Prospective study of psychological development of adolescent female athletes: initial assessment.

Details

Serval ID
serval:BIB_549459DBB87B
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Prospective study of psychological development of adolescent female athletes: initial assessment.
Journal
The Journal of Adolescent Health
Author(s)
Theintz G., Ladame F., Kehrer E., Plichta C., Howald H., Sizonenko P.C.
ISSN
1054-139X
Publication state
Published
Issued date
05/1994
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
15
Number
3
Pages
258-262
Language
english
Notes
Publication types: Comparative Study ; Journal Article ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Abstract
PURPOSE: This study aimed at assessing the impact of physical training on psychological functioning at the onset of a prospective study of psychological and somatic maturation of adolescent female athletes. METHODS: Twenty-seven highly trained gymnasts aged 12.7 +/- 1.1 year (mean +/- SD, training load = 18-26 hr/week) and 16 age-matched but moderately trained swimmers (13.0 +/- 0.9 yr, training load 4-15 hr/wk) were submitted to standardized somatic and psychiatric examinations during training camps. RESULTS: Gymnasts were significantly shorter, lighter and thinner (p < 0.001) than swimmers. Their bone age was moderately but significantly retarded (-1.42 +/- 0.99 yr, p < 0.001) in contrast with swimmers in whom it was adequate for chronological age (+0.28 +/- 0.94 year, ns). Only 7.4% of gymnasts had already had menarche in contrast with 50% of age-matched swimmers (p = 0.003). Psychological functioning was considered as normal in all subjects. However, seven athletes including 3/27 gymnasts and 4/16 swimmers (p = 0.394) were considered as subjects "at risk" to develop a manifest mental disorder over time. Ten gymnasts (41.7%) presented with a global delay in psychological maturation, whereas no such case was observed among swimmers (p = 0.015). No correlation could be established between psychological delay and pubertal retardation (p = 0.210). CONCLUSION: Strenuous training in gymnastics for more than 1 yr has so far no detectable interference with the normal maturational events of adolescence. The outcome of athletes at risk to develop psychopathology as well as those with a global delay in psychological maturation who presented as if they were still in the latency period, remains uncertain.
Keywords
Adolescent, Adolescent Psychology, Age Determination by Skeleton, Child, Female, Growth, Growth Disorders/diagnosis, Growth Disorders/epidemiology, Gymnastics/physiology, Gymnastics/psychology, Human Development, Humans, Matched-Pair Analysis, Menarche, Mental Disorders/diagnosis, Mental Disorders/epidemiology, Prospective Studies, Risk Factors, Swimming/physiology, Swimming/psychology
Pubmed
Web of science
Create date
25/01/2008 11:30
Last modification date
20/08/2019 15:09
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