Applied Sport Psychology Research Articles

Evaluation of D2 Attention Levels of Orienteering National Team Athletes Who Are in Education Age

The aim of this study was to determine the levels of attention in the rest state and post-performance status of the national orienteering team athletes who are in education age with the d2 attention test. For this purpose, this study was designed with relational screening model from quantitative research approaches. 40 volunteer athletes, 14 of which were female and 26 of them were male, were included in this study group. It was analyzed by Paired Samples t test whether the pre-test and post-test scores which the athletes participating in the study got from the d2 attention test were different. There was a significant difference among the applications in all scores of the d2 test (p <0.05). When the averages of the scores were examined, it was found by performing test repetitions that selective attention ability, sustainability of attention, high motivation and psychomotor speed (TN) most marked material) didn’t decrease the stability of psychomotor speed and quality of work performed CP (number of correctly marked d2)] d2 numbers [TN- (E1) + (E2)] that were marked incorrectly or weren’t marked. As a result; it was observed with d2 test which is one of the tests used in the field of applied sports psychology to evaluate the visual focusing attention performance of the athletes that the reason of positive differentiation in the attention performances which was obtained after the intensive exercise was intense concentration and the attention levels were high due to the concentration.

CHRONIC LACK OF SLEEP IS ASSOCIATED WITH INCREASED SPORTS INJURY IN ADOLESCENTS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS

Background:Although sleep has been identified as an important modifiable risk factor for sports injury, the effect of decreased sleep on sports injuries in adolescents is poorly studied.Purpose:To ...

The Ethical Use of Technology for Clinical and Performance Enhancement Services: Prevalence and Perceptions Among Association for Applied Sport Psychology Certified Consultants

Sport psychology professionals have increasingly utilized technology for providing performance enhancement and clinical services. Some uncertainty exists amongst professionals to the ethical nature of providing services using technology. The purpose of this study was to survey Certified Consultants of the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) on the frequency and perceived ethicality of their technology use for providing performance enhancement and clinical services. A secondary purpose was to investigate differences in perceived ethicality between consultants with professional licensure compared to unlicensed professionals. Results suggest overall technology use for service delivery by consultants is low. Technologies used to provide clinical services displayed significantly lower ethical ratings compared to their use for performance enhancement purposes. Differences between licensed consultants and those who are unlicensed emerged for the ethical perceptions of providing performance enhancemen...

Assessment in Applied Sport Psychology

Assessment in Applied Sport Psychology

Where is Safeguarding in Sport Psychology Research and Practice?

Recent cases of sexual abuse of athletes have drawn significant concern amongst stakeholders in sport and the public at-large. The fact that the perpetrators in many cases of athlete abuse had numerous victims over the span of several years raises questions of who might have known or suspected that athletes were being harmed. Sexual abuse cases should serve as an impetus for all of us in sport psychology to interrogate our roles and responsibilities as consultants and researchers in the protection of athletes. We propose that future research in applied sport psychology and education of consultants address maltreatment and safeguarding.Lay Summary: In the following article, we propose that more attention in the research and practice of sport psychology should be devoted to understanding maltreatment of athletes and ways to protect athletes from harm.

The use of virtual reality head-mounted displays within applied sport psychology

Virtual reality (VR) technology has been employed within several domains such as medicine, education, and the military. Nonetheless, there is limited research examining how VR can supplement applied sport psychology practice. This article provides the reader with an understanding of key components and concepts associated with VR head-mounted displays (HMDs). Subsequently, a range of possible applications within applied sport psychology are discussed, such as the training of perceptual-cognitive skills, relaxation strategies, and injury rehabilitation. Thereafter, the practicalities of using VR HMDs are outlined, and recommendations are provided to applied sport psychology practitioners wishing to embed this technology within their practice.

An organizational perspective on applied sport psychology in elite sport

While research on applied sport psychology (ASP) has generally focused on the development and professional practice of its practitioners, less attention has been paid to the role of organizations. The aim of this article consisted of reflecting on the role of organizations on the development of ASP practitioners and the quality of their services. Using FEPSAC’s position statement on the quality of applied sport psychology services, the role of two types of organizations - a sport psychology and an elite sport organization - on the development of ASP practitioners and the quality of their services was reviewed. After providing an overview of initiatives related to ASP as developed or supported by FEPSAC, the role of elite sport organizations ensuring high-quality ASP services was described. Throughout the article, reflections and recommendations are provided on how the development of ASP practitioners and the provision of ASP services can be supported and enhanced. The article concludes with suggestions on the role both types of organizations can play in the quality management of ASP services.

