Relationship with the coach and resilience of Paralympic athletes in athletics: the etiology of disability as an intervening factor

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the quality of the relationship with the coach and the resilience of Paralympic athletes in athletics according to gender and etiology of disability. Fortynine Paralympic athletes with physical disabilities participated in the north/northeast of Brazilian Championship Athletics 2019. The average age was 32.84±10.86 years and the practice time was 10.86±6.46 years. As instruments were used the coach-athlete relationship questionnaire (CART-Q) - athlete version and the Connor-Davidson resilience scale (CD-RISC). Data analysis was performed by means of Shapiro-Wilk, U Mann-Whitney tests and Spearman correlation coefficient (p<0.05). Data analysis was performed by means of Shapiro-Wilk, U Mann-Whitney tests and Spearman correlation coefficient (p<0.05). The results showed that there was no significant difference in the quality of the coach-athlete relationship (CAR) according to the etiology of disability and sex (p > 0.05). In relation to resilience, it was found that men had higher scores in the dimension of adaptability-tolerance (p=0.016), while athletes with acquired disabilities had higher scores in the sub-scales of adaptabilitytolerance (p = 0.022), amparo (p = 0.023) and intuition (p = 0.007). Significant (p < 0,05), positive and weak correlation of compromise size and tenacity (r=0,33) was found. It was concluded that the etiology of disability seems to be an intervention factor in the adaptability of the Paralympic athlete, since athletes with acquired disabilities showed greater adaptability than athletes with congenital disabilities. It was concluded that the etiology of disability seems to be an intervention factor in the adaptability of the Paralympic athlete, since athletes with acquired disabilities showed greater adaptability than athletes with congenital disabilities.