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Fulltext Training During the COVID-19 Lockdown: Knowledge, Beliefs, and Practices of 12,526 Athletes from 142 Countries and Six Continents

Washif JA, Farooq A, Krug I, Pyne DB, Verhagen E, Taylor L, et al.

Sports Med, 2022 04;52(4):933-948.
PMID: 34687439 DOI: 10.1007/s40279-021-01573-z

OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to explore the training-related knowledge, beliefs, and practices of athletes and the influence of lockdowns in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).
METHODS: Athletes (n = 12,526, comprising 13% world class, 21% international, 36% national, 24% state, and 6% recreational) completed an online survey that was available from 17 May to 5 July 2020 and explored their training behaviors (training knowledge, beliefs/attitudes, and practices), including specific questions on their training intensity, frequency, and session duration before and during lockdown (March-June 2020).
RESULTS: Overall, 85% of athletes wanted to "maintain training," and 79% disagreed with the statement that it is "okay to not train during lockdown," with a greater prevalence for both in higher-level athletes. In total, 60% of athletes considered "coaching by correspondence (remote coaching)" to be sufficient (highest amongst world-class athletes). During lockdown,

Matched MeSH terms: Athletes/psychology
Fulltext Does mental fatigue affect skilled performance in athletes? A systematic review

Sun H, Soh KG, Roslan S, Wazir MRWN, Soh KL

PLoS One, 2021;16(10):e0258307.
PMID: 34648555 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0258307

BACKGROUND: Mental fatigue is a psychobiological state induced by a prolonged duration of demanding cognitive tasks. The effects of mental fatigue on physical performance have been well investigated in the literature. However, the effect of mental fatigue on skilled performance in sports remains unclear.
OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to report a comprehensive systematic review investigating the carryover effects of mental fatigue on skilled performance among athletes.
METHODS: A thorough search was conducted on PubMed, Web of Science, EBSCOhost (CENTRAL, SPORTDicus), and Scopus to select relevant literature, as well as on Google Scholar and sources of reference for grey literature. The selected literatures are centred on a mental fatigue protocol in which cognitive tasks are performed prior to athletic tasks. Only studies that used an experimental design to test two conditions, namely mental fatigue and non-mental fatigue, were selected.
RESULTS: Eleven articles were chosen based on the selection criteria. Mental fatigue affects skilled performance in three sports: soccer, basketball, and table tennis. A decline in skilled performance (decreased accuracy, increased performing time etc) is relevant to impaired executive functions. Seven studies focus on offensive skills, whereas only two studies are associated with defensive skills.
CONCLUSION: Mental fatigue has a negative effect on various sports skills of high-level athletes, including their technical and decision-making skills; however, the impact is greater on offensive skills than that of defensive skills in terms of the role of athletes. Impaired executive functions may be responsible for the negative effects of mental fatigue on skilled performance.

Matched MeSH terms: Athletes/psychology*
Societal discrimination and mental health among transgender athletes: a systematic review and Meta-analysis

Chan ASW, Choong A, Phang KC, Leung LM, Tang PMK, Yan E

BMC Psychol, 2024 Jan 16;12(1):24.
PMID: 38229114 DOI: 10.1186/s40359-023-01493-9

BACKGROUND: Discrimination and inequality have been identified as significant problems faced by transgender individuals in sports participation. However, uncertainties remain regarding the effectiveness of interventions aimed at promoting equality.
OBJECTIVES: This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to examine the experiences of transgender athletes in sports, focusing on mental health issues and factors contributing to inequality among transgender and other sexual minorities.
METHODS: The study followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and searched 10 electronic databases, including PubMed, Google Scholar, and Web of Science, to identify eligible studies published between 2005 and 2022. The search yielded 1430 articles, of which only 12 studies met the inclusion criteria for this review.
RESULTS: The meta-analysis of the 12 studies included in this review revealed that transgender athletes faced social discrimination and inequality in sports participation, resulting in mental health problems and higher rates of suicide. From a cohort of 21,565 participants in the studies, 7152 (33%) were subjected to discrimination in sports participation and healthcare, with a rate of 0.61 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.35, 0.81). However, transgender athletes who felt welcomed and embraced by their respective teams accounted for 0.39 (95% CI: 0.19, 0.65). These results indicated significant differences between how transgender athletes are treated in healthcare settings and when participating in sports.
CONCLUSION: The study findings underscore the need for policies, cultural research, and interventions to address discrimination and inequality faced by transgender athletes in sports participation. Promoting equality and safeguarding the rights of transgender athletes can mitigate the risk of mental health problems and increase physical activity among sexual minorities.