Goal-directed self-talk used to self-regulate in male basketball competitions

ABSTRACTThis study examined how goal-directed self-talk may help basketball players to self-regulate in stereotypical competitive situations: seconds before a challenging game, while clearly winning or clearly losing, and at the close of a tight game. Participants were recruited in groups of three to four, until preliminary inspection of the data indicated that data saturation was reached. In the end, 34 basketball players voluntarily took part in individual interviews, writing up to three self-instructions they had used in each of the four competitive situations to self-regulate. Content analyses revealed that self-talk in competitive basketball situations serves cognitive functions (e.g., regulating cognition and behaviour), motivational functions (e.g., promoting mastery goals) and emotion and activation-regulating functions (e.g., creating activated states). More specifically, the results also indicated that athletes’ self-talk may serve functions specific to the psychological demands experienced in each situation. It is argued that knowing how athletes counsel themselves, could prove important for applied sport psychologists to design psychological skill training.

Coaches’ interpersonal emotion regulation and the coach-athlete relationship

Researchers have examined the impact of coaches’ emotional expressions and emotional intelligence on athlete outcomes (Allan, V., & Côté, J. (2016). A cross-sectional analysis of coaches’ observed emotion-behavior profiles and adolescent athletes’ self-reported developmental outcomes.Journal of Applied Sport Psychology,28, 321–337; Thelwell, R.C., Lane, A.M., Weston, N.J., & Greenlees, I.A. (2008). Examining relationships between emotional intelligence and coaching efficacy.International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology,6, 224–235; van Kleef, G.A., Cheshin, A., Koning, L.F., & Wolf, S.A. (2018). Emotional games: How coaches’ emotional expressions shape players’ emotions, inferences, and team performance.Psychology of Sport & Exercise). However, there is little research examining coaches’ use of specific strategies to regulate their athletes’ emotions. The purpose of the present study was to explore the strategies coaches used to try and regulate their athletes’ emotions, and to explore the relationship and contextual factors influencing coaches’ IER strategy use. A longitudinal multiple case study approach was used (Stake, R.E. (2006). Multiple case study analysis. New York: The Guilford Press) with five cases, each consisting of one male coach and two individual varsity sport athletes (N = 15). Participants completed individual interviews, a two-week audio diary period, and a follow-up interview. Data were inductively and deductively analyzed and a conceptual model was developed outlining athletes’ emotions and emotion regulation, coaches’ IER, the coach-athlete relationship, and contextual factors. Participants described a bidirectional association between the coach-athlete relationship and coaches’ IER. A number of factors influenced athletes’ and coaches’ use of emotion regulation strategies and contributed to the quality of the coach-athlete relationship. The IER strategies that coaches used may reflect instrumental, performance-related motives, and coaches’ IER efforts may also contribute to coaches’ emotional labour.

Measurement and validation of a three factor hierarchical model of competitive anxiety

ObjectivesA novel analytical framework was used to re-examine and extend Cheng, Hardy and Markland’s (2009) hierarchical model of anxiety. The modified model was characterized by six first order constructs, with worry, private self-focus and public self-focus representing cognitive anxiety, somatic tension and autonomous hyperactivity representing physiological anxiety and perceived control representing the regulatory dimension. It was hypothesized that these six first order constructs were formative indicators of the second order factors and this hypothesis was tested using Partial Least Squares analysis. Factor validity of the original hierarchical model proposed by Cheng et al. was investigated. Subsequently, items were refined, the hierarchical model extended, and factor and predictive validity investigated further. MethodProspective data was collected from three samples (N = 174, 516, 43), and a series of factor analyses were conducted including Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Partial Least Squares modeling. Multivariate analysis examined the predictive validity of the model using a performance measure as the dependent variable. ResultsThe original model revealed a poor fit, with poor item loadings and discriminant validity. Subsequent analysis established a refined 25 item measure, which produced support for a fully differentiated hierarchical model of competitive anxiety. MANOVA revealed a significant effect for the control factor, with those achieving superior performance reporting significantly higher levels of perceived control. ConclusionsA fully differentiated hierarchical model was supported, which crucially depicts the first order factors of competitive anxiety that form the 3 s order dimensions. This provides a model that is a better fit with theory and provides a more refined diagnosis tool for applied sport psychologists.

A Preliminary Investigation into the Use of Humor in Sport Psychology Practice

“Creative efforts,” such as the use of humor, have been found to be beneficial to the nurse–patient, teacher–student, and psychologist–patient alliance. Potentially humor use might benefit the working alliance in applied sport psychology, yet to date there is limited research. Sport psychology consultants (n = 55) completed an online survey that explored humor use within their practice. Statistical analyses revealed that most participants used humor for adaptive purposes such as to facilitate the working alliance, reinforce knowledge, and create healthy learning environments. Therefore, possible client change is likely to be facilitated by practitioners’ personal qualities and skills such as humor use and humor style. Recommendations are made for sport psychology practitioners in relation to humor use and further research. Increasing recognition has been given to the importance of the professional relationship between the client and practitioner within sport psychology consultancy as a means of facilitating client change. The present study demonstrated that use of humor by practitioners is an important part of enhancing the professional relationship and therefore potentially client change.Lay Summary: Increasing recognition has been given to the importance of the professional relationship between the client and practitioner within sport psychology consultancy as a means of facilitating client change. The present study demonstrated that use of humor by practitioners is an important part of enhancing the professional relationship, and therefore potentially client change.

