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Doping use in recreational sports is an emerging issue that has received limited attention so far in the psychological literature. The present study assessed the lifetime prevalence of controlled performance and appearance enhancing substances ( PAES), and used behavioral reasoning theory to identify the reasons for using and for avoiding using controlled PAES in young exercisers across five European countries, in the context of the "SAFE YOU" Project. Participants were 915 young amateur athletes and exercisers (M = 21.62; SD = 2.62) from Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Italy, and UK who completed an anonymous questionnaire that included measures of self-reported use of controlled PAES, as well as reasons for using and not using controlled PAES. The results of the descriptive analyses demonstrated that almost one out five exercisers in the sample had a previous experience with controlled PAES. Higher prevalence rates were found in Greece and Cyprus and lower in Italy. The most frequently reported reasons for using controlled PAES included achieving the desired results faster; pushing the self to the (physical) limits; and recovering faster after exercise/training. Furthermore, the most frequently reported reasons for not using controlled PAES involved worry about any possible adverse health effects; not feeling the need for using them; and wanting to see what can be achieved naturally without using any controlled PAES. The findings of the present study indicate that the use of controlled PAES is fast becoming a crisis in amateur sports and exercise settings and highlight the need for preventive action and concerted anti-doping education efforts.
A Video-Based training method for improving soccer referees' intuitive decision-making skills
(2011)
We present a video-based online training-tool (SET, for Schiedsrichter-Entscheidungs-Training, in German) for improving soccer referees' decisions. We assume that referees' decision-making in contact situations mainly relies on intuitive processing. For improving intuitive decisions, feedback on the correctness of decisions is essential; explanations are not required (Hogarth, 2008). Referees participating in SET watch videos, make decisions, and receive feedback. Evidence of the training's effectiveness was obtained in two experiments with soccer players and expert referees. Immediate feedback on the correctness of decisions without further explanations was sufficient for increasing decision accuracy. Results illustrate that SET is a promising tool for complementing referees' training.
Recent research indicates that affective responses during exercise are an important determinant of future exercise and physical activity. Thus far these responses have been measured with standardized self-report scales, but this study used biometric software for automated facial action analysis to analyze the changes that occur during physical exercise. A sample of 132 young, healthy individuals performed an incremental test on a cycle ergometer. During that test the participants’ faces were video-recorded and the changes were algorithmically analyzed at frame rate (30 fps). Perceived exertion and affective valence were measured every two minutes with established psychometric scales. Taking into account anticipated inter-individual variability, multilevel regression analysis was used to model how affective valence and ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) covaried with movement in 20 facial action areas. We found the expected quadratic decline in self-reported affective valence (more negative) as exercise intensity increased. Repeated measures correlation showed that the facial action mouth open was linked to changes in (highly intercorrelated) affective valence and RPE. Multilevel trend analyses were calculated to investigate whether facial actions were typically linked to either affective valence or RPE. These analyses showed that mouth open and jaw drop predicted RPE, whereas (additional) nose wrinkle was indicative for the decline in affective valence. Our results contribute to the view that negative affect, escalating with increasing exercise intensity, may be the body’s essential warning signal that physiological overload is imminent. We conclude that automated facial action analysis provides new options for researchers investigating feelings during exercise. In addition, our findings offer physical educators and coaches a new way of monitoring the affective state of exercisers, without interrupting and asking them.
This article introduces a new theory, the Affective-Reflective Theory (ART) of physical inactivity and exercise. ART aims to explain and predict behavior in situations in which people either remain in a state of physical inactivity or initiate action (exercise). It is a dual-process model and assumes that exercise-related stimuli trigger automatic associations and a resulting automatic affective valuation of exercise (type-1 process). The automatic affective valuation forms the basis for the reflective evaluation (type-2 process), which can follow if self-control resources are available. The automatic affective valuation is connected with an action impulse, whereas the reflective evaluation can result in action plans. The two processes, in constant interaction, direct the individual towards or away from changing behavior. The ART of physical inactivity and exercise predicts that, when there is an affective-reflective discrepancy and self-control resources are low, behavior is more likely to be governed by the affective type-1 process. This introductory article explains the underlying concepts and main theoretical roots from which the ART of physical inactivity and exercise was developed (field theory, affective responses to exercise, automatic evaluation, evaluation-behavior link, dual-process theorizing). We also summarize the empirical tests that have been conducted to refine the theory in its present form.
