Articles

Background. After decades of research, gender differences in spatial abilities (SA) remain poorly understood. Among factors that may contribute to these differences are self-perceived SA, inclinations, everyday behaviour and interests in SA-related activities, and related personality characteristics. In order to understand these links, a multifactorial approach is needed.  

Objective. This study explored the relationships among SA, spatial interests, and personality among adolescent boys and girls.

Design. The study recruited 660 participants (mean age = 15.04, SD = 1.08; 48% females) from public schools. Participants contributed data on a battery of SA tests; 8 personality traits: Big Five and Dark Triad; as well as SA-related activities: spatial interests and school commute information (mode and time) as a proxy for everyday spatial behaviour.

Results. Weak-to-moderate mean gender differences were observed: males scored higher on spatial ability, spatial interests, machiavellianism, and psychopathy; and females on agreeableness, openness to experience, and neuroticism. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed some gender differences in associations among personality traits and SA. In males, openness to experience and conscientiousness were significantly related to SA test performance. In females, openness to experience, extraversion, agreeableness, and machiavellianism contributed to SA performance. Although spatially-related interests were linked to SA, they were not significantly predicted by personality traits. Everyday spatial behaviour showed no relationship with personality traits or SA. 

Conclusion. The study replicated patterns of gender differences in spatial ability, spatial interests, and personality reported in previous literature. The results showed differential links between personality traits and spatial ability for males and females. However, the overall amount of variance explained in spatial ability was very small, suggesting that other factors are more prominent sources of gender differences in spatial ability. 

Background. Fluid intelligence is an integral cognitive ability that involves solving new non-standard problems. It strongly predicts academic and professional achievement, whereas a low level of fluid intelligence is an important predictor of learning problems. Clinical studies of fluid intelligence are of interest for the development of training programs in various groups of children with special needs. This article presents a study on fluid intelligence in children with learning disabilities.

Objective. This study aimed to investigate characteristics of fluid intelligence and its relationships with other cognitive characteristics in children with learning disabilities.

Design. This study involved 93 children, divided into two groups: 55 typically developing children (control group) and 38 children with learning disabilities (clinical group). To assess intelligence characteristics, this study employed the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (KABC-II) and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children Fifth Edition (WISC-V).

Results. A reduction was found in fluid intelligence, working memory, short-term memory, long-term memory, processing speed, visual-spatial abilities, and verbal abilities in the group of children with learning disabilities compared to the control group. In the clinical group, fluid intelligence was strongly associated with a greater number of cognitive parameters compared to the control group.

Conclusions. It is possible to assume that a close connection of fluid intelligence with the assessed cognitive characteristics in the group of children with learning disabilities may be due to general challenges in cognitive development.

Background. In the competitive world of emerging athletes, performance is crucial; in sports, it is essential. However, under the spotlight of competition, performance anxiety lurks as the unseen rival every athlete must conquer. Two important factors are fundamental to this dynamic—athletic identity and perceived coaching styles. Athletic identity becomes an athlete’s armor, while the coaching styles catalyze transformation. Their alliance can either elevate performance or diminish it.

Objective. To investigate the relationship between athletic identity, perceived coaching styles, and performance anxiety among university athletes.

Design. Using a correlational research design, 353 university athletes (191 men, 162 women, aged 18-25, M= 20.8, SD= 1.78) were recruited through non-probability purposive sampling from various universities. The athletic identity measurement scale (AIMS), leadership scale for sports (LSS), and sport anxiety scale-2 (SAS-2) were used to measure the constructs; the athletes also completed a demographic information sheet and provided informed consent.

Results. The Pearson product moment correlation results indicated a significant negative correlation between athletic identity and performance anxiety, while perceived coaching styles were significantly positively correlated with performance anxiety. The moderation analyses revealed that training and instruction, social support, democratic behavior, and positive feedback significantly moderated the relationship between self-identity and performance anxiety. Additionally, training and instruction and autocratic behavior significantly moderated the relationship between negative affectivity and performance anxiety.

Conclusion. This study underscores the importance of understanding the dynamics between athletic identity, perceived coaching styles, and performance anxiety to optimize athletic performance and reduce performance anxiety among university athletes.

