PhD, Associate Professor T.A. Rodermel¹
PhD, Associate Professor E.S. Shamukhametova^1
1Surgut State University, Surgut

Corresponding author: rodermel_ta@surgu.ru

Abstract

Objective of the study was to rate and analyze the coaches' communicative skills in the adolescent deviant behavior control context and offer the adolescent deviant behavior control recommendations for the training and competitive service. 

Methods and structure of the study. In our analysis of the practical experiences of the coaches successful in the adolescent deviant behavior control aspects we have given a special priority to the coach-trainee communication building skills. We sampled for the study Sports School coaches (n=6) and tested them by the V.V. Boyko Empathy Test; A.V. Karpov Reflexivity Test Method and the K. Jung Personality Questionnaire.

Results and Conclusion. The empathy test rated two subject low (21 points) and poor (13 points); and the other four moderate (22-29 points) on the empathy scale – to conclude that most of the sample is inclined for understanding and empathy in relationship.

The reflexivity test showed the sample being able to analyze own feelings versus other people’s ones.

And the Jung Personality Questionnaire rated 50% of the sample as extroverts prone to healthy leadership, easy-going in the interpersonal relations and able to persuade; 30% as Introverts and 20% as ambiverts (with extrovert and an introvert qualities) with fairly good communication skills.

Therefore, the above tests found most of the sample having the key qualities for successful communication as required by the coaching service, albeit clearly needing special psychological support and consulting service to develop good adolescent deviant behavior control skills critical for their training and competitive services.

Coaching services to the adolescent-deviant-behavior-prone teams are recommended to be designed and managed with a special attention to the personality qualities of the coach and trainees. It is very important for the coach to be sensitive to the individual progress needs, gifts and resources of young athletes to develop encouraging team climate, supportive and friendly relationships as a basis for the personality progress agendas. Such coach-trainee relationships help motivate the adolescent athletes for progress and success.

Keywords:  adolescents with deviant behavior, communication, coaches, psychological support of training and competitive process.

Background. Active competitive sports are presently ranked among the best methods to control adolescent deviant behavior in trainees. Practical experiences have demonstrated that due competitive motivations, interest in sports and positive emotional success-focused team climates are beneficial for the adolescent deviant behavior control purposes in many cases, including dysfunctional families, as trainings and competitions effectively relieve mental stresses and facilitate the individual progress agendas [4, 5]. It should be mentioned, however, that not every coach is actually prepared to cope with the adolescent deviant behavior related issues in teenage teams that demonstrate high psychological lability associated with the need for an adult role model [3].

On the whole, a coach must have certain personal merits and qualities to win respect in the adolescent-deviant-behavior-prone teams and effectively build up communication using:

- Appealing psychological qualities (benevolence, responsiveness, sensitivity, sincerity, etc.) to effectively control every action and verbal contact with the teenage athletes;

- Good communication skills to establish own image, moral values, sociability, etc.; and, as a matter of priority

- Sensitivity to the adolescent trainee’s personality traits and needs to successfully cope with the potential psychological barriers and mental control issues.

Objective of the study was to rate and analyze the coaches' communicative skills in the adolescent deviant behavior control context and offer the adolescent deviant behavior control recommendations for the training and competitive service. 

Methods and structure of the study. In our analysis of the practical experiences of the coaches successful in the adolescent deviant behavior control aspects we have given a special priority to the coach-trainee communication building skills. We sampled for the study Sports School coaches (n=6) and tested them by the V.V. Boyko Empathy Test; A.V. Karpov Reflexivity Test Method and the K. Jung Personality Questionnaire.

Results and discussion. Given on Figure 1 hereunder are the V.V. Boyko Empathy Test data of the sample.

Figure 1. Empathy test data of the sample, points

The empathy test rated two subject low (21 points) and poor (13 points); and the other four moderate (22-29 points) on the empathy scale – to conclude that most of the sample is inclined for understanding and empathy in relationship. The A.V. Karpov Reflexivity Test rated five of six coaches moderate and one high on the reflexivity test scale: see Figure 2.

Figure 2. Reflexivity test data of the sample (0 to 10 stens)

The reflexivity test showed the sample being able to analyze own feelings versus other people’s ones i.e. to anticipate, feel and understand; and this quality is known to be highly important for the adolescent deviant behavior control purposes. 

