Promoting values, emotional intelligence and physical condition in socio-economically disadvantaged adolescents through basketball.

Abstract

The introduction of sport in non-formal education programs for young people does not necessarily imply the training in values and emotional competencies that is attributed to it, being several aspects that condition it. This work aims to find areas for improvement in the implementation of training programs. Following a mixed methodological approach, two consecutive studies were carried out during two seasons with a sample of 56 and 35 socioeconomically disadvantaged adolescents, respectively. Variables of physical condition, body composition, physical activity levels and diet, as well as the perception of values and emotional intelligence acquired during the intervention were collected. In the second season, areas for improvement were implemented based on the results obtained in the first edition. The results showed the need to increase the physical demands during training, adding specific activities on values and emotional aspects and where the training of coaches represented a key element. However, no significant changes were found in most of the anthropometric variables, in the levels of physical activity and Mediterranean diet scores. Vertical (1 study) and horizontal (2 study) jumping improved significantly in all groups. Participants felt that they had improved their ability to express feelings and relate to others, as well as in their attitude and motivation for improvement.