Background. There has been a recent increase in research to empirically verify different personal and contextual variables that impact psychological adjustment indicators, but further research is still needed in the construction of explanatory models, especially for children.

Objective. This study aimed to analyze the role of self-esteem, self-efficacy, and family social support in resilience, and their effect on indicators of psychological adjustment, in children living in at-risk contexts.

Design. A sample of 450 participants (229 boys, 221 girls) aged 9 to 12 years, with a mean age of 1.70 (SD=.67), participated in the study. With the parents’ consent, the children completed a questionnaire containing sociodemographic questions and seven scales for the measurement of each of the variables under study. 

Results. Significant differences in the predictor variables were found according to the levels of resilience, but not with respect to gender, and the correlations between the variables were found to be significant. The proposed structural model was verified, which shows acceptable fit indices and highlights that family social support is related to resilience and psychological adjustment.

Conclusion. Personality characteristics and family social support, as personal and social variables, constitute protective factors during childhood in the context of psychosocial risk, suggesting that they must be taken into account when implementing programs to promote resilience and well-being.   

Background. Emerging adulthood is a newly known developmental stage in humans, between late adolescence and fully-achieved adulthood. This stage is characterized by continued indecision and postponement of individuation; it also corresponds with a delay in identity actualization. Personal identity is related to the development of the individual across various aspects of life including the identification of long-term goals, career selection, friendship, and sexuality. Therefore, identity is understood to be an individual's perception of themselves and the conceptualization of their place within a social context. Identity development is expected to reach this critical stage between late adolescence and emerging adulthood, where specific factors may arise to hinder the realization of identity, potentially resulting in identity problems or identity distress. The latter considered a disorder within the DSM-III, and based on its diagnostic criteria, the Identity Distress Scale was created to measure the presence of identity distress.

Objective. First, to report evidence of validity and reliability of the IDS using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, internal consistency, and invariance testing according to the Identity Distress Scale across a sample of Ecuadorian emerging adults. Second, to report the scores of the Identity Distress Scale among the participants.

Design. The study employed a quantitative approach with a non-experimental, cross-sectional design, and an instrumental scope.

Results. The results reveal that the scale operates with a first-order two-factor model, demonstrating a good fit and internal consistency (χ² (df) = (34) 125.03, CFI= .97, TLI= .95, SRMR=.07, RMSEA=.07, ɑ = from .72 to .76, ⍵ = from .66 to .73). Evidence of measurement invariance was found between males and females.

Conclusion. The IDS has adequate psychometric properties for its use in the Ecuadorian context.  

Background. The standardized identification, psychoeducational assessment, and diagnosis of children at risk of reading comprehension (RC) difficulties is a highly specialized, time-consuming, and cumbersome process for teachers, psychologists, and researchers. Following the graph theory framework, text summaries, a ubiquitous RC measure used in schools, can be represented as networks of words (nodes) connected by arcs (TSGraphs). Do their resulting topological properties highlight individual variability in traditional reading/language comprehension measures?

Objective. The objective of this study was to determine whether there is a significant association between individual variability in the connectivity measures of the TSGraphs of selected texts produced using graph theory and individual variability in traditional standardized measures of reading and language comprehension in Cuban school-age children.

Design. Two correlational studies were conducted. Study 1 evaluated the association between the TSGraph properties and the reading comprehension of good and poor fifth-grade readers (N=21). Study 2 evaluated the association between the TSGraph properties and language comprehension in sixth-grade children at risk of intellectual disability (IDr) and typically developing (TD) controls matched in age and gender (N=42). Reading fluency, intellectual capacity, and vocabulary were controlled for in both studies.

Results. Study 1 showed a significant association between TSGraph density and reading comprehension in fifth graders after controlling for reading fluency. Study 2 found that density significantly covaried with language comprehension in sixth graders after controlling for intellectual capacity.

Conclusion. Topological measures of text summaries show promise for the assessment and characterization of reading and language comprehension. This is the first such study conducted on native Spanish speakers. Additional experimental studies in larger samples are required.

Background. Because of the pandemic, it has been suggested that motivation and job performance may have declined in various professional groups, a phenomenon known as quiet quitting. This study focuses on understanding this issue and its broader effect within the educational sector.