The Long and Winding Road: An Autobiographic Study of an Elite Athlete Mother’s Journey to Winning Gold

Within sport psychology, researchers have explored elite athlete mothers’ experiences. More work is needed to understand the nuanced psychosocial aspects of their athletic journeys. Studying autobiographical narratives is useful toward understanding the psychosocial nuances of motherhood and athletics in sociocultural context. Within the present study we sought to extend this understanding through studying one elite athlete’s—British runner Jo Pavey—journey as an athlete mother within her autobiography This Mum Runs (26 chapters totaling 253 pages). Thematic narrative analysis of key chapters focusing on pregnancy and motherhood in relation to training and competition allowed for the identification of a central theme—discovery narrative–reconfiguring the performance narrative—along with two subthemes: go with the flow and best of both worlds. The subthemes are used to illustrate the navigation of tensions in relation to an athlete mother identity grounded in family relationships to facilitate training and competition goals, within a discovery narrative. Applied sport psychology recommendations are made using narrative theory in relation to key findings. Recommendations focused on athlete stories and narrative resources as concrete entry points to encourage compatible athlete mother identities and sport career engagement. This study adds to sport psychology work that has used autobiography as theoretical, analytical, and applied resources to expand understanding of marginalized and/or hard to access topics in elite sport. This is the first autobiographic study to focus on elite athlete mother identities, furthering understanding of nuanced identity negotiation and experiences over time.Lay Summary: Understanding of elite athlete mother's negotiation of identity and athletic career is expanded through studying published/public autobiographical narratives. A discovery narrative grounded in personal growth and family relationships facilitates strategies that facilitate training and competition goals.

Implications of eye tracking technology for applied sport psychology

Eye tracking technology records the location, duration and sequence of people’s visual fixations when they inspect a given scene. In this way, it elucidates what people pay attention to when they look at sources of information. The present paper investigates some practical implications of this technology for attentional training in applied sport psychology. Following a brief overview of eye movements, the article describes three popular types of eye trackers in sport psychology—fixed, mobile, and head-mounted systems. Then, it examines some recent eye tracking research on improving athletes’ gaze behavior and skilled performance. After that, it summarize the practical implications of these studies for attentional training in applied sport psychology. The article concludes by exploring how eye tracking technology can augment cognitive training in sport.

Introduction to the Special Issue: Using technology in applied sport psychology

The last several decades have seen dramatic advances in the use of technology in everyday life. As expected, these technological advancements have affected all areas of human existence, including s...

Attitude of Gratitude: Exploring the Implementation of a Gratitude Intervention with College Athletes

This study explored the implementation of a 90-min Attitude of Gratitude workshop among 51 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I student-athletes. Levels of state gratitude, psychological distress, life satisfaction, sport satisfaction, athlete burnout, and perceived available support in sport were measured the week before, immediately after, and 4 weeks postintervention. Significant increases in well-being (state gratitude, sport satisfaction, social support) and significant decreases in ill-being (psychological distress, athlete burnout) were observed postintervention. Results of this pilot study warrant further exploration of gratitude interventions in applied sport psychology. Limitations, practical implications, and recommendations for future research are discussed in light of the current findings.Lay Summary: Fifty-one NCAA Division I athletes participated in a one-time “Attitude of Gratitude” workshop. Following the workshop, student-athletes scored higher on measures of well-being and lower on measures of ill-being as compared to their baseline scores. Results encourage further exploration of positive psychology interventions such as gratitude in the sport context.

More Than Meets the (Rationalistic) Eye: A Neophyte Sport Psychology Practitioner’s Reflections on the Micropolitics of Everyday Life within a Rugby League Academy

Despite the welcome contributions of the reflective practice literature, an understanding of the complexities, nuances, and dilemmas of applied sport psychology practice is in need of further development. For example, there remains a paucity of inquiry addressing how practitioners make sense of, and subsequently write themselves into, the (micro)political landscape of a sporting organization. Utilizing a reflective, ethnographic approach, this article examined the first author’s engagement with the sociopolitical dynamics of everyday life within a professional rugby league academy. Key themes identified were that (a) players simultaneously collaborate and compete with one another, (b) tensions exist between the coaches, and (c) most players end up being released. Micropolitical theorizing was used as the primary heuristic framework, thus promoting the utility of these theories to inform critical appreciation of the day-to-day realities of applied sport psychology practice. The article concludes by highlighting the potential benefits of researchers, educators, and practitioners better engaging with the contested, ambiguous, and professionally challenging demands of practice than that which has been achieved to date.Lay Summary: This article discusses the first author's critical reflections on issues of practice as a sport psychologist working within a professional rugby league academy. The issues discussed illustrate how power, conflict, and vulnerability typified day-to-day interactions within this sporting context and impacted upon applied practice.

