Dietmar Martin Samulski

ISSP position stand: Competencies (occupational standards, knowledge, and practice) and their accomplishment (learning specification, essential knowledge, and skills) in sport and exercise psychology

Over the last two decades, sport psychology has established itself as one of the most prominent sport sciences, both in research and application (Singer, Hausenblas, & Janelle, 2001). Up-to-date background information on the development of the field in countries around the globe can be found in the third edition of The World Sport Psychology Source Book (Lidor, Morris, & Bardaxoglou, 2001). This source provides the current status of sport psychology in the academic domain as well as in the applied field. Three major observations were noticed: (1) there has been a dramatic increase in the number of active sport psychologists around the globe since the first (Salmela, 1981) and second (Salmela, 1992) editions of the Source Book were published. More individuals are involved in sport and exercise psychology today than in previous years, (2) Forty four out of 48 countries (91.6%) reported of available academic programs in sport psychology. Students can study sport psychology at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and (3) many countries have established the necessary requirements to become a certified sport and exercise psychologist, as well as institutes and organizations that provide this certification.

Perfil psicológico de atletas paraolímpicos brasileiros

O objetivo deste estudo e apresentar e discutir os resultados da preparacao psicologica realizada com 64 atletas de oito diferentes esportes. A avaliacao foi realizada nos Centros de Treinamento Paraolimpicos no Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo e Recife. Foram aplicados testes de personalidade, testes de motivacao, questionario de estresse e testes psicometricos (percepcao, concentracao e tempo de reacao). Foi detectada diferenca significativa em alguns parâmetros psicologicos ao comparar os atletas de acordo com o sexo e os tipos de deficiencia (fisica, visual ou mental). De forma geral, o motivo mais importante para iniciar uma atividade esportiva foi o prazer da pratica e a necessidade de reabilitacao. Os principais motivos para praticar esportes foram a competicao e o desejo de superar limites. A maioria dos atletas mencionou os seguintes fatores estressantes: problemas de sono, pressao de vencer e conflitos interpessoais. A maioria dos atletas apresentou bons resultados na percepcao e no tempo de reacao. Baseados nesses resultados foi desenvolvida uma orientacao individual no periodo de preparacao para os Jogos Paraolimpicos.

Counseling Brazilian athletes during the Olympic Games in Athens 2004: important issues and intervention techniques.

Abstract During the Athens Olympic Games in 2004, a sports psychologist was brought in by the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB) to provide psychological counseling. The main purposes of this counseling were to develop mental and emotional control skills and to offer psychological support to both athletes and coaches. The Brazilian sport psychologists in the Olympic Village offered interventions to individuals and teams. The following issues were uncovered by psychological tests and structured interviews: competitive anxiety, symptoms of psychosomatic stress, psychological pressure for winning, concentration difficulties, emotional instability, and difficulties in controlling pain. In order to prepare themselves for competition, some athletes developed their own psychological routines, aiming to maintain emotional control and a certain concentration level during the execution of technical‐tactical gestures. A total of 50 sessions of psychological support and supervision took place throughout the entire event, among which relaxation, concentration techniques, anxiety and stress management, and psychological routines for competition were practiced. Future steps for the Olympic games in 2008 are a long‐term preparation program, an interdisciplinary cooperation involving mental preparation (mainly for young athletes), and the development of a coachs education program

Assessment of psychological pain management techniques: a comparative study between athletes and non-athletes

Athletes usually deal with injuries and pain. They seem to have similar pain threshold when compared to non-athletes, although they have higher pain tolerance and the exact cause for that is unknown. High levels for pain tolerance and control can improve performance and time for injury recovery. The literature shows that use of coping strategies can increase pain control; possible differences on coping with pain between athletes and non-athletes are poorly described. The purpose of this study was to evaluate frequency of coping strategies used by athletes and non-athletes of both genders and look for possible association between preferred coping style and pain intensity. The sample included 160 subjects with actual pain experience, 80 athletes (52 male, 28 female) and 80 non-athletes (50 male and 30 female). All subjects were evaluated for pain intensity, frequency and duration and for coping strategies using a questionnaire (SBS-V). The results show that athletes and non-athletes, despite of gender, use with the same frequency coping strategies. The less common coping strategies for all groups were those poor-adaptative (p < 0.001); the most commonly strategy used was self-statement and regulation of body tension (p < 0.001). Female athletes use more frequently poor-adaptative strategies when pain intensity increases (p < 0.05).