Objective. This study analyses work motivation, work behavior, and psychic structure in a sample of university professors from Latin American and Caribbean countries.

Design. A total of 612 professors from Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay and Peru participated in the study. Of the total sample, 379 (61.93%) of them were female. A subset of nine questions from the Bochum Inventory of Personality and Skills (BIP; Arribas et al., 2006) was used as the research instrument. The evaluation employed a cross-sectional multivariate factorial design.

Results. The data revealed high overall scores and suggested a general profile of motivation, commitment and personal stability. Among the most salient results linked to years of teaching experience, statistically significant differences were observed between teachers at the beginning and end of their working careers compared to the scores obtained in the intermediate years of experience. The lowest scores derived from the majority of dependent variables were found among teachers with the least work experience. In contrast, teachers with more than 25 years of teaching experience presented the highest values in those constructs such as emotional stability and self-confidence. The area of subject matter which teachers taught (technical or humanistic) also significantly influenced the main variables evaluated.

Conclusion. The evaluated university teachers did not present problems in terms of work motivation, work behavior and psychological structure. In other words, overall, they do not align with the phenomenon described as quiet quitting. However, the first years of teaching experience may be the most challenging for teachers to navigate, a factor that institutions may want to consider.

Background. Bibliometric studies are essential for understanding the development of a discipline and thus establishing policies to promote evidence-based science. In the case of Colombian psychology, no studies have yet considered the productivity, collaboration, and internationalization of this discipline jointly. In this context, the role of Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación (Minciencias) research groups in promoting collaboration within Colombia is particularly significant.

Objective. To analyze the scientific productivity, degree of internationalization, and collaboration in Colombian psychology from 2014 to 2023.

Design. A bibliometric study was conducted using data from Web of Science, Scopus, and SciELO, employing bibliometric indicators. A total of 4,196 Colombian psychology articles from 2014 to 2023 were analyzed, employing various indicators to assess productivity, internationalization, and collaboration.

Results. The period was characterized by a sustained increase in productivity. An increase in internationalization was evident, as shown by a greater number of articles written in English and published in foreign journals, along with growing international collaboration, primarily with Spain and the United States. While Colombian-led research has increased, publications with foreign leading authors receive a substantially higher number of citations.

Conclusion. This is the first study to incorporate Minciencias groups into the evaluation of research productivity within Colombian psychology. The study suggests that researchers are adapting to Minciencias’s evaluation criteria, with a focus on collaboration and high-impact publications. Strengths include using multiple databases and rigorous data cleaning. Future research can explore international comparisons and the impact of internationalization on research focus.

Background. Well-being is distinguished by its complex and multifaceted characteristics, integrating both objective and subjective components, so each person's point of view is relevant. In conducting research concerning well-being, it is important account for both age considerations and cultural variability. Additionally, the influence the COVID-19 pandemic should be considered given how it impacted the public including corresponding effects on peoples’ perceptions of well-being.

Objective. The study’s purpose was to analyze the meaning of psychological well-being from the perspective of late adolescents presiding in Colima, Mexico during the post-pandemic era.

Design. A non-experimental, cross-sectional and exploratory research design was used. The Natural Semantic Networks technique was used as the instrument of measurement, employing psychological well-being as the stimulus concept to study a sample of 112 high school students in late adolescence (92 women, 20 men, ages 17 to 21; average = 17.3). The Natural Semantic Networks research technique enabled the exploration of participants' subjective meanings associated with well-being.

Results. The analysis identified a set of primary categories of well-being defined by participants including: health, both physical and mental; low-arousal emotions, such as peace and serenity; positive affect like happiness; positive relationships, mainly with family; security; self-control; and self-acceptance. 

Conclusion. This research highlights that no single theory fully captures adolescents' understanding of well-being. Crucial elements considered by the most important theories are missing from participants conceptual frameworks. Additionally, COVID-19 pandemic has affected adolescent perceptions of well-being, especially it its impact on mental health. Peace is also valued as relevant by participants, especially desirable in the midst of emotional turbulence. Results show the need for a more comprehensive perspective on well-being that incorporates specific dimensions of each age group within a cultural and temporal context.

