Effects Of Handball Training On The Psychological Stress Levels In Healthy Male Individuals

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of handball training on the psychological stress levels in healthy male subjects. This study consisted of two groups - control and experiment – with pre-participation and post-participation measurements. Thirty male subjects in the control group were selected randomly from 120 students of Ataturk University. They were ages 19-23 years with a mean age of 21.53. Thirty subjects were also selected randomly from the same population to be in the experimental group. The experimental group (mean age 21.26) participated in handball training for three months and three weekly sessions of 75-90 minutes. The stress of subjects were tested by a 40-item stress questionnaire. We did not observe significant difference between the mean stress scores of control group and experimental group scores at pre-test (p 0.05); significant differences were observed between the mean of control and experimental group stress scores on the post- test stage (p 0.05) and between the mean of stress scores in the control group pre-test and post-test (p 0.05). Difference was statistically Significant between the mean of stress scores in the experimental group pre-test and post-test (p 0.05). It seems the cause of stress reduction in the experimental group is regular physical activity that led to adjusted physical and psychological characteristics. Handball training causes excitement and joy and is a special vitality that can be a factor in reducing psychological disorders.