Psychological Applications in Clinical Sports Medicine: Current Status and Future Directions

This article describes the role of psychologists in clinical sports medicine. Following an overview of the specialty's professionals, settings, and modalities, opportunities for psychological intervention in the prevention and rehabilitation of sport injuries are examined. The current status of psychology in clinical sports medicine is discussed and recommendations for the future are provided. It is concluded that although the involvement of psychologists in clinical sports medicine is not currently extensive, there is reason to believe that psychological applications in the sports medicine arena will expand in the future.     

Football: Exploring passion,grit and mindset in elite and junior players

The main goal of the study was to explore the relationship between passion, grit and mindset in a group of football players in Norway. The sample had 49 participants. In two different groups in relation to age and level. Sogndal elite team (N = 22) (Elite) and Sogndal Junior team (N = 27) (Junior). To assess the level of passion the passion scale was used, an eight-item scale. To measure grit the Grit-S scale was used. The scale has 8 items. Mindset was measured with the Theories of Intelligence Scale (TIS). The scale has 8-items. To measure harmonious and obsessive passion The Passion scale was used. The results show that the elite team did have the highest score in four out of five factors. Significant difference between elite and Junior was, however, not found. The results indicate significant correlations between the variables; passion - grit (r = 0.418, p < .01), passion - harmonious passion (r = 0.624, p < .01), grit-mindset (r = 0.309, p < .05) and grit - harmonious passion (r = 0.473, p < .01). Elite: a significant correlation for the variables passion - harmonious passion (r = 0.558, p < .01), grit and harmonious passion (r = 0.440, p < .05) and harmonious - obsessive passion (r = . 608, p < .01). Junior: a significant correlation for the variables passion - grit (r = 0.647, p < .01), passion - harmonious passion (r = . 702, p < .01), and grit - harmonious passion (r = 0.558, p < .01). Fischer r-to-z transformation indicate significant difference between elite and junior group for the correlation passion-grit (p = .04) and harmonious - obsessive passion (p = .01). The findings are discussed in relation to previous research exploring the relationships between passion, grit and mindset in achievement contexts. Consequently, the differences found in association between passion and grit, might imply that different personality traits may be characteristic for football players at different levels.     

Do conscientious athletes value world peace? Personality traits and value preferences of young athletes and non-athletes

The preferred values and personality traits of young athletes allow to predict their decisions in the sports context. Of 120 primary and junior high school students that were surveyed, including 60 students following an extended sports curriculum and 60 students following a standard curriculum. The athletes practiced soccer, basketball and swimming. The Picture-Based Value Survey for Children based on Schwartz's theory of universal values and the Picture-Based Personality Survey for Children predicated on the Big Five model of personality were used in this study. Regression analysis with an interaction effect of type of school program on relationships between values and personality traits was carried out. Effects were observed between the type of program and preference for Universalism and Conscientiousness and preference for Hedonism and Agreeableness. In athletes, Conscientiousness correlated positively with preference for Universalism. In non-athletes, a positive correlation was found between Agreeableness and preference for Hedonism.     

Linking personality traits to objective foul records in (semi-)professional youth basketball

Rule breaking behavior in sports (e.g., fouls) can impact the outcome of games, tournaments, or even whole seasons. Although personality traits have been related to different forms of rule breaking behavior across fields, it has hardly been investigated whether personality traits predict rule breaking behavior in sports. We ran a longitudinal study with 242 (semi-)professional basketball players. Specifically, we measured personality traits prior to the start of the season and official foul statistics per player during the season. Out of the basic personality traits from the HEXACO Model of Personality, Conscientiousness accounted for a substantial amount of variability in the committed/called fouls, whereas no robust relations with other traits or a sports-oriented personality trait (i.e., Sports Mental Toughness) were found.     