Background. Developmental studies have shown that the home environment has a significantly influences subsequent academic performance by supporting the development of skills essential for the acquisition of competencies necessary for school life, including literacy skills. Children with limited early literacy proficiency often experience challenges in acquiring literacy skills. Family literacy promotes the development of skills necessary for their acquisition.

Objective. The aim of this study is to identify and categorize literacy practices conducted at home, examine the participation of parents and children in reading and writing activities, and explore mothers' beliefs on this subject.

Design. For the present study, interviews were conducted with 102 mothers of preschool children in a city in northwestern Mexico.  The approach for this study is qualitative and constructivist.

Results. The study identified key dimensions: limiting environment, literacy interface, physical environment, interaction frequencies, and beliefs. These dimensions consistently highlight shared time as the main activity to promote reading and writing. However, the strategies deemed most relevant to language stimulation are primarily academic and place special emphasis on remediation and explicit teaching.

Conclusion. Despite expressing interest in developing activities to encourage reading and writing at an early age, these activities often fail to align with skills and developmental period of preschool children. The adult-centered and formal view of literacy practices in the home may be enhanced by educating the parents about their children’s developmental stages and literacy needs.

Background. An understanding of the dynamics of intergroup relations, particularly in relation to migrant populations, is of critical importance in a variety of societal contexts. This study examines the relationship between conservatism (Social Dominance Orientation, SDO), intergroup dynamics (stereotypes and intergroup emotions), and social distance (openness to coexistence and tendencies toward exclusion) within the Venezuelan migrant population residing in Lima Metropolitana.

Objective. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationships between conservatism, intergroup dynamics, and social distance among Venezuelan migrants in Lima Metropolitana. A sample of 395 residents was utilized for this study.

Design. The study employed a correlational research design to examine the relationships between the variables of interest. Correlation analyses were conducted to assess the associations between variables. Path analysis was utilized to explore the underlying mechanisms. Furthermore, group comparisons were conducted to examine differences in attitudes and perceptions across various demographic groups. 

Results. The findings indicated that there were significant associations across conservatism, intergroup emotions (both negative and positive), stereotypes, and the tendencies toward exclusion and coexistence. Notably, younger participants exhibited more inclusive ideological and intergroup indicators. Moreover, the path analysis demonstrated the pivotal influence of the morality stereotype and ideological dimensions on the integration and exclusion of migrants.

Conclusion. The study highlights the significance of cultivating favorable stereotypical perceptions of migrants and emphasizes the impact of age and ideological factors in creating conducive conditions for migrant integration. A contextual understanding of these results underscores the necessity for inclusive policies and interventions that foster social cohesion and integration within communities that have received migrants.

Background. Screen time has increased, with more frequent use at younger ages during the developmental process. International pediatric associations recommend that its use be minimal before three years of age. However, several studies have shown that in this age range, its use is for at least one hour per day, and in general without the accompaniment of an adult and with no consideration of age-appropriate content. Furthermore, negative associations between screen use in hours and minutes were reported with different cognitive abilities (e.g., language, executive functions, attention, memory) during this period. Many of the studies carried out on associations between these variables used questionnaires or parental reports. This is why it becomes important to study how screen time is associated with early interactions between primary caregiver and toddlers and with early cognitive skills, using measures that observe behavior directly, and in a non-WEIRD sample [a WEIRD population is White, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic – ed.] from low-to-medium SES backgrounds in Latin America. This could generate interventions to promote early cognitive development, and evaluate what type of responsible use can be provided for screen consumption in the early years.

Objective. To describe the use of screens in toddlers of low-to-medium SES, compare caregiver–toddler interactions when engaged in play with digital or physical stimuli (with screens or toys), and examine screen use associations with regulation, early communication skills, and sociodemographic variables.

Design. A mixed quantitative research sample was of 33 dyads of low-to-medium-SES primary caregivers and toddlers from 12 to 36 months (M.age = 27.2 months, SD = 7.04, female = 16) from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Sociodemographic and screen use questionnaires, cognitive tasks of regulation and communication, and two free-play sessions of six minutes (i.e., with toys and screens) were used.

