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The current body of evidence suggests that in healthy participants, implicit attitudes towards physical activity explain variance in exercise behaviour beyond explicit cognitive processes. However, such relationships have not been examined in psychiatric patients, although this may contribute to a better understanding of the motivational and volitional resources needed to self-regulate their exercise behaviour. Therefore, the present cross-sectional study aimed to assess implicit attitudes towards exercise among psychiatric in-patients, and to correlate these implicit attitudes with their physical activity levels. Patients (N = 101) showing a psychiatric disorder, but no severe cognitive impairment, were directly recruited from psychiatric clinics. Their physical activity levels were assessed using both accelerometers and self-reports. Additionally, patients reported psychiatric symptoms and performed a single-target implicit association test (ST-IAT) with exercise employed as the target category. Of all patients, 39% showed a preference for exercise, whereas 13% showed an aversion towards exercise. The implicit attitudes of the remaining participants were equally strong for both concepts. Based on correlational analysis (correcting for age, sex, psychiatric symptoms severity, and ST-IAT sequence), no association was found between ST-IAT score, or self-reported and objectively assessed physical activity. Consequently, the link between exercise behaviour and implicit attitudes towards physical activity found in healthy participants could not be observed in psychiatric patients.
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.
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.
Dropping Out or Keeping Up?
(2016)
The aim of this study was to examine how automatic evaluations of exercising (AEE) varied according to adherence to an exercise program. Eighty-eight participants (24.98 years ± 6.88; 51.1% female) completed a Brief-Implicit Association Task assessing their AEE, positive and negative associations to exercising at the beginning of a 3-month exercise program. Attendance data were collected for all participants and used in a cluster analysis of adherence patterns. Three different adherence patterns (52 maintainers, 16 early dropouts, 20 late dropouts; 40.91% overall dropouts) were detected using cluster analyses. Participants from these three clusters differed significantly with regard to their positive and negative associations to exercising before the first course meeting (η2p = 0.07). Discriminant function analyses revealed that positive associations to exercising was a particularly good discriminating factor. This is the first study to provide evidence of the differential impact of positive and negative associations on exercise behavior over the medium term. The findings contribute to theoretical understanding of evaluative processes from a dual-process perspective and may provide a basis for targeted interventions.
Dropping Out or Keeping Up?
(2016)
The aim of this study was to examine how automatic evaluations of exercising (AEE) varied according to adherence to an exercise program. Eighty-eight participants (24.98 years ± 6.88; 51.1% female) completed a Brief-Implicit Association Task assessing their AEE, positive and negative associations to exercising at the beginning of a 3-month exercise program. Attendance data were collected for all participants and used in a cluster analysis of adherence patterns. Three different adherence patterns (52 maintainers, 16 early dropouts, 20 late dropouts; 40.91% overall dropouts) were detected using cluster analyses. Participants from these three clusters differed significantly with regard to their positive and negative associations to exercising before the first course meeting (η2p = 0.07). Discriminant function analyses revealed that positive associations to exercising was a particularly good discriminating factor. This is the first study to provide evidence of the differential impact of positive and negative associations on exercise behavior over the medium term. The findings contribute to theoretical understanding of evaluative processes from a dual-process perspective and may provide a basis for targeted interventions.
Models employed in exercise psychology highlight the role of reflective processes for explaining behavior change. However, as discussed in social cognition literature, information-processing models also consider automatic processes (dual-process models). To examine the relevance of automatic processing in exercise psychology, we used a priming task to assess the automatic evaluations of exercise stimuli in physically active sport and exercise majors (n = 32), physically active nonsport majors (n = 31), and inactive students (n = 31). Results showed that physically active students responded faster to positive words after exercise primes, whereas inactive students responded more rapidly to negative words. Priming task reaction times were successfully used to predict reported amounts of exercise in an ordinal regression model. Findings were obtained only with experiential items reflecting negative and positive consequences of exercise. The results illustrate the potential importance of dual-process models in exercise psychology.
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.
I Can See It in Your Face.
