P154 Association Between Life Skills and Self-Efficacy on Dietary Control Among Athletes

Abstract

Background The World Health Organization has defined life skills as, “the abilities for adaptive and positive behavior that enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life.” Life skills in athletes can be translated as skills necessary to deal with the demands and challenges in the competition. This includes dietary behaviors suitable to maximize the training adaptation and to prepare for the competition. While the association between life skills and self-efficacy scores have been reported in general population, the relationship between life skills and self-efficacy on dietary control among athletes have not been investigated. Objective We aimed to examine the association between life skills and self-efficacy scales on dietary control in high school baseball players in Japan. Study Design, Settings, Participants This study was cross-sectionally conducted in seven prefectures in Japan. The 181 baseball players in their freshman year of high-school participated in this study. Information on life skills, self-efficacy scales on dietary control, and psychological competition ability with DIPCA.3 were assessed. Measurable Outcome/Analysis Validated self-efficacy scale in dietary control for athletes were used in this study (Sato et al 2017). POMS 2 was used to measure the state of temporary mood and emotion. Results Multiple regression analysis showed the significant association of life skills with the competition motivation (β = .258, P Conclusion In this study, we confirmed that competition motivation, friendliness, and self-efficacy on dietary control were independently associated with life skills. Therefore, life skills can be improved by promoting self-efficacy on dietary control with interventions such as the nutrition education. Funding None.