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PLAYwithHEART: PLAY With Happiness, Engagement, Acceptance, and Respect With Your Team

Not Applicable
Active, not recruiting
Conditions
Athletes
Adolescents
Interventions
Behavioral: PLAYwithHEART Programme for adolescent athletes
Registration Number
NCT04850872
Lead Sponsor
University of Coimbra
Brief Summary

This investigation aims to apply and test the feasibility of a structured Program for young athletes. PLAYwithHEART is a program for promoting acceptance and cooperation skills in adolescent athletes. This group application program comprises eight weekly sessions and aims to decrease levels of sport anxiety, and increase the psychological quality of life of young athletes, by promoting skills inherent to an affiliation mentality (mindfulness, acceptance, and compassion), as an alternative to a social ranking mentality (based on maladaptive processes, such as shame and self-criticism), to deal with the challenges and demands of the sport context.

Detailed Description

The sample will include young athletes of different sports with ages ranged 12 to 18 years old. The principal investigator will recruit participants through contact with different sports clubs in Portugal. Athletes who demonstrate interest will go through a Screening interview (previously authorized by your legal guardian) by a licensed psychologist that aims explain the structure and arms of the investigation, to collect demographic data, and whether the athlete meets the inclusion criteria for the study. Athletes who meet the inclusion criteria and demonstrate interest in participating in the study, will sign an informed consent.

All ethical requirements for research with humans are guaranteed. Afterwards, participants will be allocated in two groups (experimental and control group). Additionally, the experimental group will enroll in the PLAYwithHEART programme, also provided by a licensed psychologist and a co-therapist.

Both groups will concurrently complete a protocol of self-report measures (to measure: a) psychological processes; b) quality of life and sports anxiety. These assessments will occur in three different times: before the start of the PLAYwithHEART programme (M0), after the final session of the programme (M1), and 6 months after that (M2).

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
50
Inclusion Criteria
  • adolescent competitive athletes
  • presentation of the informed consent signed by the participant and respetive legal guardian
  • availability to participate in the 8 sessions of the PLAYwithHEART Programme
  • inexistence of cognitive difficulties that interfere in completing self-response measures
  • not being under psychological / psychiatric appointments
Exclusion Criteria
  • no presentation of the informed consent signed by the participant and respetive legal guardian
  • unavailability to participate in the 8 sessions of the PLAYwithHEART Programme
  • existence of cognitive difficulties that interfere in completing self-response measures
  • being under psychological / psychiatric appointments

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
ExperimentalPLAYwithHEART Programme for adolescent athletesPLAYwithHEART Programme is a manualized mindfulness, acceptance, and compassionate-based group intervention for adolescent competitive athletes. It included 8 weekly group sessions, 45 minutes each, run in small groups (ranging from 8 to 12 participants). Participants of this group complete also self-report measures.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Changes in competitive anxietyFrom baseline to 6-months follow-up

Measured by the Sport Anxiety Scale (SAS-2) - lower levels mean a better outcome

Changes in Quality of LifeFrom baseline to 6-months follow-up

Measured by the The KIDSCREEN-10 quality of life measure for children and adolescents - higher levels mean a better outcome

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Changes in Psychological InflexibilityFrom baseline to 6-months follow-up

Measured by the Avoidance and Fusion Questionnaire for Youth (AFQ-Y) - lower levels mean a better outcome

Changes in MindfulnessFrom baseline to 6-months follow-up

Measured by the Children´s Acceptance and Mindfulness Measure (CAMM) - higher levels mean a better outcome

Changes in Self-compassionFrom baseline to 6-months follow-up

Measured by the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS-A) - higher levels mean a better outcome

Changes in shameFrom baseline to 6-months follow-up

Measured by the External and Internal Shame Scale for adolescents (EISS-A). Lower scores mean a better outcome

Changes in self-criticismFrom baseline to 6-months follow-up

Measured by the Forms of self-criticizing/attacking and self-reassuring scale (FSCRS-A) - lower scores in self-criticising mean a better outcome

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Different sports clubs in Portugal

🇵🇹

Coimbra, Portugal

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