Choking under pressure: The role of fear of negative evaluation

Objective

Conceptual models and predictors of choking under pressure (i.e., choking) have been proposed, but the role of fear of negative evaluation remains largely unknown. The purpose of the current study was to determine the degree to which fear of negative evaluation (FNE) may predispose athletes to choking.

Design and method

138 Experienced basketball players participated in a pre-selection stage, which involved completing a set of questionnaires that included the Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation-II (BFNE-II) questionnaire. Based on the scores from the BFNE-II, 34 athletes, categorized as either low- or high-FNE, were selected to perform basketball shots from five different areas of the court under low- and high-pressure phases. Shooting performance was evaluated based on the total number of successful shots out of 50 attempts.

Results

Results indicated that the high-FNE athletes displayed a significant increase in anxiety and a significant decrease in performance from low- to high-pressure phases. The low-FNE group exhibited only minimal changes in anxiety throughout the study and was able to maintain performance under pressure. Further mediation analysis investigating significant difference in performance between FNE groups within the high-pressure phase indicated that that cognitive anxiety was a partial mediator between FNE group and performance, but somatic anxiety was not.

Conclusions

Findings extend the existing choking literature by providing empirical support for the role of FNE in the context of the self-presentation model of choking.     

An assessment of the similarities between a measure of positive perfectionism and a measure of conscientious achievement striving

Objectives

The purpose of the study was to examine the similarities between the constructs measured by the positive perfectionism subscale from the Positive and Negative Perfectionism Scale and the achievement striving subscale from the Revised NEO Personality Inventory.

Design

A non-experimental design was adopted.

Method

One-hundred and seventy-nine junior basketball players (age M = 16.50, s = 1.12) completed measures of positive perfectionism, conscientious achievement striving and other external measures.

Results

Analyses revealed that the two scales were highly positively correlated and demonstrated a similar pattern of relationships with the external measures. However, a single latent factor model provided a comparatively poorer fit than a two latent factor model.

Conclusions

There is some evidence that the positive perfectionism and achievement striving constructs measured by the scales in this study are distinguishable as two distinct factors in a confirmatory factor analysis; however, more empirical evidence is needed to establish their substantive differences.     

Emotion-regulation skills as a treatment target in psychotherapy

Background

Deficits in emotion-regulation skills have been shown to be integral to the development and maintenance of a wide range of mental disorders.

Aim

To evaluate the importance of these skills as a treatment target in psychotherapeutic interventions.

Method

Nine specific emotion-regulation skills were assessed in a sample of 289 inpatients before and after cognitive-behavioural treatment. Self-reports of success in pretreatment skills application were first compared to those of 246 non-clinical controls. Pretreatment skills application and change in skills application during therapy were then related to a variety of outcome measures. Finally, the effects of integrating a brief training of general emotion-regulation skills into the CBT-based treatment were evaluated in a controlled trial.

Results

Uni- and multivariate analyses identified the skills of acceptance, tolerance, and active modification of negative emotions as particularly important for current mental health and treatment outcome. Replacing parts of the standard CBT treatment with the emotion-regulation training enhanced the effects of the CBT treatment on skills application and on other measures of mental health.

Conclusion

Incorporating interventions that directly target general emotion-regulation skills may improve the effectiveness of psychotherapeutic interventions.     

Temporal pattern of pre-shooting psycho-physiological states in elite athletes: A probabilistic approach

Objective

The IZOF-based probabilistic approach provides a methodology to study within-individual patterns of a performer's states. So far, the time course of physiological data before performance have not been investigated within the probabilistic methodology framework. The purpose of this study was to examine the value of the probabilistic approach in the assessment of the time course of physiological indicators of arousal/activation and vigilance during the period preceding the shot, in comparison with the performance-based method.

Design

Longitudinal assessment of psycho-physiological data and performance outcomes was conducted on eight elite pistol shooters in a controlled setting.

Methods

Each participant performed 60 air-pistol shots in 2 sessions. Skin conductance level and cardiac activity were recorded. Affective states intensity was evaluated on a modified 11-point Borg scale. Affect, HR and SC level were evaluated with a Performance-based approach and a Probabilistic method, and results compared at an individual level.

Results

Findings showed the higher effectiveness of the probabilistic method to analyse physiological parameters (skin conductance and heart rate) and to describe the physiological mechanisms associated with shooters’ performance.

Conclusions

The probabilistic method better discerned the contribution of arousal/activation and vigilance to optimal and non-optimal performance in elite shooters, thereby providing a sharper representation of the temporal pattern of performers' states before shooting. From an applied perspective, we believe that the probabilistic approach can help athletes become aware of the subtle variations occurring in their psychophysical states during the preparatory period preceding the shot and not only at the moment of shot release.     

