Table 1. Characteristics of the professional footballers from five European countries (N = 540). |
| Variables |
Finland
n = 121 |
France
n = 81 |
Norway
n = 119 |
Spain
n = 70 |
Sweden
n = 149 |
| Age (yrs) |
25.0 (± 4.2) |
28.2 (± 4.4) |
26.9 (± 4.8) |
27.6 (± 4.0) |
26.8 (± 4.2) |
| Height (m) |
1.80 (± .08) |
1.83 (± .06) |
1.83 (± .06) |
1.82 (± .06) |
1.80 (± .09) |
| Weight (kg) |
75.2 (± 9.0) |
77.7 (± 6.6) |
78.6 (± 7.3) |
77.2 (± 6.8) |
76.0 (± 9.8) |
| Body Mass Index (kg·m-2) |
23.2 (± 1.5) |
23.3 (± 1.2) |
23.3 (± 1.3) |
23.4 (± 1.3) |
23.3 (± 1.3) |
| Professional football career (yrs) |
6.9 (± 4.1) |
8.3 (± 4.7) |
7.9 (± 4.8) |
8.6 (± 4.6) |
7.8 (± 3.9) |
| Level of play (top league; %) |
57.9 |
54.3 |
52.9 |
41.4 |
55.7 |
| Field positions |
| Goalkeeper |
13.2 |
13.6 |
10.9 |
5.7 |
19.5 |
| Defender |
33.9 |
39.5 |
39.5 |
38.6 |
38.9 |
| Midfielder |
33.1 |
29.6 |
32.8 |
35.7 |
29.5 |
| Forward |
19.8 |
17.3 |
16.8 |
20.0 |
12.1 |
| Educational level (%) |
| No schooling completed |
2.5 |
1.2 |
3.4 |
0.0 |
0.7 |
| Nursery/elementary school |
5.8 |
1.2 |
3.4 |
0.0 |
3.4 |
| High school |
52.9 |
49.4 |
50.4 |
51.4 |
54.4 |
| Vocational/technical school |
4.1 |
30.9 |
5.0 |
28.6 |
4.7 |
| College, university or equivalent |
34.7 |
17.3 |
37.8 |
20.0 |
36.8 |
| Stressors |
| LE<6 (mean; min - max) |
1.0 (0-5) |
1.8 (0-9) |
.9 (0-4) |
2.3 (0-9) |
.7 (0-6) |
| LE>6 (mean; min - max) |
1.6 (0-6) |
2.3 (0-14) |
2.0 (0-8) |
2.0 (0-8) |
2.0 (0-9) |
| Career dissatisfaction |
10.5 (±3.4) |
12.8 (± 4.4) |
11.0 (± 3.2) |
11.4 (± 3.6) |
11.7 (± 3.5) |
|
LE<6, life events in the previous six months; LE>6, life events longer than six months ago |
|