(2019)
The purpose of this study was to illustrate that people’s affective valuation of exercise can be identified in their faces. The study was conducted with a software for automatic facial expression analysis and it involved testing the hypothesis that positive or negative affective valuation occurs spontaneously when people are reminded of exercise. We created a task similar to an emotional Stroop task, in which participants responded to exercise-related and control stimuli with a positive or negative facial expression (smile or frown) depending on whether the photo was presented upright or tilted. We further asked participants how much time they would normally spend for physical exercise, because we assumed that the affective valuation of those who exercise more would be more positive. Based on the data of 86 participants, regression analysis revealed that those who reported less exercise and a more negative reflective evaluation of exercise initiated negative facial expressions on exercise-related stimuli significantly faster than those who reported exercising more often. No significant effect was observed for smile responses. We suspect that responding with a smile to exercise-related stimuli was the congruent response for the majority of our participants, so that for them no Stroop interference occurred in the exercise-related condition. This study suggests that immediate negative affective reactions to exercise-related stimuli result from a postconscious automatic process and can be detected in the study participants’ faces. It furthermore illustrates how methodological paradigms from social–cognition research (here: the emotional Stroop paradigm) can be adapted to collect and analyze biometric data for the investigation of exercisers’ and non-exercisers’ automatic valuations of exercise.
I can see it in your face
(2018)
The development of cynical attitudes towards elite sport is a core symptom of athlete burnout and has been associated with dropout from elite sport. To date, this phenomenon has mainly been studied by investigating explicit attitudes towards sport, whereas athletes’ automatic evaluations (i.e. implicit attitudes) that have been shown to influence behavior as well were not considered. This study aimed to compare explicit and implicit attitudes towards sport of young elite athletes with high (N = 24) versus low (N = 26) burnout symptoms. Using self-reported measures, general and athlete burnout symptoms were assessed. Additionally, a single-target implicit association test was administered to examine participants’ automatic evaluation of sport. Statistical analysis revealed greater emotional/physical exhaustion and sport devaluation in athletes reporting high compared to low burnout symptoms. Implicit attitudes towards sport did not significantly differ between the groups. Furthermore, no significant correlations were observed between different athlete burnout symptoms and implicit attitudes. Athletes with high burnout symptoms show a tendency to explicitly detach themselves from sport, thus fostering sport devaluation as a core symptom of athlete burnout. However, this process does not seem to be reflected in their implicit attitudes towards sport.
Objective: To critically review developments over the first fifty years of research (1967-2017) on (a) how people feel when they participate in exercise and physical activity, and (b) the implications of these responses for their willingness to become and remain active. Design: Non-systematic narrative review. Method: Representative sources were selected through a combination of computer searches and cross-referencing. Results: For over three decades, exercise psychology exhibited a fixation on the idea that exercise and physical activity make people feel better. This notion, however, seemed to contrast with evidence that most adults in industrialized countries exhibit low levels of activity. In the last two decades, a critical examination and overhaul of the methodological platform resulted in the delineation of a dose-response pattern that encompasses positive as well as negative affective responses, and revealed marked interindividual differences. An emerging literature is aimed at refining and testing integrative dual-process models that can offer specific predictions about the behaviors that may result from the interaction of automatic processes (theorized to be heavily influenced by past affective experiences) and deliberative processes (such as cognitive appraisals). Conclusions: Affective responses to exercise and physical activity are more complex than the long-popularized "feel-better" effect, encompassing both pleasant and unpleasant experiences and exhibiting marked inter individual variation. The potential of affective experiences to influence subsequent behavior offers an opportunity for an expanded theoretical perspective in exercise psychology.
