Psychological difficulties of students with different mental self-regulation levels during competitions

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PhD, Associate Professor A.E. Lovyagina1
PhD, Associate Professor S.V. Mednikov1
PhD, Associate Professor V.K. Safonov1
1Saint Petersburg State University, Saint-Petersburg

Objective of the study was to identify the degree of manifestation of psychological difficulties athletes with different mental self-regulation levels face during competitions.
Methods and structure of the study. The study involved 130 athletes (76 males and 54 females aged 18-33 years) engaged in various sports activities in the Saint Petersburg and Leningrad Region sports clubs: cyclic (swimming, academic rowing, athletics - running and walking); complex coordination (acrobatics, rhythmic gymnastics); martial arts (judo, freestyle wrestling); sports games (football, basketball, volleyball). The respondents’ sports qualifications were as follows: Candidate Masters of Sport (n=53), Masters of Sport (n=65), World Class Masters of Sport and Honored Masters of Sport (n=12). The study was carried out according to the methodology "Style of self-regulation of behavior" and questionnaires "Psychological difficulties faced by athletes" and "Athletes’ attitude to psychological counseling".
Results and conclusions. We identified the relationships between the level of modeling and difficulties in actualizing the states of mobilization and rest, as well as the relationships between the level of formation of self-assessment skills and the fears in precompetitive situations. It was found that the improvement of programming and overall level of mental self-regulation is associated with the enhancement of the athlete’s readiness to improve self-management skills during competitive activities.

Keywords: psychological difficulties in competitions, mental self-regulation, psychological preparedness for competitions.

References

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