Athletes Self-talk, Coaching Behaviour And Significant Others Positive And Negative Statements

Introduction
The important role of thoughts in the form of self-talk on emotions and behaviour has received significant support by
researchers [1, 2]. Based on the review of multiple studies on the beneficial effects of self-talk on performance [3, 4,
5,6], no research to our knowledge in sport settings, has investigated the possible effects of coaches’ behaviour and
significant others’ positive and negative statements on athletes’ positive or negative self-talk.

Methods
The study was carried out among 125 athletes (90 females and 35 males) with a mean age of 20.04 years (SD = 5.57).
The participants were recruited from basketball (N = 91) and football (N = 34). The Athletes’ Positive and Negative
Self-Talk Scale (APNSTS), which measures positive and negative self-talk, the Coaches’ and Significant Others’
Positive and Negative Statements Scale (CSOPNSS), which measures coaches’ and significant others’ positive and
negative statements, and finally the Coaching Behaviour Questionnaire (CBQ) by Williams et al. [8] which measures
coaches’ positive and negative behaviour, were administered to the athletes.

Results
Multiple regression analysis was performed to assess the value of coaches’ supportiveness, coaches’ positive statements
and significant others’ positive statements scores in predicting athletes’ positive self-talk, (F3,121 = 38.42, p < 0.001. R2
= .49), (see Table 1). The second multiple regression showed a significant model (F3,121 = 11.23, p < 0.001. R2 = .22),
explaining the 22% of the variance in athletes’ negative self-talk.

Discussion / Conclusions
Overall the findings suggest that coaches’ behaviour and significant others’ statements have a major influence on
athletes’ positive and negative self-talk. Further research which relates self-talk and other behaviours should be
explored

References
[1]. Ellis, A. (1976). Reason and emotion in psychotherapy. New York: Lyle Stuart.
[2]. Meichenbaum, D. (1977). Cognitive-behaviour modification: An integrative approach. New York: Plenum Press.
[3]. Perkos, S., Theodorakis, Y., & Chroni, S. (2002). Enhancing performance and skill acquisition in novice basketball
players with instructional self-talk. The Sport Psychologist, 16, 368-383.
[4]. Theodorakis, Y., Weinberg, R., Natsis P., Douma, E., & Kazakas, P. (2000). The effects of motivational versus
instructional ST on improving motor performance. The Sport Psychologist, 14, 253-272.
[5]. Harvey, D. T., Van Raalte, J. L., & Brewer, B. W. (2002). Relationship between self-talk and golf-performance.
International Sports Journal, 84-91.
[6]. Hatzigeorgiadis, A., Theodorakis, Y., & Zourbanos, N. (in press). Self-talk in the swimming pool: The effects of
self-talk on thought content and performance on water-polo tasks. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology.
[7]. Burnett, P. C. (1996). Children’s self-talk and significant others’ positive and negative statements. Educational
Psychology, 16(1), 57-67.
[8]. Williams, J. M., Jerome, G. J., Kenow, L. J., Rogers, T., Sartain, T. A., & Darland, G. (2003). Factor structure of
coaching behavior questionnaire and its relationship to athlete variables. The Sport Psychologist, 17(1), 16-34.

NOTA: O texto com a iconografia está no anexo.

Arquivo