Validating the coping scale for Chinese athletes using multidimensional Rasch analysis

Objective

The Coping Scale for Chinese Athletes (CSCA) was developed and validated using classic testing theory in 2004 (Chung, Si, Lee, & Liu, 2004). This study aimed to validate CSCA using multidimensional Rasch analysis with the ConQuest software programme.

Method

The sample in this study comprised 367 athletes from mainland China. A Multidimensional Rating Scale model was applied to investigate the validity of the four-dimension scale. Standard fit statistics (Infit and Outfit MNSQ) and Differential item functioning (DIF) were computed to examine the model-data fit. Test reliability and category functioning were also checked.

Results

The item difficulty and the athletes’ trait level of coping were calibrated along the same latent trait scale. Three items were removed from the scale due to misfit with the Rasch model. No DIF across gender was found for the remaining 21 items. Test reliabilities for the four subscales ranged from 0.66 to 0.76. The results also indicated that the original 5-category rating scale structure did not function well.

Conclusion

The multidimensional Rasch analysis supported that the 21-item CSCA measures four latent traits of coping of Chinese athletes as expected. The results also demonstrated advantages of multidimensional Rasch analysis over unidimensional Rasch analysis as well as traditional approach in examining the quality of multidimensional scale in sport settings.     

Effects of a cognitive specific imagery intervention on the soccer skill performance of young athletes: Age group comparisons

Objectives

The primary purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of a cognitive specific (CS) imagery intervention on the soccer skill performance of young athletes aged 7-14 years and determine if performance varied with age.

Design

Participants were 143 soccer athletes belonging to 16 different teams. Teams were randomly assigned to either a cognitive specific (CS) or motivational general-arousal imagery intervention.

Methods

Athletes were administered the SIQ-C and tested on the soccer skill to determine baseline performance. Following their imagery intervention, athletes were tested on the same soccer skill, and completed the SIQ-C a second time.

Results

The results indicated that only the younger athletes (7-10 years) receiving CS imagery performed faster following their intervention. Moreover, only the 7-8 year old athletes in the CS imagery condition significantly increased their use of CS imagery over time.

Conclusions

These findings suggest that young athletes who use CS imagery will benefit from a CS imagery intervention, thus implying that mental skills training should begin at a young age if athletes are to maximize the benefits of such training.     

Contextual and individual influences on antisocial behaviour and psychobiosocial states of youth soccer players

Purpose

The aim of the study was to assess the effects of contextual and individual variables (perceived motivational climate and moral atmosphere, task/ego orientation and perceived competence) on antisocial behaviour and emotion-related psychobiosocial (PBS) states as conceptualised within the individual zones of optimal functioning model.

Participants

The study was conducted on a sample of 382 young male soccer players, aged from 14 to 16 years, drawn from 27 Italian teams.

Method

A cross-sectional design was used. Assessment included measures of reported antisocial behaviour, perceived moral atmosphere, perceived motivational climate, goal orientation, perceived competence, and PBS states. Data analysis involved confirmatory factor analysis of measures and path analysis of the hypothesized relationships.

Results

Results suggest that performance climate and a moral atmosphere, in which aggressive behaviours are encouraged, are likely to determine antisocial behaviour and a range of unpleasant PBS states in young sports participants.

Conclusions

Findings substantiate the importance of the situational factors on ethical aspects and emotional states in youngsters.     

A systemic social-cognitive perspective on doping

Objectives

The present article provides a theoretically sound framework (i.e., a social-cognitive approach), using conceptual models and concrete examples, to aid our understanding of why some people dope.

Design

Recognizing that sports occur in a social environment, the current article is grounded in social-cognitive theory. Additionally, since many studies investigating doping have attempted to use cause-and-effect or correlational methods, this article emphasized the systemic nature of doping behavior.

Method

The present article succinctly clarifies why some people take greater risks than others (e.g., dope), and specifically discusses the roles of history, obedience to authority, brain development, culture, stereotypes, and reinforcement, as they relate with doping.

Results

Although likely possible, it is difficult to provide an example of an effective intervention that adequately addresses the deletion of doping. However, an example based on social-cognitive principles is provided.

Conclusions

Future research that emphasizes a social-cognitive approach to doping is needed. Interventions built from such research likely will lead to effective anti-doping interventions.     

