Korean J Child Health Nurs.  2001 Jul;7(3):383-396.

Effects of Progressive Muscle Relaxation on Behavioral States and Emotional Reactions of Adolescent Athletes

• Park SN

Abstract

This study was designed to investigate the effects of the progressive muscle relaxation on behavioral states and emotional reactions of adolescent athletes. The participants were 167 adolescent male soccer players aged between 12 and 18 who were junior or high school students in Seoul. Ninety-three of them were assigned to the experimental group, while seventy-four to the control group. The experimental group was treated by 10 sessions (20 min./session) of Jacobson's progressive muscle relaxation for two weeks, while the control group was not treated. The self and observer reported behavioral states, general stress by visual analogue scale, physical symptoms of stress, athletic stress, state anxiety, depression, self-esteem were measured before and after two weeks of the progressive muscle relaxation. The results were as follows ; 1. The self and observer reported behavioral states were significantly decreased in the experimental group compared with the control group. 2. The general stress and the gastrointestinal symptoms of stress were significantly decreased in the experimental group compared with the control group. No significant difference on athletic stress was found between the two groups. The depression and the state anxiety were significantly decreased in the experimental group compared with the control group. The self-esteem was significantly increased in the experimental group compared with the control group. 3. The influential factors on behavioral state of adolescent male athlete were depression and state anxiety. The accelerating factor on behavioral state change after the progressive muscle relaxation was state anxiety. These results are suggested that the progressive muscle relaxation could be effective in stabilizing behavioral state, decreasing general stress, gastrointestinal symptoms of stress, depression, state anxiety, in increasing self-esteem of adolescent male athletes. And the behavioral state change after the progressive muscle relaxation was influenced by state anxiety.

MeSH Terms

Adolescent*
Anxiety
Athletes*
Depression
Humans
Male
Muscle Relaxation*
Seoul
Soccer
Sports
Child Health