And the Jung Personality Questionnaire rated 50% of the sample as extroverts prone to healthy leadership, easy-going in the interpersonal relations and able to persuade; 30% as Introverts and 20% as ambiverts (with extrovert and an introvert qualities) with fairly good communication skills.

Therefore, the above tests found most of the sample having the key qualities for successful communication as required by the coaching service, albeit clearly needing special psychological support and consulting service to develop good adolescent deviant behavior control skills critical for their training and competitive services. We would offer the following coach-trainee communication improvement recommendations to facilitate the adolescent deviant behavior control agenda.

Practical coaching service will give a special priority to the psychological settings for communication that may either encourage or discourage the interpersonal relations [1, 2], with a special role played by humor as the tension-relieving quality. Humor is known to largely scale down anxiety and cope with the training process monotony, with jokes, funny stories, proverbs etc. being often indispensable in stressful, boring or draining settings. However, awkward humor may unexpectedly hurt a teenage trainee and even provoke a conflict. Knowing that, both should keep within certain standards and ethical norms to avoid some team member being mocked at; never tolerate vulgarity, never ridicule clumsiness/ still poor skills, involuntary errors etc. [6].

Coach should always bear in mind that teenagers are emotionally volatile and, hence, easily suggested (that implies special effort to establish good team climate), anxious, with still feeble mental self-control and other issues that may be prevented and mitigated by prudent self-suggestion trainings. It should also be emphasized that frustrated adolescents’ nervous systems are rather weak to easily expose them to depression, anxiety, inferiority complexes, feels of guilt etc., regardless of their actual success in competitive sports. These and other mental health issues may suddenly force a teenager quit the trainings and competitions and often fall into depression after that. Frustration at the early stages may bring multiple problems due to, among other things, habitual poor moods. Such health issues may undermine interest in and motivations for sports and everyday living, with the relevant cognitive and motivational disorders and, consequently, self-identification problems [8]. These are the reasons why timely and well-designed mental control tests and services are highly recommended for early diagnostics of the potential health issues to effectively stabilize moods and climates in the adolescent teams.

The above symptoms may be effectively controlled by the relevant psychological training practices geared to relieve tension and anxiety and encourage success motivations (such as "Glass", "Poisonous River", etc.); with such mental workouts recommended in the rest breaks in trainings. Every such practice will be followed by a reflection session to analyze: What helped or hampered the practices? What were your feelings when practicing? How can we use this practical experience in everyday life? [7]. These and other psychological training practices have proved beneficial in practical psychological support service.

Conclusion. Coaching services to the adolescent-deviant-behavior-prone teams are recommended to be designed and managed with a special attention to the personality qualities of the coach and trainees. It is very important for the coach to be sensitive to the individual progress needs, gifts and resources of young athletes to develop encouraging team climate, supportive and friendly relationships as a basis for the personality progress agendas. Such coach-trainee relationships help motivate the adolescent athletes for progress and success.

References

1. Gurevich K.M., Borisova E.M. Psychological diagnostics. Study guide. Moscow: URAO publ., 1997. 182 p.
2. Zhunusov N.K. Developed communicative culture of sports coach personality as a factor in achieving effective results in context of reducing attractiveness of profession. Molodoy ucheny. 2020. No. 3 (293). pp. 421-423. Available at: https://moluch.ru/archive/293/66442/ (date of access: 16.04.2021).
3. Kolomeytsev Y.A. Relationships in sports team. Moscow: Fizkultura i sport pu.bl, 1984. 128 p.
4. Platonov K.K. Social norms and deviant behavior. Moscow: Nauka publ., 1999. 149 p.
5. Rodermel T.A., Samoylova M.V. Physical activity in overcoming adolescent depression. Improvement of system of physical education, sports training, tourism, psychological support and health improvement of various categories of the population. Proceedings XVIII nat. research-practical conf. with int. participation; S.I. Loginov, Zh.I. Busheva [ed.]. Surgut, 2019. pp. 360-363.
6. Stankin M.I. Physical education teacher: personality, communication. Moscow, 1993. 86 p.
7. Snesar E.A., Khoroshavtseva E.A., Popova N.A. Mental exercises to unite group. Ser. «Actual sports psychology». Krasnoyarsk, 2013. 36 p.
8. Shamukhametova E.S., Rodermel T.A. Theoretical and practical perspective of peculiarities of depressive states in adolescents. Fundamentalnye aspekty psikhicheskogo zdorovya. 2019. No. 1. pp. 163-167.