Psychological Competitive Ability Research Articles

High Psychological Competitive Ability Is Related to Incidence of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury in High School Female Athletes

Objectives:In a competitive sport situation, not only the exertions of performance but also the incidence of injury can be influenced by psychological factors. In recent years, the focus on anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury prevention has increased and many studies exploring risk factors for ACL injury have been published. However, the influence of psychological factors on ACL injuries is poorly documented. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between psychological competitive ability and incidence of ACL injury among high school female athletes.Methods:A 3-year prospective cohort study was conducted with 220 high school female handball or basketball players. All subjects were 15 years old and included 77 handball players and 143 basketball players. At baseline, psychological competitive ability was assessed by a self-administered questionnaire, the Diagnostic Inventory of Psychological Competitive Ability (DIPCA.3). This inventory measures an athlete’s psychological abilities to fully display their skills and talents during competition via 52 questions categorized into 12 scales: Patience, Aggressiveness, Volition for self-realization, Volition for winning, Self-control, Ability to relax, Concentration, Confidence, Decision, Predictive ability, Judgment, and Cooperation. After the baseline examination was performed at high school entry, all players were followed for 36 months to register any subsequent incidence of ACL injury. We compared the differences in psychological competitive ability between injured and uninjured players using an unpaired t-test. Values of p < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. The purpose of this study was explained to the subjects and their parents and written informed consent to participate was obtained from them. This study was approved by the ethics committee of our institution.Results:In the present study, 20 of the 220 players (9.1%) suffered an ACL injury during the 3-year observation period. Eighteen of the 20 injured players sustained a non-contact injury to her knee. Eleven players were injured during the game and 9 players were injured during the practice. Between injured and uninjured players, injured players had significantly higher total DIPCA.3 scores [172.7 ± 18.3 points in injured players and 157.9 ± 20.9 points in uninjured players (p<0.001)]. Regarding the specific scales, injured players scored significantly higher on Patience, Aggressiveness, Volition for self-realization, Predictive ability, Judgment, and Cooperation. However, no significant differences were observed on Volition for winning, Self-control, Ability to relax, Concentration, Confidence and Decision.Conclusion:It is reported that players displaying higher competitive levels of performance or players with higher self-esteem in their own performance score higher on DIPCA.3. In the present study, DIPCA.3 scores were significantly higher in injured players compared with uninjured players. Among the high-scoring players, a strong emphasis on improvement of their performance may force them into situations associated with injury risk. The results of the present study suggest that psychological factors are associated with the incidence of ACL injury.

Psychological profiling of young female handball and basketball players – a pilot study

BackgroundThe influence of psychological factors on injuries in female handball and basketball is poorly documented.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to examine the influence of psychological factors on injuries in...

競技者における心理的パフォーマンスに対するコレクティブ・エフィカシーとその関連要因

The present study focused on collective efficacy (CE) among Japanese athletes. First, in study I, we prepared a CE scale to gauge psychological performance among 144 university athletes by revising a psychological performance self-efficacy scale using principle component analysis. The scale rated CEs for patience, aggressiveness, volition for self-realization, volition for winning, self-control, ability to relax, concentration, confidence, strategic planning, cooperation, and total psychological performance. The scale's content validity, test-retest reliability, and internal consistency were ensured. In study II, the psychological performance CE scores did not differ by gender, and the CE scores for non-regular players were higher than those for regular players. Some psychological performance CE scores were related to cooperation a measurement of psychological competitive ability. Study III identified the relationship between psychological performance CE and group size (number of team members), demonstrating that some psychological performance CE prior to games was related to some aspect of psychological performance or athletes' evaluation of game performance. It was concluded that the psychological performance CE scale would be a useful measurement for assessing a team's CE in psychological performance. In the future, this could be a valuable approach for obtaining basic data on psychological performance CE and for using CE as an indicator of team status for intervention in effective team-building.

Influence of Emotional Intelligence on the Psychological Competitive Ability of Female Basketball Players

Influence of Emotional Intelligence on the Psychological Competitive Ability of Female Basketball Players

The psychological competitive ability of Japanese national synchronized swimmers

The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychological trait of Japanese national synchronized swimmers at different levels of performance. We analyzed the scales of psychological competitive ability for synchronized swimmers of national A team (22.3 ± 2.2 yrs, n = 12), national B team (18.0 ± 2.2 yrs, n = 8), junior national team (15.8 ± 0.4 yrs, n = 8) and junior elite team (12.7 ± 0.7 yrs, n = 14), by using the Diagnostic Inventory Psychological Competitive Ability test (DIPCA.3.). Results revealed that synchronized swimmers were significantly high in cooperation, patience and volition for self-realization, and significantly low in their ability to relax, self-confidence and decision-making ability as compared to Olympic female athletes. It is suggested that the psychological competitive ability of synchronized swimmers were reflected by specific factors of synchronized swimming, which is judged as a closed-skill, synchronized sport and a large repetitive drill. Although world class synchronized swimmers had a low ability to relax, it is suggested they can perform better under high pressure and tension. The national A team was higher in patience and aggressiveness than the lower level groups. Therefore, patience and aggressiveness are important abilities that are required to be a world top-level athlete. In addition, younger swimmers need to gain experience by participating in international competitions and national team training camps at a young age in order to improve their psychological competitive ability.

