Psychological resilience, athletic experience, and competitive level of judokas. A transversal study

IntroductionWhile there is agreement on the positive link between psychological resilience and athletic performance, conclusive findings regarding the association between psychological resilience and other variables of interest (for example, age, gender, type of sport, or competitive level) remain elusive.ObjectiveThe study aimed to assess psychological resilience levels among judokas and explore potential associations with demographic factors, judo experience and competitive level.MethodsA total of 702 judokas (469 men and 233 women) participated in the study, of whom 194 (27.6%) were classified as TOP by their competitive level. Psychological resilience was evaluated using the Spanish version of the 10 item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC 10), with a score range from 0 to 40. Independent T-test and Pearson’s coefficient were used for bivariate analysis. A two-way non-parametric ANCOVA was carried out to analyse the impact of gender and competitive level on psychological resilience.ResultsThe judokas showed total mean scores in the CD-RISC 10 of 33.08 points (SD = 4.79), considered high. Levels of psychological resilience were significantly higher among men (33.36 ± 4.76) than women (32.53 ± 4.80) and were positively correlated with age and number of years practicing and competing in Judo (p = 0.019). Judokas with a higher competitive level (TOP judokas) showed significantly higher levels of resilience than the others (non-TOP judokas) (p