Sport and Exercise Psychology

Defining Sport and Exercise Psychology

• Sport and exercise psychology is an interdisciplinary, scientific, and applied field.
• It integrates sports science and psychological knowledge.

Positive Psychology in Sport and Exercise

• Positive psychology has gained recent interest
• The focus is on understanding processes that enable people and groups to thrive
• A positive approach can enhance performance and strengthen psychological resilience and perseverance.

Key Concept: Resiliency

• Is adapting positively to adversity or risk
• It helps develop skills to avoid thinking traps, remain calm and focused, and gain proper perspective.

Approaches to Interventions

• Emotional interventions focus on joy, happiness, enjoyment, and satisfaction
• Mindfulness and acknowledgement of goals are examples of emotional interventions
• Cognitive interventions focus on how optimism influences emotional experience, motivation, health, and performance
• Being aware of thoughts is an example of cognitive interventions
• Behavioral interventions focus on enhancing self-regulation strategies
• Deep breathing for relaxation is an example of behavioural interventions

Careers in Sport and Exercise Psychology

• Teaching positions can be found in universities and colleges
• The primary responsibility of teaching positions is teaching
• Research positions involve advancing knowledge through design, conduct, and evaluation.

Consulting Roles

• Consulting roles help individuals, teams, and organizations improve performance
• Consulting roles help enhance sport and personal well-being
• Consultants work in three roles: educational, counselling, and clinical psychology.

Training to Be a Sport and Exercise Psychologist Specialist

• Clinical psychology focuses on assessing and rehabilitating serious psychological dysfunctions such as clinical depression and eating disorders
• Multiple career tracks combine teaching, research, performance enhancement, and clinical/counselling services.
• There are two general training orientations: sports science education and clinical/counselling sport psychology.
• Education can be in a psychology, Human Kinetics/Kinesiology, or clinical psychology program.

Licensing of Sport and Exercise Psychologists

• Provincial/territorial laws regulate the term 'psychologist'
• Requires educational training and passing psychological licensing board exams
• Titles like mental skills trainer, sport and exercise psychology consultant, and sport science consultant are used in applied settings

History of Sport and Exercise Psychology

• (Canada and the United States)
• The 1960s and 1970s were key decades in forming North American and Canadian sport psychology organizations.
• The Journal of Sport Psychology was established in 1979

Studying Sport and Exercise Psychology

• It follows evidence-based methods and research methods concepts

Variables

• Independent variable (V): A manipulated variable (cause) that produces a change in the dependent variable; visualization intervention for athletes is an example
• Dependent variable (DV): A non-manipulated variable (outcome) that is expected to change as a result of manipulating the independent variable; competitive performance (e.g., running time) is an example

Theories and Hypotheses

• Theories attempt to explain phenomena and provide logical reasoning about relationships
• Research hypothesis: An educated guess about the nature of relationships.
• Example: Moderate intensity exercise will improve mental and physical well-being in women

Quantitative Research

• Quantitative inquiry: Quantifies (counts) the amount of a particular variable(s)
• Methods used to collect quantitative data include heart rate, accelerometer data, observations, and survey data

Qualitative Research Methods

• Provides detailed information and a level of understanding not found in quantitative research
• Gathering data includes in-depth interviews, direct observation, and analysis of written documents and visual data

Common Myths about Sport and Exercise Psychology

• Athletes or exercisers with serious mental problems are not the only population who may need a sport or exercise psychologist
• All sport psychology specialists do not only work with elite athletes to enhance their performance

Mental Illness vs Mental Health

• Mental health: A state of well-being where individuals realize their potential, cope with normal stresses, work productively, and contribute to the community
• Mental illness: A health condition characterized by alterations in thinking, mood, or behaviour associated with distress or impaired functioning

Mental Illness in Canada

• In 2016, over 7.5 million Canadians experienced common mental illnesses like depression and anxiety
• The costs to the Canadian economy amounted to $50 billion
• Women had higher rates of mood/anxiety disorders, while men had higher rates of substance misuse disorders.

Mental Illness during COVID-19 Evidence

• A study on university student-athletes found symptoms of mental illness during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in Canada
• It was during the pandemic that added stress to the already stressful lives of university students
• Lacking beneficial things: physical activity, social connections, team cohesion
• Showed that a lack of physical activity played a role

Physical Activity vs Exercise

• Physical activity: Skeletal muscle movement resulting in energy expenditure and positively correlated with physical fitness
• Exercise: A sub-component of physical activity that includes planned, structured, and repetitive bodily movement, with the objective of maintaining and improving physical fitness

Physical Activity and Mental Health

• A cost-effective alternative for those preferring no medication or cannot access therapy
• Associated with negligible negative side effects
• An effective method for improving aspects of physical health
• A population-level intervention for promoting mental health

Main Functions of Physical Activity include

• Physical activity may prevent mental illness, but is not a cure
• Improves mental health when given without other treatments, or when given with medication/CBT
• Improves quality of life for people with chronic physical/mental health problems and may improve mental health of the general public.

Benefits of Physical Activity for Children and Young People

• A review article on children and adolescents highlighted how PA interventions should be used as preventative strategies

Yoga Interventions (Deepeshwar & Kumar, 2022)

• 102 participants between 25 and 42 years of age in South India
• Participants reported higher levels of anxiety and depression in the last 6 months
• Half were assigned to Yoga Therapy for 2 weeks @ 5 days a week focusing on posture, breathing and meditation for About 2 hours a day
• Half were assigned to stress and lifestyle counselling for same duration
• Both groups improved in anxiety and depression measures, but the yoga significantly greater improvements
• Interventions do not have to be physically taxing!

