Self-Regulation training improves stress resilience in Elite Pre-Pubescent Female Gymnasts

Abstract

The importance of managing stress load in young female athletes, particularly those at the highest level in sports such as gymnastics, has gained significant attention in recent times. Effective stress management strategies can help these athletes perform better, reduce the risk of injury and improve their overall well-being. The aim of the current work is to investigate the effect of training self-regulation ability through biofeedback on pre-pubescent female elite gymnasts’ stress management. 8 elite young female athletes from a top-flight French national league club took part in the study. We implemented a within-subject, cross-over design; during the experimental condition athletes involved in biofeedback training in rest and stress scenarios, while in the control condition the participants watched motivational videos. Our results show that biofeedback training of elite athletes increased self-regulatory ability and psychological resilience under stressful conditions and it seemingly decreased sensitivity to gymnastics-specific stress. The main result of this study is to have demonstrated that individual’s ability to self‐regulate stress‐related psychophysiological phenomena is trainable.