Correlations between Impulsivity and Technical Performance in Handball Female Athletes

Guilherme M. Lage, Lívia G. Gallo, Gabriela J. M. Cassiano, Ingrid L. B. Lobo, Marcus V. Vieira, João V. Salgado, Daniel Fuentes, Leandro F. Malloy-Diniz
DOI: 10.4236/psych.2011.27110                

Abstract

A complex and dynamic environment where impulsivity probably interferes in the human behavior is the sport context. The aim of this exploratory study was to investigate the possible relationship between impulsivity and technical performance in handball athletes. Eleven junior female athletes on a handball team were submitted to a neuropsychological assessment of impulsivity using Conner’s CPT-II and the Iowa Gambling Task. In 11 matches, participants’ handball performance was analyzed. We adopted the resampling statistical approach to correlate the measures of technical performance with the neuropsychological measures. IGT net score was posi- tively correlated with technical faults. Omission errors on the CPT-II were positively correlated with the number of fouls suffered, the number of fouls committed, and the number of offensive fouls. Commission errors on the CPT-II were negatively correlated with rebounds with defense ball possession. Our results support the idea of relationships between impulsivity and technical performance in specific match situations.

Keywords

Impulsivity, Sports, Handball, Motor Behavior, Attention, Decision Making, Response Inhibition

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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