REFS-D
(2019)
Ziel des vorliegenden Artikels ist die teststatistische Überprüfung und Validierung einer deutschsprachigen Version der Referee Self-Efficacy Scale (REFS). Die REFS erfasst im englischsprachigen Original die Selbstwirksamkeit von Schiedsrichterinnen und Schiedsrichtern mit den Subskalen Wissen über das Spiel, Entscheidungsfindung, Druck und Kommunikation. Die Items wurden mit Hilfe der Übersetzung-Rückübersetzung ins Deutsche übertragen. Die Struktur und die psychometrischen Eigenschaften der deutschen Items wurden anhand einer Stichprobe aus 265 deutschsprachigen Fußballschiedsrichterinnen und -schiedsrichtern überprüft. Da die im englischsprachigen Original vorgeschlagene Skalenzuordnung der REFS nach der Übersetzung ins Deutsche nicht replizierbar war, wurden Items mit mangelhaften Skaleneigenschaften aus der deutschsprachigen REFS-Version (REFS-D) ausgeschlossen. Das Resultat der Analysen ist eine Skala mit acht Items, die sich drei Subskalen, Spielumsetzung, Druck und Kommunikation, zuordnen lassen. Die REFS-D weist zufriedenstellende interne Konsistenzen und signifikante mittelhohe Korrelationen mit allgemeiner Selbstwirksamkeit auf. Trotz einiger Einschränkungen stellt die REFS-D als ökonomische Skala einen Ansatzpunkt für zukünftige Forschung dar.
Listening to the heart
(2019)
Objective: The affective-reflective theory of physical inactivity and exercise suggests that the mere thought of exercise can lead to an immediate somato-affective response which, if negative, will drive a physically inactive person to maintain his or her current exercise-avoidant behavior. This study aimed to test the assumption that the somatic core of this affective response can be identified by means of heart rate variability (HRV) analysis. Design: This study followed a within-subject experimental design. Method. Participants were 91 adult men and women whose HR and HRV were monitored whilst they viewed exercise-related and control pictures in a laboratory setting. Results: Analyses revealed a decrease in HRV during the viewing of exercise-related pictures in less physically active participants. These participants reported that the same pictures elicited feelings with relatively low affective valence and arousal. There were no changes in HR.
Sportpsychologie
(2010)
Background: Neuroenhancement (NE), the use of psychoactive substances in order to enhance a healthy individual's cognitive functioning from a proficient to an even higher level, is prevalent in student populations. According to the strength model of self-control, people fail to self-regulate and fall back on their dominant behavioral response when finite self-control resources are depleted. An experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that ego-depletion will prevent students who are unfamiliar with NE from trying it.
Findings: 130 undergraduates, who denied having tried NE before (43% female, mean age = 22.76 +/- 4.15 years old), were randomly assigned to either an ego-depletion or a control condition. The dependent variable was taking an "energy-stick" (a legal nutritional supplement, containing low doses of caffeine, taurine and vitamin B), offered as a potential means of enhancing performance on the bogus concentration task that followed. Logistic regression analysis showed that ego-depleted participants were three times less likely to take the substance, OR = 0.37, p = .01.
Conclusion: This experiment found that trying NE for the first time was more likely if an individual's cognitive capacities were not depleted. This means that mental exhaustion is not predictive for NE in students for whom NE is not the dominant response. Trying NE for the first time is therefore more likely to occur as a thoughtful attempt at self-regulation than as an automatic behavioral response in stressful situations. We therefore recommend targeting interventions at this inter-individual difference. Students without previous reinforcing NE experience should be provided with information about the possible negative health outcomes of NE. Reconfiguring structural aspects in the academic environment (e.g. lessening workloads) might help to deter current users.
Basketball referees' decisions in ambiguous situations are supposed to adhere to common standards. We propose that standards can be established by video training-programs. Thirty-three German elite basketball referees participated in an online experiment. Feedback during a learning phase influenced decisions (foul vs. no call) in a subsequent test phase. These results provide a starting point for further investigations into establishing standards for referees. They suggest that establishing standards for referees' decisions in ambiguous situations may be a worthwhile approach for improving the quality of referees' decisions.
