Quality of Life Factors for Young Athletes / Faktori Kvalitete Života Mladih Sportaša

Abstract

The aim of this research was to define the structure of the quality of life of young athletes. The study was conducted on a sample of 343 young athletes (both gender), average age 15.1 years in Zagreb. The quality of life of the participants in this study was estimated using the Croatian version of the Questionnaire of quality of life for children and adolescents The Kidscreen Questionnaire (The Kidscreen Group Europe, 2006), (Lorger, 2011). The construct quality of life, which is estimated by the questionnaire, includes monitoring the quality of life through elements of physical, emotional, social, and behavioural well-being. Descriptive statistic was calculated, and psychometric characteristics of the Croatian version of The Kidscreen - 52 questionnaire were tested. To determine the factor structure, the component model was chosen with extracting principal components for the Guttman–Kaiser criterion (GK criterion). Eleven factors for the quality of life were extracted representing hypothetical dimensions of the quality of life, related to the psychological well-being, family and home life, relationships with friends, bullying, use of free time, physical well-being, school environment, self-perception, money, unpleasant emotions and moods, and hanging out with friends.Key words: factor analysis, young athletes, quality of life, questionnaire The Kidscreen-52-----SAŽETAKSvrha istraživanja bila je definiranje strukture kvalitete života mladih sportaša. Istraživanje je provedeno na uzorku od 343 mlada sportaša (oba spola), prosječne dobi 15.1 godina u gradu Zagrebu. Kvaliteta života sudionika ovog istraživanja procijenjena je pomoću hrvatske verzije Upitnika kvalitete života za djecu i adolescente The Kidscreen Questionnaire (The Kidscreen Group Europe, 2006), (Lorger, 2011). Konstrukt kvalitete života, koji se procjenjuje ovim upitnikom uključuje promatranje kvalitete života kroz elemente tjelesne, emocionalne, socijalne i bihevioralne dobrobiti. Deskriptivnim statističkim metodama izračunati su deskriptivni parametri, te je izvršena provjera metrijskih karakteristika hrvatske verzije The Kidscreen - 52 upitnika. Za određivanje faktorske strukture izabran je komponentni model s ekstrakcijom glavnih komponenti po Guttman – Kaiserovom kriteriju (GK kriterij). Izlučeno je 11 faktora kvalitete života mladih sportaša koji predstavljaju jedanaest hipotetskih dimenzija kvalitete života, a odnose se na psihološku dobrobit, obiteljsko okruženje, odnose s prijateljima, nasilje među mladima, korištenje slobodnog vremena, tjelesnu dobrobit, zadovoljstvo školom, samopoimanje, novčane resurse, neugodne emocije i raspoloženja, te na druženje s prijateljima. Ključne riječi: faktorska analiza, mladi sportaši, kvaliteta života, upitnik The Kidscreen-52