Análise da carreira esportiva de jovens atletas de futebol na transição da fase amadora para a fase profissional: escolaridade, iniciação, contexto sócio-familiar e planejamento da carreira

This study analyzed the career of athletes in early adulthood that are facing the transition from amateur to professional sport. The aims of this study were: a) raise data related to their formal education; b) identify relevant factors in the sport initiation phase of the athletes; c) characterize their family and social context; d) identify factors that interfere in their career planning actions. A sample of 186 athletes with an average age of 18.46 years old (± 0.82) participated on the study. Two instruments were used for data collection: 1) a 46 question interview based on the Athletic and Post-athletic Questionnaire and the Sports Career Transitions Questionnaire and 2) a semi structured interview. The results indicated that the majority of the players had difficulty to combine studies and training and showed that the sports initiation of these athletes occured on the streets. Their families lie at lower social economic levels and the social relationships of these players have undergone major changes along their careers. The athletes have shown a reasonable level of previous career planning, except for issues related to studies.

Validação da escala de motivação no esporte (SMS) no futebol para a língua portuguesa brasileira

O objetivo deste estudo foi submeter o questionario Sport Motivation Scale (SMS) ao processo de validacao transcultural da Escala de Motivacao no Esporte para a lingua portuguesa brasileira (EME-BR), verificando sua validade e aplicabilidade na populacao de jovens atletas brasileiros de futebol de alto nivel. Participaram deste estudo 370 atletas. Utilizou-se o Instrumento denominado Escala de Motivacao no Esporte - versao brasileira (EME-BR), no qual e composto por 28 itens, dividido em sete dimensoes. Para a traducao e adaptacao do instrumento, foram adotados os procedimentos sugeridos na literatura. Os resultados da analise fatorial confirmatoria, demonstraram que com excecao do teste S-Bx² que foi significante (p 0,70), entretanto, as demais dimensoes, aproximam-se do indice desejavel. Contudo, os resultados obtidos no presente estudo dao algum suporte para a validade da EME-BR com jogadores brasileiros jovens de futebol de alto nivel.

Análise dos sintomas de overtraining durante os períodos de treinamento e recuperação: estudo de caso de uma equipe feminina da Superliga de Voleibol 2003/2004

Overtraining is a process involving progressively increased training to a high absolute level that is in excess of more routine training undertaken to maintain performance. However, its excessive increase may impair the physical and mental health of the athlete. The aim of this study was to keep up with levels of stress and recovery of volleyball athletes during the Brazilian Super League 2003/2004. 16 athletes (23,63 ± 6,40 years) were evaluated during two periods, training and rest by answering a stress and recovery questionnaire (RESTQ-Sport-76). Stress levels were measured through the scales 1 to 7 (general stress) and 13 to 15 (stress sports). Its results showed significant differences between perceptions of athletes in all scales (p<0,05) during training and rest. Levels of sports and general recoveries are known through nine scales. In five of them (9, 10, 11, 12 and 16) there were significant differences (p<0,05) and in four, (8, 13, 14 and 15) there were low recovery by the athletes. The conclusion is that RESTQ-Sport-76 was able to assess stress and recovery levels in volleyball athletes and this group demonstrated low recovery during training period.

O perfil de liderança dos treinadores de futebol do Campeonato Brasileiro Série A/2005

Este estudo objetivou analisar o perfil de lideranca exercido pelos treinadores que trabalham na principal competicao de futebol profissional do pais e verificar a existencia de uma possivel preferencia dos treinadores, por um determinado estilo de lideranca (interacao e decisao). Para a coleta de dados, utilizou-se um questionario de identificacao da amostra e a Escala de Lideranca Revisada para o Esporte (ELRE), versao auto-percepcao, composta por 60 situacoes e seis dimensoes que envolvem o comportamento de lideranca. Participaram deste estudo 20 treinadores de alto rendimento, participantes do Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A/2005. Esses treinadores apresentam idade media de 50 anos (±6,92) e um envolvimento direto na funcao de treinador dentro da modalidade de 15,10 anos (±8,42). Para analise da consistencia interna da ELRE foi utilizada a tecnica de alpha de Cronbach. Os resultados encontrados mostram valor da consistencia interna a=0,86 e indicam que os treinadores entrevistados utilizaram mais a lideranca autoritaria e os aspectos de treino-instrucao e reforco para comandarem as suas equipes no Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A. Por meio da analise de variância constatou-se que houve diferenca (p < 0,05) entre as dimensoes que compoem o estilo de decisao e tambem entre as dimensoes que compoem o estilo de interacao. Portanto, conclui-se que o perfil de lideranca dos treinadores que trabalharam no Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A/2005 foi caracterizado pelo estilo de decisao autocratico e pelo estilo de interacao mais voltado para os aspectos que compoem a conduta educativa e de instrucao dos seus atletas.