Passion,grit and mindset in football players

The main aim of the study was to explore the relationship between passion, grit and mindset in a group of football players in Norway. The sample had 63 participants. In three different groups in relation to age and level. Sogndal elite team (N = 25) (Elite), Sogndal Junior team (N = 17) (Junior 18) and young talents in Sogn-og Fjordane (N = 21) (Junior 15).To assess the level of passion the passion scale was used, an eight-item scale. To measure grit the Grit-S scale was used. The scale has 8 items. Mindset was measured with the Theories of Intelligence Scale (TIS). The scale has 8-items. Trainers in each group ranked the players football competence. The results show that the elite team did have the highest score in all factors. Significant difference between elite and Junior 15 in the factor grit. The results indicate significant correlations between the variables; passion-grit (r = 0.576, p < .001) and grit-mindset (r = 0.271, p < .05. The correlation was not significant for passion-mindset (r = 0.121). Elite: a significant correlation for the variables passion-grit (r = 0.474, p < .001) only. The correlation passion-mindset (r = 0.049); grit-mindset (r = 0.215) and trainers ranking was not significant. However, it is interesting to note the moderate correlation between passion and trainers ranking (r = −0.326) and grit and trainers ranking (r = −0.268) in this group. Junior 18: a significant correlation for the variables passion-grit (r = 0.679, p < .001) only. The correlation between passion-mindset (r = 0.146); grit-mindset (r = 0.381) and trainers ranking was not significant. Junior 15: the results indicate a significant correlation for the variables passion-grit (r = 0.665, p < .001) and passion-trainers ranking (r = −0.545, p < .05; large correlation) only. The correlation between passion-mindset (r = 0.181); and grit-mindset (r = 0.227) was not significant. In sum, despite associations magnitudes between variables (grit, mindset, and passion) are different among groups, only significant differences between groups were found in grit.     

Challenge and Conformity on “Contested Terrain”: Images of Women in Four Women’s Sport/Fitness Magazines

Women’s sport magazines were launched during the mid-to-late 1990s as a response to the growing women’s sport movement in the United States. These magazines, including Real Sports, Sports Illustrated for Women, and Women’s Sports & Fitness, were marketed as more active and sport-focused than established titles such as Shape, a popular magazine launched during the early 1980s for fitness-oriented women. Shape has been criticized by scholars for reinforcing male hegemony in US culture through its emphasis on sexual difference. In the present research, we analyzed photo images presented in Sports Illustrated for Women, Women’s Sports & Fitness, and Real Sports to assess the reinforcement or rejection of sexual difference in these magazines as gauged against the presentation of sexual difference in Shape. The results show that the newer magazines do, to varying degrees, contest male hegemony more than Shape does. The impact of these magazines is discussed, and we speculate on the reasons that, although Shape continues to thrive, these magazines have ceased publication.     

Dangerous sports and recreational drug‐use: rationalizing and contextualizing risk

This article reports upon the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) of a small number of semi‐structured interviews, conducted with persons engaging in either recreational drug‐use (primarily identified here as Ecstasy‐users) or dangerous sports (primarily identified here as bungee‐jumpers). Our analysis focuses upon the manner in which these participants make sense of their initiation and maintenance experiences, and the means by which they understand and make sense of risk. In particular, we draw attention to the distinctions between our participants' rational and contextual reconstructions of risky decisions. These distinctions indicate that our participants are able to draw upon a complex cultural and relational understanding of risk and pleasure, and are thus able to deal quite effectively with the contradictory experience of taking ‘non‐volitional’ action. This exploration of persons' strategies for displacing agency in relation to potentially negative outcomes may have implications for research and practice in related areas. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Age and Gender Differences in the Sources of Self-Evaluation Valued by Adult Athletes

Researchers have demonstrated that competency judgments can vary depending on the source of self-evaluation used. This study investigated age and gender differences in 459 adult tennis players' importance ratings for ten different competence information sources. As predicted, younger adults were more likely than older adults to value temporal comparisons, both past-to-present (i.e., personal improvement) and present-to-future (i.e., comparisons with future selves). Younger adults were more likely to value feedback from family for self-evaluation. Older adults were slightly more likely to rate comparisons with agemates as important. Women more than men valued feedback from tennis others, effort, and liking for the sport. The findings are consistent with theoretical models and point to new areas of investigation.