Mayer Jochen, Thiel Ansgar
Institute of Sports Science, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
PLoS One. 2014 Jul 11;9(7):e102030. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0102030. eCollection 2014.
Considering the high number of stressors encountered in the context of elite sports, a high sense of coherence (SOC) is crucial to allow athletes to maintain their health from both short- and long-term perspectives. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate SOC in a population of elite athletes, focusing on identification of subsets of athletes with particularly high and low SOC scores, and any related predictors. The elite athletes' SOC scores were also evaluated for differences with those of the general population of Germany; whether a correlation between SOC and subjective health existed was additionally examined.
In total, 698 male and female elite athletes, drawn from Germany's highest-level national track and field squads, and first and second division handball teams, completed a survey that included the SOC-L9 Scale and measures of subjective health, sociodemographic information, and the number of injury lay-offs experienced during the athletes' careers to date.
Classification tree analysis reveals six contrast groups with varying SOC scores. Several interacting factors determine the group to which an athlete belongs. Together with overuse injuries, additional factors are age, gender, and completed/not completed apprenticeship/degree. Female athletes aged between 19 and 25, who had already been subject to lay-offs due to overuse injuries, comprise the group with the lowest SOC scores. Overall, the SOC of elite athletes is slightly lower than in the general population. In accordance with other studies, a stronger SOC is also correlated significantly with better global subjective health.
The identification of contrast groups with varying SOC scores contributes to the development of more targeted salutogenetic health promotion programs. Such programs would ideally include learning modules pertaining to coping with overuse injuries, as well as social support systems aiming to effectively combine education and elite sport.
鉴于精英运动环境中会遇到大量压力源，高度的连贯感（SOC）对于运动员从短期和长期角度维持健康至关重要。这项横断面研究的目的是调查精英运动员群体中的连贯感，重点是识别连贯感得分特别高和低的运动员子集以及任何相关预测因素。还评估了精英运动员的连贯感得分与德国普通人群得分的差异；此外，还研究了连贯感与主观健康之间是否存在相关性。
总共698名男女精英运动员参与了研究，他们来自德国最高水平的国家田径队以及手球甲级和乙级队，完成了一项调查，其中包括连贯感-L9量表、主观健康测量、社会人口统计学信息以及运动员职业生涯至今经历的伤病停赛次数。
分类树分析揭示了六个连贯感得分不同的对比组。几个相互作用的因素决定了运动员所属的组。除了过度使用造成的损伤外，其他因素还有年龄、性别以及是否完成学徒期/学位。19至25岁之间因过度使用造成的损伤而停赛过的女运动员组成了连贯感得分最低的组。总体而言，精英运动员的连贯感略低于普通人群。与其他研究一致，更强的连贯感也与更好的整体主观健康显著相关。
识别连贯感得分不同的对比组有助于制定更具针对性的健康促进计划。这样的计划理想情况下应包括与应对过度使用造成的损伤相关的学习模块，以及旨在有效结合教育和精英运动的社会支持系统。
