Investigating the Role of Age, Skill Level, and Gender on the Psychological Skills of Iranian Combat Sport: A Meta-Analytic Study

Objective: Combat sports, due to their appeal, diversity, and cultural aspects, are considered among the most popular athletic disciplines. Success in these sports, in addition to physical abilities, requires specific psychological skills, including emotion regulation, concentration, self-confidence, and emotional intelligence. Despite numerous studies examining these skills, some contradictory results have been reported. Such inconsistencies may be attributed to individual differences in age, gender, and skill level of athletes. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of synthesizing and examining the role of age, skill level, and gender in the psychological skills of Iranian combat sport athletes using the meta-analysis method. Methods: In the present study, a total of ۷۰ relevant studies were collected, among which ۳۵ met the required criteria for inclusion in the analysis. The data were analyzed using CMA۲ software, and the computations were performed based on Cohen’s d index.Results: The results indicated that the studies were heterogeneous (I² = ۹۸%), and the psychological skills of combat sport athletes were similar in some components based on age, skill level, and gender, while differing in others. Positive psychological components such as emotional intelligence, mental toughness, concentration and attention, and self-confidence had a significant impact on athletes’ success. Moreover, psychological skills such as refocusing, goal setting, and imagery, along with negative emotions including cognitive and somatic anxiety, played an important role in the athletic performance of combat sport athletes.Conclusion: The findings emphasize that designing psychological training programs tailored to individual characteristics can contribute to enhancing the performance of combat sport athletes.

کلیدواژه ها:

Psychological skills ، ombat sports.Meta-analysis ، Cognitive anxiety. Concentration and attention