Attitudes Toward Doping
(2016)
This article examines whether a training program in ethical decision making can change young athletes’ doping attitudes. Fifty-two young elite athletes were randomly assigned to either an ethical decision-making training group or a standard-knowledge-based educational program group. Another 17 young elite athletes were recruited for no-treatment control purposes. The ethical decision-making training comprised six 30-min online sessions in which the participants had to work through 18 ethical dilemmas related to doping. The standard-knowledge-based educational program was also conducted in six online sessions of comparable length to that of the ethical training. A short version of the Performance Enhancement Attitude Scale was administered to measure the effects of the trainings on doping attitude. Prior to as well as after the intervention, the mean doping attitude scores of the young athletes were low to very low, indicating vehement rejections of doping. The results of our experiment showed that the ethical training led to an attenuation of these rejections. No intervention effect was found in the standard education group. The observed slight increase in the doping attitude score could be an indication that the ethical decision-making training was successful in breaking up the athletes’ stereotypical style of reasoning about doping.
The decision to exercise is not only bound to rational considerations but also automatic affective processes. The affective–reflective theory of physical inactivity and exercise (ART) proposes a theoretical framework for explaining how the automatic affective process (type‑1 process) will influence exercise behavior, i.e., through the automatic activation of exercise-related associations and a subsequent affective valuation of exercise. This study aimed to empirically test this assumption of the ART with data from 69 study participants. A single-measurement study, including within-subject experimental variation, was conducted. Automatic associations with exercise were first measured with a single-target implicit association test. The somato-affective core of the participants’ automatic valuation of exercise-related pictures was then assessed via heart rate variability (HRV) analysis, and the affective valence of the valuation was tested with a facial expression (FE; smile and frown) task. Exercise behavior was assessed via self-report. Multiple regression (path) analysis revealed that automatic associations predicted HRV reactivity (β = −0.24, p = .044); the signs of the correlation between automatic associations and the smile FE score was in the expected direction but remained nonsignificant (β = −0.21, p = .078). HRV reactivity predicted self-reported exercise behavior (β = −0.28, p = .013) (the same pattern of results was achieved for the frown FE score). The HRV-related results illustrate the potential role of automatic negative affective reactions to the thought of exercise as a restraining force in exercise motivation. For better empirical distinction between the two ART type‑1 process components, automatic associations and the affective valuation should perhaps be measured separately in the future. The results support the notion that automatic and affective processes should be regarded as essential aspects of the motivation to exercise.
The goals of this study were to test whether exercise-related stimuli can elicit automatic evaluative responses and whether automatic evaluations reflect exercise setting preference in highly active exercisers. An adapted version of the Affect Misattribution Procedure was employed. Seventy-two highly active exercisers (26 years +/- 9.03; 43% female) were subliminally primed (7 ms) with pictures depicting typical fitness center scenarios or gray rectangles (control primes). After each prime, participants consciously evaluated the "pleasantness" of a Chinese symbol. Controlled evaluations were measured with a questionnaire and were more positive in participants who regularly visited fitness centers than in those who reported avoiding this exercise setting. Only center exercisers gave automatic positive evaluations of the fitness center setting (partial eta squared = .08). It is proposed that a subliminal Affect Misattribution Procedure paradigm can detect automatic evaluations to exercising and that, in highly active exercisers, these evaluations play a role in decisions about the exercise setting rather than the amounts of physical exercise. Findings are interpreted in terms of a dual systems theory of social information processing and behavior.
Studies have shown that physical activity influences affective states. However, studies have seldom depicted these associations in ongoing real-life situations, and there is no investigation showing that motivational states (i.e., more or less autonomously regulated) would moderate these effects in situ. To investigate the interaction of autonomous regulation and actual physical activity (aPA) with affective states, we use an ambulatory assessment approach. The participants were 44 university students (mean age: 26.2 +/- 3.2 years). We assessed aPA through 24-hr accelerometry and affective states and autonomous regulation via electronic diaries. Palmtop devices prompted subjects every 45 min during a 14-hr daytime period. We performed hierarchical multilevel analyses. Both aPA and autonomous regulation significantly influenced affective states. The interaction was significant for two affects. The higher the volume of aPA and thereby the more autonomously regulated the preceding bout of aPA was, the more our participants felt energized (r = .16) but agitated (r = -.18).
Methods: We approached a group of 61 male competitive bodybuilders and collected urine samples for biochemical testing. The pictorial doping Brief Implicit Association Test (BIAT) was used for attitude measurement. This test quantifies the difference in response latencies (in milliseconds) to stimuli representing related concepts (i.e. doping-dislike/like-[health food]).