An Exploration of Coaching Research in Journal of Applied Sport Psychology from 1989 to 2017

This article seeks to examine the treatment of coaching research within Journal of Applied Sport Psychology (JASP) and, specifically, to explore whether the Association for Applied Sport Psychology’s mission in recognizing the coach as a performing “other” is being adopted in the field. The study followed a 3-phase design. In Phase 1, an exhaustive search was conducted to identify all coach-related research published in JASP from 1989 to 2017. Phase 2 consisted of accessing the 101 identified articles from a total of 690 articles that had been published in JASP during the review period. In Phase 3, articles were categorized into the multidisciplinary sport and exercise psychology (M-SEP) and contemporary multidisciplinary sport and exercise psychology (C-SEP) periods, and analysis of the articles was completed. Main results indicated that articles that focused on coach perceptions about different topics related primarily to SEP decreased in focus from 40% in the M-SEP period to 23% in the C-SEP period. A prominent focus in both periods was the impact of coaches (often interpersonal behaviors) on their athletes’ performance (M-SEP = 35%, C-SEP = 46%). A coach performance focus was coded in only 10% of articles in both periods. Articles decreased in their explicit discussion of how research applied to consulting from 60% to 44% across periods. The findings suggest that currently the literature in JASP does not directly provide SEP professionals with effective knowledge application for working with coaches as a performer within the sport context. This review emphasizes the lack of research positioning of coach as a performing “other” within JASP and may increase awareness of viewing the coach as a performer within the field of applied sport psychology.Lay Summary: This study was a review of research articles published within the Journal of Applied Sport Psychology (JASP) between 1989 and 2017. Only research with a main focus in coaching was included in the review. A multiple-step process was used to examine the articles and pinpoint the type of research about coaches that was being published in JASP. Results showed a large focus on how coaches contribute to their athletes’ performance, however, a lack of research examining aspects of the coach themselves and how they might enhance their own performance as a coach.

Gatekeepers’ Experiences of Hiring a Sport Psychologist: A Phenomenological Study

Within applied sport psychology, the process of gaining entry, specifically the employment interview, has received little attention relative to other stages of practice. This study, guided by an interpretative phenomenological approach, aimed to understand the experiences of gatekeepers to practice within United Kingdom elite sport who have been directly involved in the hiring of sport psychologists. Semistructured interviews with 7 participants were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Four essences emerged: consultant affability, consultant confidence versus arrogance, consultant collaboration, and presentation of consultant competency. These findings highlight the importance of developing interpersonal skills, interview technique, and self-promotion skills in sport psychology practitioners. In addition, a number of features specific to the sport psychology employment interview are discussed.Lay Summary: This study sought to understand the experiences of those individuals responsible for hiring sport psychology consultants within the United Kingdom. Analysis of interview data identified four main factors which influenced participant experiences: the consultant's affability, their confidence versus arrogance, collaborative nature, and their ability to present their competencies.

Raising Our Game: The Necessity and Progression of Expertise-Based Training in Applied Sport Psychology

At present, training in applied sport psychology chiefly targets and accelerates professional competence. However, theory and evidence suggests that our clients would experience significant benefit if our training targeted and accelerated professional expertise rather than just competence. Specifically, we argue that expertise-based training can (a) help trainees to go on to break the “thinking ceiling” of competence; (b) foster a more independent, flexible, and creative form of practice; and (c) support a longer term and more practitioner-centered training philosophy. To deliver these benefits, we then conclude by outlining some key principles for the progression of expertise-based training in applied sport psychology.Lay Summary: In light of the inconsistencies that still surround professional training in ASP, we discuss the merits that a more expertise-based agenda can bring to practitioners and, most important, our clients. We also discuss ways in which this agenda can be progressed to support an evidence-informed evolution of ASP training systems.

CMPC Exam for Recertification: The Good, The Bad, The Reality

In this commentary, we try to present a balanced look at the issues surrounding the implementation of the certification exam for recertification purposes. We recognize that the changes to certification are complex and varied, as were reactions by the membership of the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP). As long-standing AASP members who are also certified consultants, we look at the costs, benefits, and ultimately the reality of the CMPC exam for recertification.