Background: The use of psychoactive substances to neuroenhance cognitive performance is prevalent. Neuroenhancement (NE) in everyday life and doping in sport might rest on similar attitudinal representations, and both behaviors can be theoretically modeled by comparable means-to-end relations (substance-performance). A behavioral (not substance-based) definition of NE is proposed, with assumed functionality as its core component. It is empirically tested whether different NE variants (lifestyle drug, prescription drug, and illicit substance) can be regressed to school stressors.
Findings: Participants were 519 students (25.8 +/- 8.4 years old, 73.1% female). Logistic regressions indicate that a modified doping attitude scale can predict all three NE variants. Multiple NE substance abuse was frequent. Overwhelming demands in school were associated with lifestyle and prescription drug NE.
Conclusions: Researchers should be sensitive for probable structural similarities between enhancement in everyday life and sport and systematically explore where findings from one domain can be adapted for the other. Policy makers should be aware that students might misperceive NE as an acceptable means of coping with stress in school, and help to form societal sensitivity for the topic of NE among our younger ones in general.
Stress-levels experienced by school-aged elite athletes are pronounced, but data on their mental health status are widely lacking. In our study, we examined self-reported psychological symptoms and chronic mood. Data from a representative sample of 866 elite student-athletes (aged 12-15 years), enrolled in high-performance sport programming in German Elite Schools of Sport, were compared with data from 80 student-athletes from the same schools who have just been deselected from elite sport promotion, and from 432 age-and sex-matched non-sport students from regular schools (without such programming). Anxiety symptoms were least prevalent in female elite student-athletes. In male elite student-athletes, only symptoms of posttraumatic stress were less prevalent than in the other groups. Somatoform symptoms were generally more frequent in athletes, a trend that was significantly pronounced in deselected athletes. Deselected athletes showed an increased risk for psychological symptoms compared with both other groups. Regarding chronic mood, again deselected athletes showed less positive scores. While there was a trend toward high-performance sport being associated with better psychological health at least in girls, preventative programs should take into account that deselection from elite sport programming may be associated with specific risks for mental disorders.
Objective: Questionnaires are often applied in sports psychology to measure a person's trait or state. However, the extent to which the questionnaire captures differences because of trait or state influences is often unclear. The latent state-trait (LST) theory offers the opportunity to separate both variance sources. This separation allows estimating specific reliability coefficients. Design: The present paper gives a theoretical introduction to LST and its basic ideas. Using a real data set with N = 156 athletes we exemplify the steps necessary to derive the LST coefficients. All athletes filled out a comprehensive inventory assessing competitive anxiety on two occasions. Method: The data are analysed with structural equation models based on LST principles. Results: The results confirm the questionnaire's trait saturation. Conclusion: Finally, results are discussed in light of practical and theoretical implications.
Self-leadership and volition are conceptually similar concepts. Both propose self-influence strategies that aim to improve the motivation and self-direction necessary to perform well. The present study assesses whether self- leadership strategies maintain construct-specific variance when compared with the similar strategies of volition. Results from a questionnaire study (N=320) indicate that self-leadership and volitional strategies are distinguishable and only moderately (r=.33) correlated. Self-leadership, therefore, supplements volition during goal attainment. Findings are discussed in light of the Rubicon model of action phases.
Objectives: This study investigated the psychological as well as neuroendocrine stress response across one week before an important sport competition, introducing the cortisol awakening response (CAR) to sport psychological research. Methods: On three days in the week before the German Nationals, martial artists (N = 17) reported their competitive state anxiety and collected five samples of salivary cortisol during the first hour after awakening. Results: Hierarchic-linear models and multiple regressions were conducted. Despite a significant rise in "somatic anxiety" (p < .05), the increment of CAR across the week remained non-significant. A moderator function of competitive anxiety on the released amount of cortisol in the morning was not found significant. Results did not show any significant regression of changes in the neuroendocrine response on changes in state anxiety. Conclusion: Non- significant increments of CAR with a closer proximity to the competition may be interpreted as a possible habituation of basal hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal activity. Moreover, athletes appear to have a lower CAR than found in norm studies, which points to further investigation of interindividual and situational effects on the temporal pattern of the neuroendocrine response to sport competitions.
