CAREER LONGEVITY OF ELITE LATVIAN ATHLETES

In recent years, sports psychology researchers have shown a growing interest in exploring various facets of sports careers, career transitions, the personal qualities profile of athletes who achieve peak sports performance, and the existing models and distinctions within career stages.This research...

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Main Authors: Dace Eikena, Tatiana Iancheva
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Scientific Publishing House. NSA Press 2024-07-01
Series:Journal of Applied Sports Sciences
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Online Access:https://journal.nsa.bg/article/33165/download/pdf/
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author Dace Eikena
Tatiana Iancheva
author_facet Dace Eikena
Tatiana Iancheva
author_sort Dace Eikena
collection DOAJ
description In recent years, sports psychology researchers have shown a growing interest in exploring various facets of sports careers, career transitions, the personal qualities profile of athletes who achieve peak sports performance, and the existing models and distinctions within career stages.This research aimed to examine the link between the mental qualities and skills and the sports careers of elite Latvian athletes and to seek potential differences dependent on sports career stages, level of qualification, and gender. The research was done among 109 elite athletes from Latvia aged 17 to 40, practicing 19 sports – 71 men and 38 women. For the purposes of the research, the subjects were divided into groups according to two criteria: 1) depending on the different stages of their sports career and 2) depending on the type of development of their sports career. The research methods included: Latvian personality survey (LPA-v3, Perepjolkina et al., 2011); Sports et al. (SMTQ; Sheard et al., 2009), adapted for Latvian conditions by Astaficevs et al. (2020); Psychological Performance Inventory Alternative version (PPI-A; Golby et al., 2007), adapted for Latvian conditions by Astafi cevs et al. (2020.); General et al. (GSE; Schwarzer & Jerusalem, 1995), adapted for Latvian conditions by Astafi cevs et al. (2020); Psychological Skills Inventory for Sports (PSIS-R5), adapted for Latvian conditions by Fernāte Andra, 2008.The obtained results revealed some differences in the personal profiles of the Latvian athletes depending on the stages and type of their sports careers, level of qualification, and gender. We found higher results along the factors conscientiousness, honesty and modesty, and the lowest results along the factor neuroticism among the elite athletes. We found significantly higher values of the mental skills: anxiety control, concentration, mental preparation, motivation, self-confidence, and control among the men.
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spelling doaj-art-529df866b95c463f976ba41e2746167a2025-08-20T02:28:19ZengScientific Publishing House. NSA PressJournal of Applied Sports Sciences2535-01452024-07-0181355610.37393/JASS.2024.01.433165CAREER LONGEVITY OF ELITE LATVIAN ATHLETESDace EikenaTatiana Iancheva0National Sports Academy “Vassil Levski”In recent years, sports psychology researchers have shown a growing interest in exploring various facets of sports careers, career transitions, the personal qualities profile of athletes who achieve peak sports performance, and the existing models and distinctions within career stages.This research aimed to examine the link between the mental qualities and skills and the sports careers of elite Latvian athletes and to seek potential differences dependent on sports career stages, level of qualification, and gender. The research was done among 109 elite athletes from Latvia aged 17 to 40, practicing 19 sports – 71 men and 38 women. For the purposes of the research, the subjects were divided into groups according to two criteria: 1) depending on the different stages of their sports career and 2) depending on the type of development of their sports career. The research methods included: Latvian personality survey (LPA-v3, Perepjolkina et al., 2011); Sports et al. (SMTQ; Sheard et al., 2009), adapted for Latvian conditions by Astaficevs et al. (2020); Psychological Performance Inventory Alternative version (PPI-A; Golby et al., 2007), adapted for Latvian conditions by Astafi cevs et al. (2020.); General et al. (GSE; Schwarzer & Jerusalem, 1995), adapted for Latvian conditions by Astafi cevs et al. (2020); Psychological Skills Inventory for Sports (PSIS-R5), adapted for Latvian conditions by Fernāte Andra, 2008.The obtained results revealed some differences in the personal profiles of the Latvian athletes depending on the stages and type of their sports careers, level of qualification, and gender. We found higher results along the factors conscientiousness, honesty and modesty, and the lowest results along the factor neuroticism among the elite athletes. We found significantly higher values of the mental skills: anxiety control, concentration, mental preparation, motivation, self-confidence, and control among the men.https://journal.nsa.bg/article/33165/download/pdf/sports careercareer transitionscareer duration
spellingShingle Dace Eikena
Tatiana Iancheva
CAREER LONGEVITY OF ELITE LATVIAN ATHLETES
Journal of Applied Sports Sciences
sports career
career transitions
career duration
title CAREER LONGEVITY OF ELITE LATVIAN ATHLETES
title_full CAREER LONGEVITY OF ELITE LATVIAN ATHLETES
title_fullStr CAREER LONGEVITY OF ELITE LATVIAN ATHLETES
title_full_unstemmed CAREER LONGEVITY OF ELITE LATVIAN ATHLETES
title_short CAREER LONGEVITY OF ELITE LATVIAN ATHLETES
title_sort career longevity of elite latvian athletes
topic sports career
career transitions
career duration
url https://journal.nsa.bg/article/33165/download/pdf/
work_keys_str_mv AT daceeikena careerlongevityofelitelatvianathletes
AT tatianaiancheva careerlongevityofelitelatvianathletes