Cognitive style and depressive symptoms in elderly people - Extending the empirical evidence for the cognitive vulnerability-stress hypothesis

Introduction

Depression is common in older people and its identification and treatment has been highlighted as one of the major challenges in an ageing world. Poor physical and cognitive health, bereavement, and prior depression are important risk factors for depression in elderly people. Attributional or cognitive style has been identified as a risk factor for depression in children, adolescents and younger adults but its relevance for depression and mood in elderly people has not been investigated in the context of other risk factors.

Method

Sixty-four older adults from an ‘extra care’ living scheme (aged 59-97) were recruited for a 6-week prospective study to examine the relationships between cognitive style and depressive symptoms.

Results

Regression analyses revealed that, when other risk factors were controlled for, cognitive style and its interaction with stress predicted changes in depressive symptoms, therefore partially replicating prior research.

Conclusion

Cognitive-stress-vulnerability models also apply to elderly populations, but may be rather predictive of changes in depression when facing lower levels of stress.     

An experimental investigation of physical education teachers’ and coaches’ reactions to weight-based victimization in youth

Objectives

Overweight youth are frequent targets of weight-based victimization during Physical Education (PE) and sports. In addition, previous research indicates that teachers’ perceptions and expectations may influence their likelihood of intervening during victimization, and physical educators may endorse biased perceptions and expectations of overweight youth. Despite this evidence, no research has examined how physical educators respond to weight-based victimization of their students. Thus, the current study examined PE teachers’ and coaches’ responses to different types of victimization involving average weight and overweight students.

Design

This study utilized an experimental design that assessed participants’ reactions to situations of weight-related victimization using hypothetical scenarios accompanied by photographs of youth.

Methods

PE teachers and sport coaches (N = 162) were randomly presented with a scenario and follow-up questions about an average weight or an overweight student. Each participant completed two conditions: one with a male target, and one with a female target.

Results

Participants were more likely to take action when overweight female students were victims of bullying, specifically in situations of verbal and relational victimization. Male participants were less likely to respond to victimization than female participants.

Conclusions

Findings suggest the importance of increasing awareness about weight-based victimization and its consequences, especially among male physical educators. Implications for the psychological, social, and physical development of overweight youth are discussed.     

Examining the dimensional structure and factorial validity of the Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory in a sample of male athletes

Objectives

Research examining how emotional intelligence (EI) relates to the performance of athletes has been conducted using various EI measures including the Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i; Bar-On, 1997), but no one has investigated the factor structure of the EQ-i in the area of sport psychology. The current study explored the dimensional structure and factorial validity of the EQ-i in a sample of male athletes.

Design

Confirmatory factor analysis was used to examine [Bar-On, 1997] and [Bar-On, 2004] model of emotional-social intelligence and the 1-5-15 dimensional structure which underpins the EQ-i.

Method

A total sample of 706 male athletes from various sports and competing at the national age group level through to the professional level of competition completed the EQ-i.

Results

Confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated that the 1-5-15 dimensional structure was a poor fit for the data. A re-specification of the model representing the best fit for the data was a 1-4-15 dimensional structure. The factorial validity of the individual subscales was also examined at the item level using confirmatory factor analysis. Thirteen of the 15 subscales showed close, reasonably good, or mediocre fit for the data.

Conclusion

Further construct validation of Bar-On’s model and measure is required. Sport psychologists administering the EQ-i in applied practice should consider using the EQ-i subscales rather than referring back to the 1-5-15 dimensional structure.     

Knowledge of results after relatively good trials enhances self-efficacy and motor learning

Objectives

This study sought to determine whether learners’ self-efficacy and motor learning was affected by the type of feedback they were provided.

Method

Participants (N = 24, M age = 19.51 years, SD = 1.08) were randomly assigned into one of two groups: knowledge of result after good versus poor trials. The task included throwing a tennis ball with the non-dominate hand to a target while wearing vision distorting goggles. Participants completed the Self-Efficacy Scale (Bandura, 2006) before performing each block of 6 trials. A retention test without knowledge of results was conducted 24 h after the practice phase.

Results

The results demonstrated that learners’ motor learning was increased by providing knowledge of results after good rather than poor trials. Furthermore, the Self-Efficacy Scale results revealed that learners’ self-efficacy was enhanced by positive feedback.

Conclusions

The current findings indicate that positive feedback impacts learner’s self-efficacy, and enhances performance and motor learning.     

Laboratory stressors in clinically anxious and non-anxious individuals: The moderating role of mindfulness

Objective

Mindfulness forms the basis for multiple clinical interventions and has been induced in laboratory settings. However, few studies have examined the effects of dispositional or trait mindfulness. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of trait mindfulness to laboratory stressor responding across fear-based anxiety disorder and non-anxious samples. We hypothesized that trait mindfulness would be associated with diminished stressor responding above and beyond the contribution of anxiety and depression-related variables, and to a greater extent in high anxiety than low anxiety individuals.

