Relationship between Pre-Competition Mental State and Sport Result of Disabled Boccia Athletes

Abstract

The relationship between sport result and pre-competition mental state of 109 boccia athletes was analyzed. Mental state was described by: athletic identity, self-esteem, self-efficacy for sports, hope for success, fear of failure, anxiety, and expectancy of success. Correlation analyses were made for all four boccia classes (BC1, BC2, BC3, and BC4) and revealed that only athletic identity was associated with sport result in class BC4. Four hierarchical multiple regression models (for BC1, BC2, BC3, and BC4 boccia classes) were created, with sport result as the dependent variable. Only the BC4 model was significant and included athletic identity, anxiety, self-efficacy for sports, and expectancy of success, which explained 49% of variance in sport result. BC4 class results indicate that psychological variables have a potential impact on sport performance in boccia, and the type and level of disability should be taken into account.