Objectives: Today, the doping attitudes of athletes can either be measured by asking athletes directly or with the help of indirect attitude measurement procedures as for example the implicit association test (IAT). Using indirect measures may be helpful for example when psychological effects of doping prevention programs shall be evaluated. In the present study we have analyzed and compared measurement properties of two recently published IATs.
Design: The IATs "doping substance vs. tea blend" and "doping substance vs. legal nutritional supplement" were presented to two randomly assigned independent samples of 102 athletes (44 male, 58 female; mean age 23.6 years) from different sports. Both IATs were complemented by a control IAT "word vs. non-word".
Methods: In order to test central measurement properties of both IATs, distributions of measured values, correlations with the control IAT, reliability analyses, and analyses of error rates were performed.
Results: Results pointed to a rather negative doping attitude in most athletes. Especially the fact that in the "doping vs. supplement" IAT error rates (12%) and adaptational learning effects across test blocks were substantial (eta(2) = .22), indicating that participants had difficulties correctly assigning the word stimuli to the respective category, we see slight advantages for the "doping vs. tea" IAT (e.g. satisfactory internal scale consistency Cronbach's-alpha = .78 among athletes reporting to be regularly involved in competitions).
Conclusion: The less satisfactory measurement properties of the "doping vs. supplement" IAT can possibly be explained by the fact that the boundaries between (legal) supplements and (illegal) doping substances have been shifted from time to time so that athletes were not sure whether substances were legal or not.
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]).
The Implicit Association Test (IAT) aims to measure participants' automatic evaluation of an attitude object and is useful especially for the measurement of attitudes related to socially sensitive subjects, e.g. doping in sports. Several studies indicate that IAT scores can be faked on instruction. But fully or semi-instructed research scenarios might not properly reflect what happens in more realistic situations, when participants secretly decide to try faking the test. The present study is the first to investigate IAT faking when there is only an implicit incentive to do so. Sixty-five athletes (22.83 years +/- 2.45; 25 women) were randomly assigned to an incentive-to-fake condition or a control condition. Participants in the incentive-to-fake condition were manipulated to believe that athletes with lenient doping attitudes would be referred to a tedious 45-minute anti-doping program. Attitudes were measured with the pictorial doping brief IAT (BIAT) and with the Performance Enhancement Attitude Scale (PEAS). A one-way MANOVA revealed significant differences between conditions after the manipulation in PEAS scores, but not in the doping BIAT. In the light of our hypothesis this suggests that participants successfully faked an exceedingly negative attitude to doping when completing the PEAS, but were unsuccessful in doing so on the reaction time-based test. This study assessed BIAT faking in a setting that aimed to resemble a situation in which participants want to hide their attempts to cheat. The two measures of attitude were differentially affected by the implicit incentive. Our findings provide evidence that the pictorial doping BIAT is relatively robust against spontaneous and naive faking attempts. (B) IATs might be less prone to faking than implied by previous studies.
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).
Method: Following a known-group differences validation strategy, the doping attitudes of 43 athletes from bodybuilding (representative for a highly doping prone sport) and handball (as a contrast group) were compared using the picture-based doping-BIAT. The Performance Enhancement Attitude Scale (PEAS) was employed as a corresponding direct measure in order to additionally validate the results.
Results: As expected, in the group of bodybuilders, indirectly measured doping attitudes as tested with the picture-based doping-BIAT were significantly less negative (eta(2) = .11). The doping-BIAT and PEAS scores correlated significantly at r = .50 for bodybuilders, and not significantly at r = .36 for handball players. There was a low error rate (7%) and a satisfactory internal consistency (r(dagger dagger) = .66) for the picture-based doping-BIAT.
Conclusions: The picture-based doping-BIAT constitutes a psychometrically tested method, ready to be adopted by the international research community. The test can be administered via the internet. All test material is available "open source". The test might be implemented, for example, as a new effect-measure in the evaluation of prevention programs.