Cargas elevadas de treinamento alteram funções cognitivas em jogadores de futebol

INTRODUCTION: In the performance sports, high training loads are necessary for biological adaptations to occur leading to the improvement of fitness and sports performance.OBJECTIVE: To investigate the behavior of the psychological and physiological variables, indicators of possible states of stress and recovery in soccer players throughout the sports season, and the possibility of using these as markers of the conditions of athletes trainability to prevent decreased performance and overtraining.METHODS: The study included 14 soccer players (18.4±0.6 years, 9.64±1.61% with fat and VO2max 49.46 ± 2.88 ml/kg/min) of a junior class of a team of the first division of Brazil. The perception of stress and recovery, the heart rate variability (HRV) at rest, analyzed in the time and frequency domain, and simple reaction time were monitored through the questionnaire RESTQ-Sport. We carried out three collections of data, a control (C), another after four weeks of intense training (T1), and finally after four weeks of light training (T2) performed after T1.RESULTS: No significant difference was found in any of the scales of RESTQ-Sport and HRV at the three collections. The simple reaction time showed a significant increase (p=0.047) in T1 compared to C.CONCLUSION: The results indicate that the reaction time was the only variable sensitive to changes in the training study and could be considered a good indicator of trainability of athletes.INTRODUCCION: En el deporte de rendimiento, las altas cargas de entrenamiento son necesarias para que ocurran adaptaciones biologicas que lleven a la mejora de la forma fisica y del desempeno deportivo.OBJETIVO: Investigar el comportamiento de variables psicologicas y fisiologicas, posibles indicadores de los estados de estres y recuperacion, en jugadores de futbol a lo largo de la temporada deportiva, y la posibilidad del uso de los mismos como marcadores de los estados de entrenabilidad de los atletas para prevenir caidas del desempeno y overtraining.METODOS: Participaron en este estudio 14 jugadores de futbol (18,4 ± 0,6 anos, 9,64 ± 1,61 % con gordura y VO2max49,46 ± 2,88 ml/kg/min) de la categoria junior de un equipo de primera division de Brasil. Fueron monitoreadas la percepcion de estres y la recuperacion por medio del cuestionario RESTQ-Sport, la variabilidad de frecuencia cardiaca (VFC) de reposo, analizada en el dominio del tiempo y de la frecuencia, y el tiempo de reaccion simple. Se efectuaron tres colectas de datos, un control (C), otra despues de cuatro semanas de entrenamientos intensos (T1), y finalmente despues de cuatro semanas de entrenamientos leves (T2) realizados despues de T1.RESULTADOS: No fue encontrada diferencia significativa en ninguna de las escalas de RESTQ-Sport y en VFC en los tres momentos de colecta. El tiempo de reaccion simple presento un aumento significativo (p = 0,047) en T1 en relacion a C.CONCLUSION: Los resultados indican que el tiempo de reaccion fue la unica variable sensible a las alteraciones del entrenamiento estudiado, pudiendo ser considerado un buen indicador de la entrenabilidad de los atletas.

Validação das propriedades psicométricas do RESTQ-Coach na versão brasileira

The purpose of this study was to validate a Brazilian version of the The Recovery, Stress Questionnaire for Coaches (RESTQ-Coach), herein named Questionario de Estresse e Recuperacao para Treinadores Esportivos (RESTQ-Coach-versao brasileira). The RESTQ is an assessment tool for Brazilian sport coaches. Also, using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), the purpose of this study was to verify the adequacy of the theoretical model by Kallus e Kellmann (1993). A sample comprised of 424 coaches, average age of 37.06 (±9.20) years, was divided into eleven different sports modalities, consisting of five team sports and six individual sports. The results of the AFC shows that the original model of the questionnaire proposed by Kallus e Kellmann (1993) is inadequate for this sample, and that the AFE was identified as the best solution to a factorial validation of the instrument, which is composed of six factors. This solution disclosed general internal consistency values of α = .85. Values of the global adjustment indicators of the Brazilian model for six AFE factors were: χ2 = 9.660,239 e gl = 2695, p=0,001; CFI= 0,96; TLI= 0,95; RMSEA 0,07, expressing their quality. We concluded that Kallus e Kellmann (1993) model was not corroborated by the AFC for this Brazilian sample. The best factorial solution to the RESTQ-Coach Brazilian version is composed by six constructs.