Affective decision-making and tactical behavior of under-15 soccer players

Adeilton dos Santos Gonzaga; Maicon Rodrigues Albuquerque; Leandro Fernandes Malloy-Diniz; Pablo Juan Greco; Israel Teoldo da Costa

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0101231

Affective decision-making and tactical behavior of under-15 soccer players

PLoS One. 2014 Jun 30;9(6):e101231. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0101231. eCollection 2014.

Authors

Adeilton dos Santos Gonzaga¹, Maicon Rodrigues Albuquerque¹, Leandro Fernandes Malloy-Diniz², Pablo Juan Greco³, Israel Teoldo da Costa¹

Affiliations

¹ Physical Education Departament - Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
² Mental Health Department, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
³ Sports Departament - Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Abstract

Affective decision-making is a type of Executive Function related to cost benefit analysis in situations where gains and losses imply direct consequences for the subject. The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of the affective decision-making on tactical behavior in soccer players under the age of 15 years old. The System of Tactical Assessment in Soccer (FUT-SAT) was used to assess tactical behavior. To evaluate affective decision-making, we used the neuropsychological test called The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). The values of the offensive, defensive and game tactical behavior of participants were used to create performance groups. The low (≤25%) and high (≥75%) groups, according to offensive, defensive and game tactical behavior, were compared and shown to be different. The values of the IGT net score of the participants with low and high tactical behavior were compared using the non-parametric Mann-Whitney test. Statistically significant differences between the groups were observed for Defensive Tactical Behavior (Z = -3.133; p = 0.002; r = -0.355) and Game Tactical Behavior (Z = -2.267; p = 0.023; r = -0.260). According to these results, it is possible to state that affective decision-making can influence the tactical behavior of under-15 soccer players.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Athletes / psychology*
Behavior*
Decision Making*
Gambling
Humans
Neuropsychological Tests
Soccer / psychology*
Task Performance and Analysis

Grants and funding

This study was funded by the State Department of Sport and Youth of Minas Gerais (SEEJMG) through the State Act of Incentive to Sports; by FAPEMIG, CAPES, CNPQ, FUNARBE, the Dean’s Office for Graduate and Research Studies and the Center of Life and Health Sciences from the Federal University of Viçosa, Brazil. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.