EXPLORATORY STUDY ABOUT CHARACTER STRENGTHS IN ARGENTINEAN ATHLETES FROM YOUTH NATIONAL TEAMS: COMPARISON WITH ADOLESCENTS FROM DIFFERENT LEVELS OF PRACTICE

Abstract

María Julia Raimundi, Vanina Schmidt y Antonio Hernández-Mendo

Character strengths are a set of positive attributes manifest in thoughts, feelings and behaviour. The aim of this study was to describe character strengths of adolescent athletes from Argentinean National Teams and compare them with adolescents from other levels of practice. Adolescents (n = 721) of both sexes (47.60% male; 52.40% female) aged between 11 and 19 years (M = 15.27; SD = 1.53) from Argentinean National Teams (n = 238), adolescents who practice extracurricular sport as a recreational activity (n = 238) and adolescents that did not practice sport (n = 245) participated in the study. They answered socio-demographic questionnaire and Values in Action Inventory for adolescents (VIA-Youth). Differences according to sex, age, type of sport and competition level were found. Results are discussed with regard to the role of elite sport in the positive youth development.