Results. Caregivers reported that their toddlers were exposed to TV, background TV, and cell phones for more than one hour per day with different content types. Caregivers generally preferred toys to screens, had a negative view of screens, and reported using them to distract their toddlers. Play sessions with toys promoted more verbal and non-verbal interactions between caregivers and toddlers, and these interactions were positively related to cognition. Also, TV use had differential correlations with toddlers’ interactions depending on whether it involved verbal or non-verbal communication. Finally, negative associations of TV and background TV with cognitive and socioeconomic variables were found.

Conclusion. It would be important to encourage participation in traditional games or other face-to-face interaction activities and develop interventions focused on parent education-related screen use, child development, and tips for engaging in quality interactions with toddlers.

Background.  Sports performance anxiety is understood as a tendency to respond with cognitive or physical anxiety in competitive situations where the athlete's performance can be assessed. 

Objective. To investigate the role of social desirability and competitive anxiety in male football players with varying levels of skill. The study had two main objectives: first, to assess the levels of social desirability and competitive anxiety in two different groups, and second, to compare the levels of social desirability and competitive anxiety between highly skilled and less skilled players and explore their relationship.

Design. Participants were divided into highly skilled (n = 39) and less skilled (n = 39) football players. The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire was used to assess the participants’ social desirability bias. The Sport Competition Anxiety Test assessed the level of competitive anxiety. The t-test for independent samples was used to compare social desirability and competitive anxiety between the groups. A linear regression model was used to determine if social desirability could predict anxiety levels among the players. 

Results. The t-test showed that highly skilled players have a lower level of competitive anxiety than less skilled participants. However, social desirability did not show a statistically significant difference between the highly skilled and less skilled football players. The regression analysis showed a statistically significant association between social desirability and competitive anxiety (inverse relation) in both groups. 

Conclusion. Highly skilled football players demonstrated less competitive anxiety than less skilled ones. Lower levels of competitive anxiety are associated with higher social desirability among football players in both groups.

Background. The study of eye-movement strategies of athletes of various disciplines and skill levels is highly significant for sports psychology, since the results can be used in training to improve performance. Such studies are extremely scarce for ice hockey.

Objective. To determine successful eye-movement strategies for ice hockey players compared to wrestlers and controls (non-athletes) during puck-hitting tasks of various degrees of difficulty, using virtual reality.

Design. The study involved 31 participants (male), including 13 ice hockey players (age 20 ± 2.5), 9 wrestlers (age 19 ± 1.9), and 9 controls (age 19 ± 1.3). We used a pre-developed VR-PACE technology that simulates an ice rink in virtual reality (VR). The task was to hit pucks. VR was presented via the HTC Vive Pro Eye with a built-in eye tracker (100 Hz). We analyzed the parameter that reflected the share of puck presence in one of selected retina areas (0–5°, 5–10°, 10–15°, 15–25°, 25–35°) of the left and right eyes and the head.

Results. Ice hockey players exhibited longer puck-tracking using both the near periphery (5–15°) and central retinal area (0–5°). Puck speed had minimal impact on eye-movement strategies, and the visual focus on these areas remained consistent regardless of task type. For both wrestlers and controls, visual fixations in the central retinal area increased when tracking the puck without a motor response, likely leading to higher energy consumption and sensory fatigue.

Conclusion. The optimal eye-movement strategy involves parafoveal tracking in the near periphery (5–15°) and partial foveal tracking (0–5°), allowing for better object information retention and efficient puck trajectory tracking with reduced energy expenditure.

Background. In the present study, an attempt was made to address self-regulation at the agentic (higher) level, which contributes a person's success not only in sports, but also in the organization of their own life. A group of capoeiristas was chosen as the sample.

Objective. To identify the features of agentic self-regulation in athletes engaged in capoeira with different levels of sports qualification.

Design. 202 capoeira athletes, aged M= 29.6 years, SD=6.6, were interviewed. The sample was divided into three subgroups based on different sport types and comparisons were made on the scales of the following techniques: style of self-regulation of behavior, strategies for coping with stressful situations, action control, personality protest activity, psychosocial maturity, personality harmony. ANOVA analysis in IBM SPSS Statistics 26 program was used for these comparisons.