The initial interview is important for psychological counseling regarding the acquisition of diagnostic information and in terms of establishing a professional counseling relationship. In applied sports psychology there so far exist no clear guidelines to structure this process. To improve the quality of sports psychological consultations, the present study introduces and evaluates a semi-structured guideline for an initial interview in which the content and form of the consultation are determined, the concerns of the client are systematically explored, and the objectives of the collaboration and the further process are defined. Eleven sport psychology trainees participated in our study and conducted initial interviews with actors. One interview was conducted by using the initial interview guide and the other interview was created individually by each sport psychology trainee based on his own expertise. The results showed that the quality of the interview process (i.e., formal requirements, use of open questions) as well as the satisfaction of the consultant with the interview was significantly higher when following the guideline. No differences were found regarding the quality of the consultation findings and the satisfaction of the athletes with the interview. The results are discussed with respect to their theoretical and practical implications.
According to the results of the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS) published in 2009, only 5% to 8% of the 15-17-year-old adolescents reach the current recommendations on health-enhancing physical activity This result (besides others in the survey) rests on data measured with the 25-item physical activity questionnaire for children and adolescents (MoMo-AFB). The present study compares two different methods of assessing physical activity with the purpose of testing the validity of the MoMo-AFB self-report. First, we measured the physical activity status of 73 15 to 18-year-old pupils (32 boys and 41 girls) over seven days via objective accelerometry (ActiGraph GT1M), then the pupils completed the MoMo-AFB for the same (previous) period. Results show that using the MoMo-AFB leads to higher levels of self-reported physical activity than measuring it with accelerometers. Furthermore, only the MoMo-AFB subscale MVPA (moderate-to-vigorous physical activity), that uses two single items to decide whether the health-enhancing physical activity recommendation is reached or failed, corresponds statistically significantly with the accelerometry data. For all other subscales (e.g. school- or leisure time activity), we found no agreement. Further research, first of all on the measurement quality of the MoMo-AFB but also on the physical (in)activity status of children and adolescents, is needed.
Background: 'Stress' and 'health-related quality of life' (HRQoL) are two important theoretical constructs for modern therapy evaluation with clinical relevance. Eurythmy therapy (EYT) is a mind-body-therapy derived from anthroposophic medicine with promising effects on heart rate variability (HRV), HRQoL and disease scores. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of EYT on stress coping strategies (SCS) and HRQoL in a controlled study with moderately stressed participants.
Methods: 68 healthy, moderately stressed adults (mean age: 42.2; SD: 8.2) performed 10 h of EYT in a group setting over a period of six weeks. A non-randomised control group of 22 healthy adults (mean age: 43.6; SD: 13.7) received no intervention and did only complete the questionnaires at the same data points. Outcomes were measured before and after the intervention (AVEM & SF-36).
Results: A significant impact on SCS was found in seven AVEM scales (MANOVA, F (1/74) = 4.59; p = .04). With regard to changes in risk pattern affiliation (AVEM), 24% of the participants receiving EYT (n = 55) changed over time from a risky stress coping pattern to a healthier pattern. Concerning the HRQoL four normally distributed scales of the SF-36 ('vitality', 'social functioning', 'mental health' and 'physical functioning') showed a significant group x time interaction favouring the EYT group (MANOVA, F (1/74) = 17.26; p < .001). Statistically and clinically relevant mean differences over time of at least eight scale points were found for 'role physical', 'bodily pain', 'vitality' and 'mental health', and of at least 15 scale points for 'role emotional' and 'social functioning'.
Conclusions: A six-week period of EYT training can result in a significant reduction of stress and consequently improve QoL. Because a significant proportion of participants had high levels of stress at baseline the results suggest a health-enhancing benefit of EYT that may have clinical potential for prevention of stress and associated disorders in healthy individuals and possibly in patients with chronic diseases, for example.
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.
