram duas tarefas de treinamento diferentes, a primeira com uma posse de 5x5 e a segunda com uma partida reduzida de 5x5. Cada tarefa foi desenvolvida em dias diferentes, com e sem modificação do sistema de pontuação. Assim, para verificar a percepção da carga mental, utilizou-se o questionário NASA - Task Load Index e a fadiga mental foi analisada pela escala visual Analogical Scale. Além disso, sua percepção de esforço e a carga externa com o GPS foram avaliadas. Os resultados mostraram que a modificação do sistema de pontuação afetou significativamente a carga e a fadiga mental em ambas as tarefas, com maior ênfase na situação de parte reduzida do que em posse. Além disso, foi possível verificar que houve diferenças em relação à carga física realizada, demonstrando que ambas as variáveis, apesar de relacionadas, afetam diferentemente. Desta forma, os resultados obtidos permitem uma primeira aproximação à importância de quantificar e controlar a carga mental no esporte, levando em consideração que ela pode afetar a carga física de maneira diferente

The relationship between competitive state anxiety, self-confidence and attentional control in atletes / La relación entre la ansiedad estado competitiva, la autoconfianza y el control atencional en deportistas / A relação entre ansiedade do estado competitivo, autoconfiança e controle da atenção em atletas

El objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar la relación entre la ansiedad competitiva estado y la autoconfianza sobre el control atencional. También se analizó el impacto de la cantidad de años de experiencia en la práctica deportiva sobre estas variables. Nuestro estudio consideró las siguientes hipótesis: Altos niveles de control atencional se relacionarán con menores niveles de ansiedad competitiva estado, y mayores niveles de autoconfianza. Del mismo modo la ansiedad competitiva estado y la autoconfianza serán predictores significativos del control atencional; y los deportistas con más experiencia en su deporte tendrán mayores niveles de control atencional, autoconfianza, así como niveles más bajos de ansiedad competitiva estado. La muestra consistió en 833 deportistas españoles, y los análisis de datos incluyeron: cálculo de estadísticos descriptivos, análisis de regresión y análisis comparativos, empleando pruebas t para muestras no emparejadas, basados en la cantidad de años de experiencia deportiva. Los resultados de nuestro estudio confirmaron parcialmente estas hipótesis, proporcionando evidencia de la conexión entre la ansiedad estado competitiva y la autoconfianza con el control atencional en el deporte, así como confirmando el impacto de la experiencia deportiva sobre la autoconfianza y la ansiedad competitiva estado. Esta línea de investigación tiene implicaciones para la comprensión del tipo de características que pueden ayudar a los deportistas a desarrollar un buen control atencional

The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between competitive state anxiety, self-confidence and attentional control. The impact of the number of years’ experience in sporting practice on these variables was also analysed. Our study considered the following hypotheses: high levels of attentional control will be related to lower levels of competitive state anxiety, and higher levels of self-confidence. As well as competitive state anxiety and self-confidence will be significant predictors of attentional control; and athletes with more experience in their sport will have higher levels of attentional control and self-confidence, in addition to lower levels of competitive state anxiety. The sample consisted of 833 Spanish athletes, and the data analyses included calculation of descriptive statistics, a regression analysis and a comparative analysis, using an unpaired t-test, based on the number of years of sport experience. The results partially confirmed these hypotheses, providing evidence for the connection between anxiety and self-confidence with attentional control in sport, as well as confirming the impact of sport experience on self-confidence and competitive state anxiety. This research has implications for understanding which type of characteristics may help athletes develop good attentional control

