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Reducing percieved stress in competition training for adolescent athletes through relaxation techniques


Author: Nicolescu Alexandra-Cristina
Degree:doctor of psychology
Speciality: 19.00.07 - Pedagogical Psychology, Psychology of Development, Psychology of Personality
Year:2022
Scientific adviser: Aurelia Glavan
doctor habilitat, associate professor (docent)
Institution: Chisinau Pedagogical State University "Ion Creanga"

Status

The thesis was presented on the 11 November, 2022
Approved by NCAA on the 21 December, 2022

Abstract

Adobe PDF document0.82 Mb / in romanian
Adobe PDF document0.81 Mb / in english

Thesis

CZU 159.922.8:796.077.5(043.3)

Adobe PDF document 3.25 Mb / in romanian
216 pages


Keywords

stress, psychological intervention, relaxation techniques, anxiety, self esteem, performance, competition

Summary

Nicolescu Alexandra-Cristina, Reducing percieved stress in competition training for adolescent athletes through relaxation techniques PhD Thesis in Psychology. Chișinău, 2022 Structure of the thesis: The work consists of annotation, the list of abbreviations, introduction, three chapters, general conclusions and recommendations, 230 bibliographic sources, 9 appendices, 162 pages of text, 62 diagrams and 59 tables. The results are published in 11 scientific papers. Keywords: stress, psychological intervention, relaxation techniques, anxiety, self esteem, performance, competition. Field of study: adolescent psychology, sport psychology The purpose of the research consists in the development, theoretical substantiation and experimental valorization of a psychological intervention program through relaxation techniques to reduce the perceived stress of adolescent athletes in the pre-competitive period. The objectives of the research: Determining the theoretical-conceptual foundations regarding stress and relaxation techniques of adolescent athletes during the pre-competitive training period; identifying the psychological traits of athletes necessary to control stress and achieve sports performance; establishing the levels and particularities of stress, anxiety and self-esteem manifestation in adolescent athletes, in the precompetitive period; the conceptualization, implementation and experimental validation of the Psychological Intervention Program through relaxation techniques to reduce the perceived stress of adolescent athletes in precompetitive training; the development of scientific conclusions and recommendations regarding the enhancement of sports performance and self-esteem by reducing stress and anxiety in adolescent athletes. Novelty and scientific originality results from the design and implementation of theoretical foundations regarding competitive stress and a psychological intervention program that creates real premises for managing anxiety through relaxation techniques that reduce the perceived stress of adolescent athletes and increase the adolescent athletes' self-esteem in a pre-competitive context. The research represents, at the national level, one of the first psychological papers that offers a unified vision on the principles, conditions and methods by describing the psychological characteristics of adolescent athletes, necessary for controlling stress, achieving sports performance and making it possible to adopt the program in an effective strategy of selfmanagement of pre-competitive stress. The important scientific problem solved concerns the establishment of stress levels, the description of the particularities of stress manifestation and the scientific substantiation of the Psychological Intervention Program through relaxation techniques that led to the development of personal coping resources in the management of the pre-competitive stress level. The theoretical significance of the study consists in the interdisciplinary approach to the perceived stress of adolescent athletes, the development and implementation of a unitary epistemic-empirical equation with reference to relaxation techniques and their role in managing the level of perceived stress in the competitive training of adolescent athletes. The results of the given research fall within the scope of the basic objectives of contemporary psychological science, establishing a topical problem, and offering an original method of solving it. The practical value of the research derives from the research results that can be exploited in various fields: stress research contributing to the expansion of the epistemological boundaries of the theory with reference to the relaxation technique programs, the perceived stress, and their implementation strategies; in the counseling activity of adolescent athletes, carried out at different levels of intervention; in the development of support programs for children and young people in order to develop coping resources and control anxiety, improving the level of self-esteem for professional training (initial and continuous) of psychologists. Implementation of scientific results. The most important aspects of the work were analyzed and published within the national and international scientific activities. The paper is recommended for completing the university curriculum (psychology and educational sciences faculties) with applied continuous trainings and seminars, university courses, in which the relevance of relaxation techniques in managing the perceived level of stress and anxiety and increasing self-esteem among different groups of people will be addressed.