Results. The Masters subgroup outperformed the lower grade subgroups on the parameters: action control in planning, assertiveness, personal self-regulation, and psychological defense (p ≤ .05). The Master Candidates group had a significantly lower level of escapism (p ≤ .05), an indicator of destructive agentic activity, compared to the rated athletes group. Master Candidates outperformed Masters in the coping strategy of caution (p ≤ .05) and outperformed rated athletes on personality harmony scales, including satisfaction with life, relationships with people, life self-determination, and life self-actualization (p ≤ .05). On the scales of conscious self-regulation, no significant differences were found between the three subgroups (p > .1).

Conclusion. As capoeiristas advance in sportsmanship they enrich their regulatory experience through the development of agentic qualities such as constructive coping strategies, personal maturity and personal harmony, while reducing the manifestation of destructive activity, such as escapism. 

Background. Motivation is considered crucial in sports participation and performance, influencing athletes’ psychological well-being, investment in training, and interpersonal relationships. Self-determination theory (SDT) is a prominent framework used to understand motivation in sports, highlighting the importance of autonomous motivation for optimal performance and well-being. A large number of questionnaires for examining processes in sports were created by relying on the constructs of SDT.

Objective. This study explores the psychometric characteristics (construct validity) of the Sport Motivation Scale II (SMS-2), as well as gender and age differences in motivation among young Serbian athletes. This questionnaire has proven to be important for understanding the motivation of adult athletes, but so far, its psychometric characteristics have not been sufficiently examined on a sample of young athletes in Serbia. Given the high dropout rate from sports in adolescence, valid questionnaires to assess the motivation of young athletes can help to identify athletes who are at risk of leaving a sport.

Design. The sample consisted of 365 young athletes (51% girls, aged 12–16) from Serbia participating in team sports (at an organized level, not a recreational level), including volleyball, basketball, and handball. They completed the SMS-2 using paper and pen, in the presence of a psychologist and with parental consent obtained by the clubs. The questionnaire has been translated into Serbian. Young athletes from team sports were selected due to the large number of adolescents in Serbia who are engaged in organized team sports. There is a small number of adolescents who are involved in organized individual sports.

Results. Factor analysis of the SMS-2 revealed six factors, in line with the original structure of the Scale: identified motivation, intrinsic motivation, amotivation, external motivation, integrated motivation, and introjected motivation. The questionnaire demonstrates satisfactory psychometric properties, with Cronbach’s alpha coefficients indicating good internal consistency. Gender differences were obtained only in external motivation, where boys scored higher than girls. No significant differences emerge in motivation across age groups or among athletes participating in different sports. It is possible that differences were not found in relation to the type of sport because there are similarities in the process of working with young athletes in team sports.

Conclusion. The Sport Motivation Scale II (SMS-2) showed satisfactory psychometric characteristics in a Serbian sample of young athletes. The original structure was replicated, with six factors representing six types of motivation, in line with SDT. These findings suggest the SMS-2’s validity across gender, age, and sport types, offering a valuable tool for assessing motivation in young athletes engaged in organized team sports.

Background. Coping, within Lazarus transactional theoretical framework, is conceptualized as a dynamic set of cognitive and behavioral processes that adapt continually to manage specific demands, whether internal or external, perceived as exceeding an individual’s available resources. This framework supports understanding healthy coping behaviors, especially regarding adherence to treatment in cardiovascular disease management.

Objective. Develop and validate coping scales designed to assess adherence to pharmacological treatment, heart-healthy eating, and cardiovascular physical exercise in mexican patients diagnosed with ischemic heart disease.

Design. The research employed both qualitative (focus groups) and quantitative (exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis) methodologies to ensure robustness. The coping scales underwent rigorous testing, including exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), which revealed a two-factor solution for medication adherence coping, a three factors solution for physical exercise adherence coping, and a three factors solution for healthy eating adherence coping.

Results. The findings suggest that coping strategies, although universal in nature, are sensitive to cultural nuances among patients with ischemic heart disease. By capturing the complexities of coping behaviors within a specific cultural context, these scales provide valuable insights into the multifaceted nature of adherence to primary prevention measures.