Methods

90 participants, including 46 with anxiety disorders and 44 non-anxious controls, were assessed on hyperventilation and relaxation stressors. The relationship of trait mindfulness to stressor-related anxiety, negative affect, and duration was investigated in a hierarchical multiple regression model.

Results

Trait mindfulness predicted stressor responding in over 80% of measured outcomes, and predicted to a greater extent among high anxiety individuals in 50% of outcomes.

Conclusions

Trait mindfulness was associated with diminished responses to laboratory stressors in clinically anxious and non-anxious samples. Implications for emotion regulation and clinical interventions are discussed.     

Athletes’ ease of imaging predicts their imagery and observational learning use

Objectives

Following the development of the Sport Imagery Ability Questionnaire (SIAQ; Williams & Cumming, 2011), the aim of the present two studies was to more comprehensively examine the relationship between sport-related imagery ability and the functions of imagery and observational learning (OL) athletes report. A second aim was to establish the SIAQ’s predictive validity.

Design

Two samples of cross-sectional questionnaire data are presented in two studies.

Method

For both studies, athletes were recruited from a variety of team and individual sports, ranging in competitive level and years of experience. In Study 1, 117 participants (41 male and 76 female) with a mean age of 24.38 (SD = 9.46) completed the SIAQ and the Sport Imagery Questionnaire (SIQ; Hall, Mack, Paivio, & Hausenblas, 1998). In Study 2, 221 participants (83 male and 138 female) with a mean age of 22.34 (SD = 7.66) completed the SIAQ and the Functions of Observational Learning Questionnaire (FOLQ; Cumming, Clark, Ste-Marie, McCullagh, & Hall, 2005).

Results

Athletes’ imagery ability significantly predicted their imagery and OL use. Moreover, with the exception of performance OL, predictions were stronger when the type of imagery ability closely matched the function of imagery or OL being predicted.

Conclusions

As well as demonstrating the predictive validity of the SIAQ, results from both studies support the need to use imagery ability measures that most closely match the type of imagery or OL being used.     

Images of exercising: Exploring the links between exercise imagery use, autonomous and controlled motivation to exercise, and exercise intention and behavior

Objectives

In the present study, we tested a model examining the relationships between exercise imagery use, motivational regulations for exercise engagement, intention to exercise, and self-reported exercise behavior. This work represents an initial attempt to examine relationships between a new type of exercise imagery (enjoyment imagery) and motivational regulations for exercise.

Design

Cross-sectional.

Method

Exercisers with a mean age of 40.29 years (SD = 13.29; 177 female, 141 male) completed measures of the targeted variables.

Results

Structural equation modeling analyses revealed direct and indirect (via motivational regulations) links between imagery and exercise-related outcomes. Technique and enjoyment imagery were positively related to autonomous motivation. Conversely, appearance imagery was positively associated with controlled motivation. Direct relationships were evidenced between energy imagery and self-reported exercise behavior, and between appearance imagery and intention to exercise.

Conclusions

The potential motivational functions served by different exercise imagery types are discussed, and the inclusion of enjoyment imagery in future exercise imagery research is recommended.     

The sideline behaviour of coaches at children’s team sports games

Objectives

This study aimed to establish the prevalence, pattern and nature of coaches’ verbal behaviour at children’s (ages 6-12 years) team sports events. The study draws upon the motivational model presented by Mageau and Vallerand (2003) to examine the influence of global (gender), contextual (sport related), and social (athlete gender) factors on coach comments.

Design

A cross-sectional observational study of coaches stratified across four team sports: Rugby Union, Netball, Association Football and Touch Rugby.

Method

The Observation Instrument at Sports Events was used to categorise covertly recorded verbal comments made by coaches at organised team sports games.

Results

Overall, 10,697 comments were recorded at 72 games at a rate of 3.71 comments/minute; 35.4% were categorised as positive, 21.6% as negative, and 43.0% as neutral. Significant differences in negative comments were identified between sport (p < .001) with rugby coaches recording the highest percentage of negative comments and the lowest percentage of positive comments; by coach gender (p < .001), with male coaches recording higher rates of negative comments; and by athlete gender (p < .001), with coaches of male-only teams recording higher rates of negative comments. When simultaneously included in a Poisson regression model the difference in negative comments between sports remained statistically significant (p < .001) whereas coach gender was no longer significant.

