Investigation of resilience, emotion regulation skills and psychological symptoms in national swimmers in a sports club

In this study, psychological resilience, emotional regulation difficulties and psychological symptoms of elite swimmers were examined. In the study, elite swimmers were compared with another research group that was similar in terms of socio-demographic characteristics and was not involved in any sport. Sociodemographic Information Form, Adult Resilience Scale, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Questionnaire and SCL-90 Symptom screening list were applied to the participants. In the study, the effects of the participants' national athlete status and gender on psychological resilience, difficulty in emotion regulation and psychological symptom levels were examined. In addition, the relationship between the psychological resilience levels of elite athletes and their emotional regulation difficulties and psychological symptoms was examined. According to the findings obtained in the study, the psychological resilience levels of female elite swimmers were found to be higher than the elite swimmers and the non-athlete comparison group. When both groups are compared, psychological resilience scores are higher in elite swimmers. When evaluated in terms of emotion regulation difficulties, it was seen that the non-athlete group scored higher in emotion regulation difficulties than elite swimmers in terms of difficulty in being open, difficulty in accepting, difficulty in impulse control, difficulty in strategy development and goal-oriented behavior. According to the comparison of psychological symptoms in groups, somatization, anxiety, depression, interpersonal sensitivity and total symptoms were found to be significantly higher in elite athletes. It was found that the psychological resilience scores of elite swimmers, difficulties in emotion regulation, and the dimension of hostility, which is one of the psychological symptoms, were negatively and significantly correlated. It can be considered that the findings obtained in the study provide findings that can shed light on the interventions to be developed in order to improve the psychosocial functions of athletes and to contribute positively to motivation and performance.