Investigation of the relationship between stress levels and problem solving skills of individual and team sports players

The aim of the study was to determine the stress levels and problem-solving activities of participants involved in team and individual sports and the relationships between the participants' stress levels and problem-solving activities. The research was applied only to athletes affiliated with Elazığ Youth Sports Provincial Directorate. In the research, the sample was determined using the simple random sampling method. The study group consists of athletes interested in individual and team sports. A total of 586 athletes participated voluntarily. Three forms consisting of Personal Information Form, Stress Level Test and Problem Solving Inventory were used in the research. SPSS 24.0 package program was used to evaluate the data obtained in the research. Since the collected data set showed a normal distribution, independent sample t-test, one-way analysis of variance, and LSD tests were applied in the analysis of intra-group differences in order to determine the differences. It was determined that the participants were under average stress (x̄:5.76) and the average Problem Solving Inventory was at a very high level (x=182.88). It was determined that the stress levels of the athletes participating in the research who were 17 years old and under, had a high school education, had 3 years of sports age, trained 4 times a week, had a low income group and were interested in individual sports were higher than the athletes in other groups. It was determined that the participants' participation in the problem-solving inventory was higher in the participants who were 26 years of age and older, had an associate degree or a bachelor's degree, than the athletes who trained 3 or more times a week, had a high income level, played basketball, and were interested in individual sports. No statistically significant difference was found in terms of duration of exercise. There is a statistically significant and inverse relationship between the participants' stress levels and their level of agreement with the problem-solving inventory, evaluative approach, planned approach, thinking approach and self-confident approach sub-dimensions.