Conclusions

The ratio of negative coach comments for all sports gives cause for concern. These findings suggest that sports of national and cultural significance are a key driver of coaching behaviours in a competitive environment.     

Extreme judgments depend on the expectation of following judgments: A calibration analysis

Objectives

Judges avoid extreme judgments in the beginning of evaluation sequences. The calibration hypothesis attributes this bias to judges’ need to preserve their judgmental degrees of freedom. It follows that the expectation of a sequence leads to avoiding extreme judgments in the beginning. Thus, judges may make extreme judgments if they expect only one performance but should avoid extreme judgments if they expect a sequence.

Design

A between-group design was used.

Method

One experimental group (n = 21) expected to judge only one gymnastics performance whereas the other group (n = 20) expected to judge a sequence of performances. Both groups then judged only one identical performance.

Results

Groups differed significantly in the frequency of extreme judgments. Participants expecting one performance used extreme judgment categories more often; participants expecting a series avoided extreme judgments.

Conclusion

The results support calibration processes in sequential judgments. The specification of the underlying process will allow testing possible interventions to avoid serial position biases in serial evaluations in the future.     

Exercise imagery and its correlates in older adults

Objectives

The purpose of the present study was to test a structural model examining the interrelationships between exercise imagery, self-reported exercise behaviour and well-being in older adults.

Design

Cross-sectional survey.

Method

Participants were 499 older Greek adults (50.10% males) aged between 51 and 84 years (M age = 57.31; SD = 5.52) who completed questionnaires measuring exercise imagery use, exercise behaviour, subjective vitality, and physical self-worth. The relationship between these variables was tested with a structural model based on the applied model of imagery use for exercise (Munroe-Chandler & Gammage, 2005).

Results

Energy imagery positively predicted exercise behaviour and subjective vitality, and appearance and technique imagery positively predicted physical self-worth.

Conclusions

These results indicate older adults engage in different types of imagery to motivate themselves to exercise and improve their well-being, thus implying that the content of imagery interventions should be specifically tailored to the outcomes older adults wish to realise for interventions to be effective.     

Youth athletes’ perception of autonomy support from the coach, peer motivational climate and intrinsic motivation in sport setting: One-year effects

Objectives

Grounded in self-determination theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 1985) and achievement goal theory (AGT; Nicholls, 1989), the present study examined the temporal stability and reciprocal relationships among three key variables related to motivation: perceived autonomy support from the coach, task-involving peer motivational climates, and athletes’ intrinsic motivation.

Design

A prospective longitudinal design with data collected on two occasions one year apart over the course of a youth training season.

Method

Young athletes (N = 362, age range 11-16 years) completed measures of the Sport Climate Questionnaire and the Peer Motivational Climate in Youth Sport Questionnaire. One-year later participants completed these questionnaires again along with the Sport Motivation Scale.

Results

Structural equation modeling indicated that perceived autonomy support from the coach and task-involving peer motivational climates exhibited comparatively high stability over a one-year period. In cross-lagged analyses, perceived autonomy support from the coach positively predicted task-involving peer climate one-year later but not vice versa. In addition, both social factors demonstrated a significant direct effect on athletes intrinsic motivation measured concurrently in sport contexts. Further, an alternative structural model supported a longitudinal direct effect of autonomy support from the coach and task-involving peer climate measured on the first occasion on subsequent intrinsic motivation.

Conclusion

Results demonstrated the value of perceived autonomy support from the coach and task-involving peer motivational climate in predicting athletes’ intrinsic motivation over a training year. Findings also suggest that perceived autonomy support from the coach can facilitate later task-involving peer motivational climate.     

The social environment and developmental experiences in elite youth soccer

Objectives

We aimed to examine social-contextual correlates of players’ developmental experiences in an elite youth soccer context. Specifically, we hypothesized that player perceptions of team cohesion and coach rapport would be positively associated with psychological need fulfillment. In turn, psychological need satisfaction was proposed to be positively related to adaptive developmental experiences in youth soccer (i.e., opportunities for leadership, emotional regulation, and goal setting), and negatively related to social exclusion.

Design

Cross-sectional.

Method

133 male elite soccer players, aged between 11 and 18 years old, completed a self-report questionnaire assessing the variables of interest.

Results

Using path analysis and bootstrapping methods, we found support for the overall model fit of the hypothesized conceptual framework and specific study hypotheses.

Conclusions

This study utilizes strong theoretical foundations to underscore the role of the coach and team environment in facilitating positive youth outcomes, and highlights a potential mechanism that may explain these processes.