Team Cohesion Profiles: Influence on the Development of Mental Skills and Stress Management.

Abstract

High-level sports competitions involve facing highly challenging situations. Athletes must maintain strong team cohesion with peers, have specific mental abilities, and high-stress control to overcome adversity and report high sports performance. This research aimed to identify team cohesion profiles and examine whether participants differed significantly in their mental abilities and stress management. The sample consisted of 146 promising and talented athletes from the Sports Talent Development of the Provincial Council of Guipúzcoa (Spain) (Mage = 20.08; SD = 4.68), who completed the questionnaire on Psychological Characteristics Related to Sports Performance (CPRD). Cluster analyzes revealed three profiles; (a) profile with low team cohesion; (b) profile with average team cohesion; (c) profile with high team cohesion. Results showed significant differences in mental abilities (i.e., positive self-talk), and marginally significant differences in self-confidence, between the profiles. The best scores were reported in profile (b). In conclusion, the combination of low individualism, high social cohesion, and medium team spirit seems to be the most recommendable for promoting mental abilities and self-confidence in athletes' samples. As practical implications, the programs that train the mental abilities of athletes and control management should consider the importance of team cohesion to obtain improvements in the results of the competitions.