Socio-Demographic Variables, Perfectionism, Anxiety and Somatization as Predictors of School Success Among Cadet and Junior Volleyball Players

Abstract

The aim of this research was to examine to which extent the predictor socio-demographic variables (gender, child’s age, parents’ education), personal traits (adaptive perfectionism and maladaptive perfectionism) and psychological adjustment (exam anxiety and somatization) contribute to school success among cadet and junior volleyball players of both genders. The sample included (N=122) participants of both genders, age 18 to 20, from Valjevo. The Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, Exam Anxiety Scale and Youth Self-Report were used. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient showed high internal consistency of the applied measuring instruments, which means that they can be recommended for studying sports population in Serbia. Data were processed using descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation coefficient and hierarchical regression analysis. The results of the Pearson’s correlation coefficient reveal low statistical significance of the interaction between the majority of the measuring variables. The findings of the regression model, with 29% variance, indicate to statistically relevant and independent contribution of gender and maladaptive perfectionism in explaining school success, which leads to the suggestion that future studies include some other variables such as family as potential predictor. The results of this research are in accordance with earlier studies on relations between adaptive and maladaptive perfectionism, somatization, and school success (as criterion) among athletes during adolescence.