Symptoms of psychopathology and psychological inflexibility in non-professional athletes

Abstract

Psychological inflexibility is defined as the possibility of being in contact with private events occurring in the present, as much as possible as conscious human beings, while choosing to quit or persist in an action that involves discomfort. The aim of this research was to study the relationship between psychopathological symptomatology as a function of psychological inflexibility in non-professional athletes. Symptom Checklist-90-R was used to assess psychopathological symptomatology and the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire was used to assess psychological inflexibility. A sample of 202 non-professional athletes was taken, 111 of whom were women, representing 55%. Mean age was 31.32 years (SD = 11.44); 84% were involved in individual physical exercise or sport. The results show that participants with higher psychological inflexibility obtained higher scores in psychopathological symptomatology. It does not show, however, that those who participate in competitions obtain higher scores in psychopathology; on the contrary, those who do not participate have higher scores on the phobic anxiety scale. The presence of a coach was shown to be a protective factor in the paranoid ideation, psychoticism, interpersonal sensitivity and global severity index scales, but not in the rest of the subscales. Lastly, women showed greater psychological inflexibility, but no greater presence of psychopathological symptoms, except in interpersonal sensitivity and phobic anxiety. Men, on the other hand, did so in depressive symptoms. The importance of psychological inflexibility in the mental health of those who practice sport is that it is a treatable construct and, therefore, can be modified.