The relationship between emotional regulation and sports performance: a systematic review

Abstract

The aim of the study was to investigate, through a systematic review of the literature, the relationship between athletes’ emotional regulation in performance or competition. The strategy (SPIDER) was used, and the keywords were used according to the respective vocabulary restricted to each database (PubMed, SciElo, Portal BVS, SPORTDiscus, PsycNET). The Boolean operators AND and OR were used, and 2 inclusion and 4 exclusion criteria were adopted. This systematic review is registered on the PROSPERO platform under the ID CRD42020216250. For analysis and qualitative synthesis, 10 studies were included, and 16 modalities were identified with a sample of 434 athletes, 84.1% male and 15.9% female. Regarding the results, we can observe that the relationship between regulation and sports performance lies in the interaction of environmental, social, and psychological factors, which can trigger positive and negative emotions that impact sports performance. Moreover, it is worth noting that the studies have verified the phenomenon of regulation of emotions through various instruments and strategies, thus demonstrating the heterogeneity of the studies included in this review. No longitudinal studies were observed; however, emotions and regulation of emotions can undergo alterations due to the sporting moment and the degree of importance of the competition.