O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar a relação entre a ansiedade do estado competitivo e a autoconfiança sobre o controle da atenção. O impacto do número de anos de experiência na prática esportiva nessas variáveis também foi analisado. Nosso estudo considerou as seguintes hipóteses: altos níveis de controle da atenção estarão relacionados a níveis mais baixos de ansiedade do estado competitivo e níveis mais altos de autoconfiança. Da mesma forma, a ansiedade e a autoconfiança do estado competitivo serão preditores significativos do controle da atenção; e atletas com mais experiência em seu esporte terão níveis mais elevados de controle da atenção, autoconfiança, assim como níveis mais baixos de ansiedade do estado competitivo. A amostra foi composta por 833 atletas espanhóis, e a análise dos dados incluiu: cálculo da estatística descritiva, análise de regressão e análise comparativa, utilizando-se testes t para amostras não pareadas, com base no número de anos de experiência esportiva. Os resultados do nosso estudo confirmaram parcialmente essas hipóteses, fornecendo evidências da conexão entre a ansiedade do estado competitivo e a autoconfiança com o controle da atenção no esporte, bem como confirmando o impacto da experiência esportiva na autoconfiança e na ansiedade competitiva do estado. Essa linha de pesquisa tem implicações para a compreensão do tipo de características que podem ajudar os atletas a desenvolver um bom controle da atenção

Adaptation of the test of performance strategies competition subscale to spanish / Adaptación al español de la subescala de Competición del Test of Performance Strategies

Background: In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the conceptualisation and assessment of athletes’ psychological skills and the study of their impact on sports performance. The aim of this study was to adapt the Test of Performance Strategies 3 competition subscale to the Spanish context. Method: The items included in the original test in English were translated using a double-back method, and the test was completed by a sample of 1,003 Spanish athletes of both sexes. Analyses of the factorial validity, reliability and invariance of the measurement model were carried out. Results: Favourable evidence was obtained for a measurement model comprising 36 items grouped in 9 factors, similar to the original model. Model fit was reasonable for both individual parameters and overall. Reliability rates were satisfactory for the overall test and for each factor. Evidence was also favourable for sex-based measurement model invariance. Conclusions: The adaptation is satisfactory and fit for use by sports psychology researchers and professionals in assessing the psychological skills employed by athletes in competition (AU)

Antecedentes: en los últimos años ha crecido el interés por la conceptualización y la evaluación de las habilidades psicológicas de los deportistas y por el estudio de su relación con el rendimiento deportivo. El presente estudio se realizó con el objetivo de adaptar al español la subescala de competición del Test of Performance Strategies 3. Método: se siguió un proceso de doble traducción de los ítems del test original en inglés, y se aplicó a una muestra de 1.003 deportistas españoles de ambos sexos. Se realizaron análisis de validez factorial, de fiabilidad y de invarianza del modelo de medida. Resultados: se obtuvo evidencia favorable a un modelo de medida con 36 ítems agrupados en 9 factores, semejante al modelo original. El ajuste del modelo fue razonable a nivel individual de cada parámetro y a nivel global. Los índices de fiabilidad fueron satisfactorios para el total del test y para cada uno de sus factores. También se obtuvieron evidencias favorables a la invarianza del modelo de medida en función del sexo. Conclusiones: la adaptación realizada es satisfactoria y puede ser utilizada por investigadores y profesionales de la psicología del deporte para evaluar las habilidades psicológicas que los deportistas emplean en la competición (AU)

Adaptation of the Test of Performance Strategies Competition Subscale to Spanish.

BACKGROUND: In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the conceptualisation and assessment of athletes’ psychological skills and the study of their impact on sports performance. The aim of this study was to adapt the Test of Performance Strategies 3 competition subscale to the Spanish context. METHOD: The items included in the original test in English were translated using a double-back method, and the test was completed by a sample of 1,003 Spanish athletes of both sexes. Analyses of the factorial validity, reliability and invariance of the measurement model were carried out. RESULTS: Favourable evidence was obtained for a measurement model comprising 36 items grouped in 9 factors, similar to the original model. Model fit was reasonable for both individual parameters and overall. Reliability rates were satisfactory for the overall test and for each factor. Evidence was also favourable for sex-based measurement model invariance. CONCLUSIONS: The adaptation is satisfactory and fit for use by sports psychology researchers and professionals in assessing the psychological skills employed by athletes in competition.