Psychological aspects of soccer and futsal players: A systematic review

Abstract

Introduction: The present systematic review aimed to compile the information available in the literature having to do with sport psychology regarding futsal and soccer players, in order to identify which psychological constructs are being investigated in these athletes and by means of which instruments and analysis techniques. Method: The search was carried out in the APA (PsycINFO), EBSCO (SportDiscus), PubMed, Web of Science, Scielo, Science Direct, Scopus, BVS and EMBASE databases, with the following descriptors: psychological construct; psychological factor; psychological variable; psychological phenomenon; soccer; futsal and athlete, in English, Spanish and Portuguese. Results: Initially, 66 studies met the established eligibility criteria. Of these, 46 studies were conducted with soccer players, 19 with futsal players and one with athletes who participate in both sports. The psychological constructs most studied in the soccer modality were anxiety, stress, motivation, coping, motivational climate, depression, self-efficacy and group cohesion. With regard to the futsal modality, the most studied psychological constructs were group cohesion, perfectionism, motivation, athlete satisfaction, leadership style, perceived parenting styles and burnout. Conclusions: Group cohesion was associated with several other psychological aspects of an individual nature, with cohesion being the construct of both modalities which is of the greatest interest to researchers possibly because it is a collective modality. It can be established that important psychological factors have not been studied in soccer and futsal modalities, especially among female athletes. Therefore, it is recommended that the research carried out with male athletes be extended to include female populations.