M. Rouveix

Training and 24-hr Urinary Catecholamine Excretion

We examined the effects of 28 weeks of training on 24-hr urinary catecholamine excretion and mood (evaluated using the Recovery-Stress Questionnaire for Athletes RESTQ-Sport) among seven national young female tennis players. Data were collected after a 1-month rest (September, T (1)), 3 months after T1(T2) and 7 months after T1(T3). Standardized Stress and Standardized Recovery scores and RESTQ-Index were computed. The training load increased by 161 % between T1 and T2 and by 55 % between T2 and T3. The performance (wins/total number of matches) decreased throughout the study. Urinary catecholamine excretion presented an U-shaped curve with a significant increase in 24-hr urinary catecholamine excretions, and epinephrine/norepinephrine ratio from T1 to T2 (T1 vs. T2: epinephrine: + 100 %, p < 0.05; norepinephrine: + 30 %, p < 0.05. Then, at T3, urinary catecholamine excretions and the epinephrine/norepinephrine ratio decreased significantly to values lower than the values observed at T1. A decrease in RESTQ-Index throughout the study was mainly based on a large increase in the Standardized Stress score. Changes in specific stress and recovery scales of the RESTQ-Sport for athletes and changes in catecholamine values indicated a state of heavy training stress and incomplete recovery at the end of the study.

Eating behaviours in relation to emotional intelligence.

The purpose of the study was to examine the abnormal eating attitudes in judoists and the possible relationships between eating attitudes, emotional intelligence, and body dissatisfaction. A total of 20 national judoists and 25 control participants were enrolled in the study. Subjects completed the following questionnaires: The Eating Attitudes Test, The Body Image Assessment Scale-Body Dimensions and the Bar-On Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire. 30 % of the athletes (n=6) and 20% of the controls (n=5) presented disordered eating attitudes although these subjects were of normal weight. They also presented body dissatisfaction and had lower levels of emotional intelligence in comparison to the groups without disordered eating attitudes, particularly in factors such as intrapersonal (p<0.01), adaptability (p<0.05), stress tolerance (p<0.04) and general mood (p<0.04). The athletes reported using different weight loss methods such as self-induced vomiting (20%), fasting (40%), diuretics (15%), and laxatives (50%). Among disordered eating attitude groups (Controls+Judoists), Global EAT-26 was negatively correlated with stress tolerance (p<0.04: r=-0.64), emotional self-awareness (p<0.05: r=-0.70), general mood (p<0.01: r=-0.74), and positively correlated with body dissatisfaction (p<0.01: r=0.79). Results highlight the role of emotion in disordered eating attitudes, which is an important finding in terms of the prevention and management of disordered eating.