Effectiveness of executive functions training on anxiety, self-efficacy and self-regulation of student athletes participating in sports olympiad

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Sports Psychology Department, Physical Education Research Institute, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran.

2 Student, Master of General Psychology, Payam Noor University, Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effectiveness of executive functions training on anxiety, self-efficacy and self-regulation of elite student athletes participating in the sports Olympiad. The research method was semi-experimental with a pre-test and post-test design and a control group. The statistical population of the research was elite male student athletes and 34 people (17 people in the experimental group and 17 people in the control group) were selected and participated in the research as a sample. Beck et al.'s anxiety questionnaires (1988), Sherer's general self-efficacy (1982) and SRI-25 self-regulation questionnaires were completed before and after the training sessions by the students of the target community. Executive function training intervention sessions were conducted for 15 sessions for the experimental group. The result of univariate covariance analysis showed that executive functions training reduces anxiety (F=7.056, P<0.05) and increases self-efficacy (F=26.248, P<0.05) and also increases self-regulation (F=37.705). , P < 0.05) of student athletes participating in sports Olympiad was effective in the experimental group. It can be concluded that the training of executive functions reduced anxiety, increased self-efficacy and self-regulation of student athletes participating in the sports olympiad.

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