Psychological competitive abilities of Japanese Olympians: a case of 2002 Salt Lake City and 2006 Torino winter games

Psychological competitive abilities of Japanese Olympians: a case of 2002 Salt Lake City and 2006 Torino winter games

Relationship between Cognitive Strategies and Psychological-Competitive Ability for High School Handball Players

Relationship between Cognitive Strategies and Psychological-Competitive Ability for High School Handball Players

A study on the effect of mental training in enhancing the psychological competitive ability of a wheelchair athlete

A study on the effect of mental training in enhancing the psychological competitive ability of a wheelchair athlete

走塁セルフ・エフィカシー尺度の開発およびその有効性の検討

It has been clarified that self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977) predicts behavior and plays an important role in improving performance. However, there have been no reports of any practical trials for improving sports performance through the development of self-efficacy. The purpose of this study was to propose concrete application of the concept of self-efficacy to sports coaching, using base-running behavior in baseball as a theme. In Study 1, we examined the reliability (internal consistency and stability) of the Self-Efficacy Scale for Base-Running (SES-BR). In Study 2, we examined whether the intervention of the SES-BR could improve the self-efficacy and the performance of base-running as well as psychological competitive abilities such as “decisiveness,” “predictive ability,” and “judgment.” In Study 1, three coaches from a college baseball team extracted 31 types of base-running behavior that are considered critical in baseball games. In order to examine the reliability of the scale, the self-efficacy scores of the fielders in the team (N =24) were measured twice: once on the first day of the season, and again, one week later. The results indicated Cronbach's a =.94 and a test-retest correlation coefficient r =.81 ( p <.001) for the SES-BR, thus verifying the scale's reliability. In Study 2, the college baseball players received cards on which the SES-BR was printed and were instructed to verify the 31 base-running behavioral items every five days. The results revealed a significant increase in the self-efficacy score during the intervention period ( p <.05). Moreover, the base-run errors—an index for base-running performance—decreased due to the intervention of the SES-BR: 8.30/game before the intervention, 6.77/game (-18%) in the first season, and 4.32/game in the second season (-48%). Furthermore, “decisiveness” and the comprehensive evaluation of psychological competitive ability, as evaluated by DIPCA (Tokunaga, 2001), showed significant improvement during the second intervention season ( p <.05 for both). Therefore, the intervention of the SES-BR, which was developed in this study and confirmed to be highly reliable, was suggested as a possible measure for improving self-efficacy and performance in base-running as well as “decisiveness” and overall psychological competitive ability.

The correlates with psychological-competitive ability for male wheelchair athletes

The correlates with psychological-competitive ability for male wheelchair athletes

スポーツ選手に対する心理的競技能力の評価尺度の開発とシステム化

スポーツ選手に対する心理的競技能力の評価尺度の開発とシステム化

A Research of Trait Psychological-Competitive Ability about Rugby Football Players

A Research of Trait Psychological-Competitive Ability about Rugby Football Players

Questionnaires and Diagnostic Methods for Athlete's Psychological Competitive Abilities and Psychological States Before and During Competition

Questionnaires and Diagnostic Methods for Athlete's Psychological Competitive Abilities and Psychological States Before and During Competition

Diagnostic Methods for Athletes' Psychological Competitive Abilities and Psychological States before and during Competition

Diagnostic Methods for Athletes' Psychological Competitive Abilities and Psychological States before and during Competition

The effect of Kangeiko on psychological competitive ability of college kendo players

The effect of Kangeiko on psychological competitive ability of college kendo players

Relationship between Psychological-Competitive Ability and Competitive Performance in Japanese Athletes

It is very important for coaches and athletes to understand an athlete's psychological-competitive ability as a personal trait, because it will frequently influence one's competitive or state in competition. Two diagnostic tests which examine the mental power and 'psychological performance of athletes were developed by the authors (1989, 1990) :ftThe Diagnostic Inventory of Psychological Competitive Ability (DIPCA), which measures power, and C'The Diagnostic Inventory of Psychological Performance (DIPP), which measures both the state and psychological during competition. The purpose of this study was to confirm the utility of these two scales by analyzing the relationship between the psychological-competitive ability (DIPCA) and competitive performance.