Matched MeSH terms: Athletes/psychology
Do the physical and environment PETTLEP elements predict sport imagery ability?

Anuar N, Williams SE, Cumming J

Eur J Sport Sci, 2017 Nov;17(10):1319-1327.
PMID: 28950801 DOI: 10.1080/17461391.2017.1377290

The present study aimed to examine whether physical and environment elements of PETTLEP imagery relate to the ability to image five types of sport imagery (i.e. skill, strategy, goal, affect and mastery). Two hundred and ninety participants (152 males, 148 females; Mage = 20.24 years, SD = 4.36) from various sports completed the Sport Imagery Ability Questionnaire (SIAQ), and a set of items designed specifically for the study to assess how frequently participants incorporate physical (e.g. 'I make small movements or gestures during the imagery') and environment (e.g. 'I image in the real training/competition environment') elements of PETTLEP imagery. Structural equation modelling tested a hypothesised model in which imagery priming (i.e. the best fitting physical and environment elements) significantly and positively predicted imagery ability of the different imagery types (skill, β = 0.38; strategy, β = 0.23; goal, β = 0.21; affect, β = 0.25; mastery, β = 0.22). The model was a good fit to the data: χ2(174) = 263.87, p

Matched MeSH terms: Athletes/psychology*
Cross-Cultural Invariance of the Mental Toughness Inventory Among Australian, Chinese, and Malaysian Athletes: A Bayesian Estimation Approach

Gucciardi DF, Zhang CQ, Ponnusamy V, Si G, Stenling A

J Sport Exerc Psychol, 2016 Apr;38(2):187-202.
PMID: 27390084 DOI: 10.1123/jsep.2015-0320

The aims of this study were to assess the cross-cultural invariance of athletes' self-reports of mental toughness and to introduce and illustrate the application of approximate measurement invariance using Bayesian estimation for sport and exercise psychology scholars. Athletes from Australia (n = 353, Mage = 19.13, SD = 3.27, men = 161), China (n = 254, Mage = 17.82, SD = 2.28, men = 138), and Malaysia (n = 341, Mage = 19.13, SD = 3.27, men = 200) provided a cross-sectional snapshot of their mental toughness. The cross-cultural invariance of the mental toughness inventory in terms of (a) the factor structure (configural invariance), (b) factor loadings (metric invariance), and (c) item intercepts (scalar invariance) was tested using an approximate measurement framework with Bayesian estimation. Results indicated that approximate metric and scalar invariance was established. From a methodological standpoint, this study demonstrated the usefulness and flexibility of Bayesian estimation for single-sample and multigroup analyses of measurement instruments. Substantively, the current findings suggest that the measurement of mental toughness requires cultural adjustments to better capture the contextually salient (emic) aspects of this concept.

Matched MeSH terms: Athletes/psychology*
Cross-cultural validity and measurement invariance of the Organizational Stressor Indicator for Sport Performers (OSI-SP) across three countries

Arnold R, Ponnusamy V, Zhang CQ, Gucciardi DF

Scand J Med Sci Sports, 2017 Aug;27(8):895-903.
PMID: 27136759 DOI: 10.1111/sms.12688

Organizational stressors are a universal phenomenon which can be particularly prevalent and problematic for sport performers. In view of their global existence, it is surprising that no studies have examined cross-cultural differences in organizational stressors. One explanation for this is that the Organizational Stressor Indicator for Sport Performers (OSI-SP; Arnold, Fletcher, & Daniels, 2013), which can comprehensively measure the organizational pressures that sport performers have encountered, has not yet been translated from English into any other languages nor scrutinized cross-culturally. The first purpose of this study, therefore, was to examine the cross-cultural validity of the OSI-SP. In addition, the study aimed to test the equivalence of the OSI-SP's factor structure across cultures. British (n = 379), Chinese (n = 335), and Malaysian (n = 444) sport performers completed the OSI-SP. Confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the cross-cultural validity of the factorial model for the British and Malaysian samples; however, the overall model fit for the Chinese data did not meet all guideline values. Support was provided for the equality of factor loadings, variances, and covariances on the OSI-SP across the British and Malaysian cultures. These findings advance knowledge and understanding on the cross-cultural existence, conceptualization, and operationalization of organizational stressors.

Matched MeSH terms: Athletes/psychology*