The Role of Psychological Factors and Resilience in Mediating Sports Passion in Triathletes.

Abstract

The present study aims to analyze the psychological characteristics associated with the performance of amateur athletes, exploring their relationships with key variables such as resilience, harmonious and obsessive passion, and perception of discomfort. The main objective is to establish the relationship between psychological characteristics and each of the variables used (resilience, personal competence, and acceptance of self and life), and to consider whether these are related to passion (harmonious and obsessive) through a structural equation analysis. The sample was composed of 110 persons: 87 adults (22 females, mean age 40.7 ± 9.1 years; 65 males, mean age in years 42.1 ± 11.9) and 23 adolescents (16 females, mean age 14.8 ± 1.3 years; 7 males, mean age 15.3 ± 2.1 years). Psychological characteristics were assessed using the Psychological Characteristics Related to Performance (CPRD) questionnaire, passion using the Passion Scale instrument, and resilience using the Resilience Scale (RS-14) questionnaire. The analyses were based on a structural equation model analysis (PLS-SEM). The results showed adequate coefficients of determination (R index²) and Stone-Geisser predictive relevance (Q²) for the personal competence resilience factors (R² = 0.517; Q² = 0.218) and acceptance of self and life (R² =.415; Q² = 0.231), as well as for the passion dimensions harmonious passion (R² = 0.357; Q²= 0.168) and obsessive passion (R² = 0.085; Q²= 0.034). In conclusion, a close relationship was demonstrated between psychological characteristics related to sports performance and the variables of resilience and passion (both harmonious and obsessive). In particular, it was confirmed that mental skills and stress management are linked to the dimensions of resilience, and these dimensions influence both types of passion. In addition, team cohesion and personal competence also play a crucial role in the development of passion, highlighting the importance of these factors in the assessment of sports performance and influencing the well-being of amateur athletes in their personal and sports development.