The latent structure of anthropometric variables in female volleyball players aged 12-14 years

Abstract

The goal of this transverse research was to establish the correlations between morphological characteristics, and identifying the latent morphological structure. In the morphological space, a group of 12 standard anthropometric variables was measured. The sample encompassed 158 female subjects, aged 12 to 14 years, from volleyball clubs of the Kolubara-Macva Inter regional Serbian league. Statistical data analysis was conducted using Pearson's coefficient of correlation and Principal component analysis (PCA). Results from the correlation analysis showed statistically significant linear correlations in almost all anthropometric variables of female U14 volleyball players. Using the method of Principal Component Analysis (PCA), together with the Kaiser-Guttman criteria and Varimax rotation, a threecomponent model was extracted which comprised 83,35% of proportion of the total variance of manifested anthropometric variables. This model was structured by the hypothetical factors with their characteristic roots (ƛ > 1), which were interpreted as: longitudinal skeleton dimensionality (F1), body volume and body mass (F2), and subcutaneous fat tissue (F3). The limitations of this study were discussed, as well as recommendations for future longitudinal research. Objectively, an insufficient amount of conducted empiric studies so far presents a motive for other authors to establish a relationship between morphological landmarks and defining the build of the morphological space in preadolescent population of female volleyball population.

Keywords

• morphological dimensions / longitudinal skeleton dimensionality / body volume / bodymass / subcutaneous fat tissue