Conclusion. This study contributes to the understanding of how coping mechanisms intersect with cultural factors in the management of chronic conditions such as ischemic heart disease, highlighting the importance of tailored interventions that consider patients cultural backgrounds and individual coping styles.

Background. Women’s football (soccer), despite official recognition and growing popularity, is perceived as a gender-non-typical sport. This contradiction can be implicitly transmitted by society and acts as a condition of conflict in the self-consciousness of teenage female football players (TFFPs). In this study, the model of self-consciousness is defined as the semantic structures generated in the dialogic interaction “person – sociocultural environment”.

Objective. Various options, including internally conflicting ones, for the content of self-consciousness in the context of both gender (girl) and professional sports (football player) are identified in comparison with the gender personality type of TFFPs.

Design. The psychosemantic method of multiple identifications is used to assess self-consciousness in participants. Image-markers of self-identification in gender and professional sports semantics are assessed through verbal personal characteristics and non-verbal color-associative stimuli. Sample: 29 female football players aged 15 years who have been involved in pre-professional football for the last 5–7 years.

Results. In TFFPs with androgynous and masculine gender personality types, self-consciousness is not conflicted; the image of a football player has masculine semantics. In TFFPs with a feminine gender personality type, self-consciousness is not conflicted due to the transformation of the image of a football player from traditionally masculine semantics to more feminine ones. TFFPs with an undifferentiated gender personality type are characterized by contradictions at the explicit and implicit levels of self-consciousness.

Conclusion. The results confirm the concept of self-consciousness as a process of dialogical interaction between the self-image and images of the socio-cultural environment, as well as the possibility of its diagnosis as individual variants of psychosemantic structures.

Background. The study of competitive anxiety and its relationship with mood states in high-performance athletes is relevant for predicting performance and enabling timely interventions to ensure successful outcomes in competitions. Due to the complex psychological demands arising from dual careers, the study of competitive anxiety and mood states contributes valuable insights into the emotional well-being of these student athletes.

Objective. To examine and describe competitive anxiety and mood states in a sample of high-performance Cuban university athletes across different sports and genders. 

Design. A descriptive, correlational, and cross-sectional study was conducted involving 46 Cuban student athletes from national teams across 16 sports and included both male and female athletes, with an average chronological age of 20.70 years and 6.98 years of experience in a high-performance sport. The Competitive Sport Anxiety Inventory and Brunel Mood Scale were administered in their Spanish versions. The data were examined using descriptive statistics analysis including the Mann-Whitney U test, and Spearman's correlation coefficient.

Results. Although no statistically significant differences were found in competitive anxiety and mood states in relation to gender and type of sport, female athletes tend to present higher mean scores in competitive anxiety and negative mood states. Additionally, female athletes in team sports experienced slightly more intense emotions. Anxiety shows positive correlations with tension, depression, and vigour, suggesting its influence on certain mood states.

Conclusion. The results indicate that, in general, the intensity of certain moods in Cuban university student athletes is influenced by levels of competitive anxiety. An increase in anxiety during competition can lead to heightened tension, depression, and vigour, with no significant differences observed between female and male athletes or based on the type of sport practiced.

Background. The COVID-19 pandemic declared on March 11th, 2020, has had a substantial impact on the lives of all over the world. The student population, being one of the most vulnerable and substile ones, was forced to face specific unexpected circumstances for the first time in their lives.

Objective. In this paper, the authors explored the reflections of the COVID-19 experience and basic segments of everyday life of university students after the first academic year under pandemic measures and a follow-up year with their subjective perception of to what extent their lives have changed and how they were able to adapt to COVID-19 emergency measures.

Design. The field research was conducted among students in two European countries: Slovenia and Serbia. The qualitative semi-structured interviews with students (N=20, 50% male) were executed in June-July 2020 and June-July 2021.

Results. The basic segments of students' daily lives underwent significant changes, yet they successfully coped and adapted to the COVID-19 emergency measures. Notably, improvements were observed in study strategies, reducing fear and loneliness. Above all, the primary longing was for social contact and gathering with friends. In their private lives, they were more concerned about opportunities but on the other hand, they gained more free time for various non-academic activities. Finally, sports science students have proven better-coping mechanisms with extraordinary circumstances.

Conclusion. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the changes in the daily lives of students during the first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic.