Psychosomatic intelligence of young soccer players. Relationship with sports injuries prevention and self-regulation

The athlete’s perception of internal and external information seems to be crucial for the prevention of sports injuries and the self-regulation of healthy states. The goal of this cross-sectional study was to explore the relationship of athlete’s psychosomatic intelligence with injuries and mind-body practices. After obtaining the ethical approval, 217 young soccer players responded to a Psychosomatic Competence questionnaire assessing six dimensions: stress experience and stress regulation (SER), body-related health literacy (BHL), body-related cognitive congruence (BCC), mentalization (M), interoceptive awareness (IA) and general self-regulation (GSR). Mann–Whitney analysis was performed to detect potential differences of the items of these dimensions with three factors: (i) previous serious injuries, (ii) current injuries and (iii) mind-body practices. The main findings showed higher item-rating of: (a) IA by those previously and currently injured, (b) M by those currently injured and (c) SER, BHL, BCC and M by those engaged in mind-body practices. In conclusion, previous and current injuries appear to act as protective mechanisms linked to heightened IA, while mind-body practices seem effective educational strategies to promote self-regulation, detection and communication of health-related symptoms. Future research is warranted to focus on strategies for developing psychosomatic intelligence to prevent sports injuries in young players.