The present study examines whether the use of different frequency scales in questionnaires about physical activity influences respondents' own estimation of their activity, as well as subsequent measurements of health- und sport-related cognitions and evaluations. Using a randomized research design we recruited a sample of 118 participants. One group received a high frequency scale for assessing their exercise frequency with the response categories "never", "less often", "once a month", "once a week", or "most days." The other group answered with a medium frequency scale with the alternatives "never", "less often", " once every few months", "once a month", and " once a week or more often." As dependent variables all participants judged the subjective importance of physical activity and their health-related quality of life (WHO-QOL-bref). Results indicate the expected response errors, owing to the fact that using a high-frequency scale produces higher levels of self-reported physical activity (Cramer's V = .30). Corresponding to this the subjective importance of physical activity increased (d = .37) and the health-related quality of life was judged to be better (d = .36). Such artefacts might be eliminated by using standardized formulations such as "I exercise... times per week/month for... minutes."
Spielberger's (1972) Trait-State-Anxiety theory distinguishes between anxiety as a trait (A-trait) - involving a stable characteristic of a person to react with anxiety in response to varying situations and anxiety as a state (A-state), a situation-dependent reaction to a stimulus perceived as threatening. Using a general instead of a sport-specific measure, a previous study provided only mixed support for core predictions of the theory as related to sports (Schwenkmezger, 1985). With the aid of enhanced instruments and statistical methods, we tested these predictions again. The multidimensional and competition-specific assessment of anxiety results in support for the assumption of a stable A-trait and a fluctuating A-state, whereby the A-trait not only predicts the intensity of A-states but also the A-state variability. The repeated assessment of A-states prior to two competitions reveals a rather low relative consistency (i.e., interindividual differences across measurements were only moderately stable). Especially this latter finding suggests that, in order to gain a full understanding of the experience of competitive anxiety in athletes, sport psychologists should not only assess competitive A-traits, but also repeatedly measure competitive A-states.
Mindfulness and acceptance describe the skills necessary to experience emotions and thoughts (e.g., performance-interfering cognitions) consciously and without judging them. This article introduces the mindfulness and acceptance approach and its potential in the context of competitive sports. Definitions as well as research results related to mechanisms of action and differential psychological aspects are given and the efficacy of the approach in the field of clinical psychology is reviewed. The rationale and implementation of the mindfulness-acceptance-commitment approach, an approach adapted for performance enhancement, is illustrated. Finally, evidence from psychotherapy research is presented, and a recommendation for the use of mindfulness and acceptance in the context of competitive sports is given.
One of the fundamental challenges in anti-doping is identifying athletes who use, or are at risk of using, prohibited performance enhancing substances. The growing trend to employ a forensic approach to doping control aims to integrate information from social sciences (e.g., psychology of doping) into organised intelligence to protect clean sport. Beyond the foreseeable consequences of a positive identification as a doping user, this task is further complicated by the discrepancy between what constitutes a doping offence in the World Anti-Doping Code and operationalized in doping research. Whilst psychology plays an important role in developing our understanding of doping behaviour in order to inform intervention and prevention, its contribution to the array of doping diagnostic tools is still in its infancy. In both research and forensic settings, we must acknowledge that (1) socially desirable responding confounds self-reported psychometric test results and (2) that the cognitive complexity surrounding test performance means that the response-time based measures and the lie detector tests for revealing concealed life-events (e.g., doping use) are prone to produce false or non-interpretable outcomes in field settings. Differences in social-cognitive characteristics of doping behaviour that are tested at group level (doping users vs. non-users) cannot be extrapolated to individuals; nor these psychometric measures used for individual diagnostics. In this paper, we present a position statement calling for policy guidance on appropriate use of psychometric assessments in the pursuit of clean sport. We argue that, to date, both self-reported and response-time based psychometric tests for doping have been designed, tested and validated to explore how athletes feel and think about doping in order to develop a better understanding of doping behaviour, not to establish evidence for doping. A false 'positive' psychological profile for doping affects not only the individual 'clean' athlete but also their entourage, their organisation and sport itself. The proposed policy guidance aims to protect the global athletic community against social, ethical and legal consequences from potential misuse of psychological tests, including erroneous or incompetent applications as forensic diagnostic tools in both practice and research. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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.