EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN SHAPING JUNIOR ATHLETES’ PRODUCTIVE COPING STRATEGIES
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Date
2026
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Abstract
Background and purpose
The aim is to study the role and function of junior athletes’ emotional intelligence in shaping productive strategies,
including self-control, accepting responsibility, problem-solving planning, positive reappraisal, and social support.
Material and methods
The sample (n = 120) consisted of randomly selected junior male (n = 55; 45.83%) and female (n = 65; 54.17%) athletes
with different qualifications, who were educated and trained at the academies of professional clubs and sports schools
for children and youth, belonged to the country’s Olympic Reserve, had experience in participating in All-Ukrainian and
international sports competitions, and were prize-winners in European and World championships. The respondents’
ages ranged from 15 to 19 years (М = 16.45; SD = ±2.97).
Results
The profile of emotional self-regulation was designed to control changes in these parameters. Based on the grouping
variables of emotional intelligence, differences were found in two productive coping strategies: “self-control” – for
the grouping variable “managing emotions” (t = -2.183; p = 0.031; d = -0.401) and “accepting responsibility” – for
the grouping variable “self-motivation” (t = 2.382; p = 0.019; d = 0.436). It was substantiated that the parameters
of emotional intelligence, “managing emotions” and “self-motivation”, are the most sensitive to shaping productive
coping strategies. It was emphasised that the three factors resulting from dimensionality reduction, “self-motivational
regulation”, “positive construction”, and “conscious control”, relevantly reflected the psychological content features of
emotional self-regulation.
Conclusions
It was substantiated that research into junior athletes’ emotional intelligence in shaping productive coping strategies
is a confirmatory empirical study, which allowed for establishing correlations, identifying significant advantages in
productive coping strategies of self-control, accepting responsibility, problem-solving planning, positive reappraisal,
and social support based on the grouping variables of emotional intelligence. It was summarised that the established
scientific facts complement the theoretical knowledge of the formation of emotional self-regulation, the development
of the emotional and volitional sphere, and the construction of worldviews in junior sports representatives.
Description
Popovych, I., Karpenko, Y., Matusiak, H., Dobrovolska, N., Scolota, E., Kalenchuk, V., & Hoian, I. (2026). Emotional intelligence in shaping junior athletes’ productive coping strategies. Health, sport, rehabilitation. Published online January 6, 8–25. https://doi.org/10.58962/HSR.2026.1331.
Keywords
self-control, accepting responsibility, problem-solving planning, positive reappraisal, emotional selfregulation, self-motivation