Effects of Physical Exercise on College/University Students

• A study was conducted in Chinese Universities measuring survey research and existing levels of Physical Activity
• Levels of commitment and adherence to physical activity/exercise as well were measured
• Life satisfaction was the dependent variable and reported results
• Physical activity and exercise are vital for overall health at all ages

How Physical activity helps students

• Physical activity significantly benefits university students in China, enhancing non-academic skills, life satisfaction, and mental health
• Improves graduation rates, GPA, academic motivation, and engagement among university students.
• Vigorous physical activity (VPA) among adolescents is associated with higher life satisfaction, indicating a link between exercise intensity and psychological well-being

Sedentary Behaviour as a New and Emerging Health Risk

• Sitting time accumulates while watching TV, using a computer, driving a car, and sitting at work
• Prolonged sitting and reduced physical activity levels have increased significantly over past decade due to economic, social, technological, and environmental changes
• Canadian adults spend 69% of waking time in sedentary behaviours

Three domains contribute to Sedentary Behaviour

• Occupation, leisure time, and transportation
• There was a lot of sitting during the Pandemic lockdowns
• Inverse association between sedentary behaviour and mental health, but lacking longitudinal evidence
• A review of 24 studies found a positive association between sedentary behaviour and risk of depression
• Screen time is also associated with depression

What Is Motivation?

• It is the internal processes, such as needs, thoughts, and emotions, that give your behaviour energy and direction
• Energy can help understand strength, intensity, and persistence of motivated behaviour

Behavioural approaches

• Motivation is understood by focusing on conditioning or learning from the environment.
• Includes operant conditioning, where consequences are associated with voluntary behaviour
• Rewards increase behaviour, while punishment decreases it
• Vicarious conditioning involves learning by observing others' reactions, attitudes, and emotions rather than through direct exposure

Cognitive approaches

• Motivation understood by emphasizing the role of thoughts and cognitive habits.
• The individual's interpretation/thoughts can either enhance or hinder motivation

Transtheoretical Model

• Explains physical activity with 6 stages of change
• Precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance

Theory of Planned Behaviour

• The role of beliefs and attitudes on behaviour determines behavioural beliefs = attitudes = intention = behaviour
• Normative beliefs = subjective norms = intention = behaviour and control beliefs = perceived behaviour control = intention = behaviour

Research on the Theory of Planned Behaviour

• Attitude and perceived behaviour control are positively linked with exercise intentions
• Subjective norms generally show weaker associations with exercise intentions
• Intervention research indicated that attitude, subjective norms, and intention predict sedentary behaviour

Applications of the Theory of Planned Behaviour

• Interventions should focus on enhancing the individual's intention to exercise
• Increase positive attitude towards physical activity by increasing knowledge of benefits
• Target the individual's perceived behavioural control through a range of strategies

Self-Determination Theory

• Specifies the the three basic psychological needs people have
• Competence: The need to feel capable and effective in one's activities, mastering tasks, and learning new skills
• Autonomy: The need to feel in control of one's actions and decisions, acting with a sense of choice and volition
• Relatedness:The need to feel connected to others, experiencing a sense of belonging, love, and care

Goal Setting

• Goals are one of the best ways to develop, increase and/or maintain motivation
• Different types of goals will each influence your motivation in different ways

Task Oriented Goals

• Task oriented Goals: Focusing on mastering a skill/task
• No comparison is made to others or to a specific outcome.
• It is about high efforts, challenging yourself, enjoying sport/exercise and setting goals to work on the process to master a new skill
• Focus is on improving the your progress to eventually mastering a skill

Ego Orientated Goals

• Aims to be better than others
• Success is measured based on surpassing others, even if your regular performance is lower than normal
• Aiming to be the best vs doing one's best can lead to more frustration with these goals!
• A goal can be to be in top 10 at a competition, but focus should mostly be on task orientation goals

Why Focus on Task Orientation Goals

• Task-oriented goals encourage personal growth and skill mastery, leading to intrinsic motivation and enjoyment
• Fosters a positive learning environment, reduces anxiety and fear of failure, and emphasizes personal effort and improvement rather than comparison with others

Short and Long Term Goals

• Short term goals: Are immediate, smaller objectives that can be achieved in the near future.
• They are steps towards larger achievements, providing motivation and a sense of accomplishment as they are met
• Long-term goals: Are larger bigger objectives that are aimed for over an extended period
• They provide direction and a sense of purpose but may require more time and commitment to achieve

Short Term or Long Term?

• Short-term goals help to maintain motivation and provide clear next steps towards achieving your long-term goals
• Long-term goals give you a bigger picture to work towards and inspire continuous effort and progress
• Both types create a structured pathway for sustained motivation and success

C.R.I.S.P GOALS

• Anacronyms for goals where:
• C - Challenging
• R - Realistic
• I - Inspirational
• S – Specific
• P - Personal

Stress, Emotion, and Coping in Sport and Exercise

The Concept of Stress

• Stress response: Physiological, cognitive, emotional, and behavioural reactions when we are faced with heavy demands
• Stress: Is an experience that is produced through a person–situation relationship that is perceived as taxing or exceeding the person's ability to cope
• Stressors: Are external events, forces, and situations that have the potential to be interpreted as stressful but do not create stress for everyone equally

Stress Emotions and Appraisal

• Cognitive appraisal of stress consists of 2 appraisals
• Primary appraisal looks at the evaluation of what is at stake for a person in a situation: How important is this to me?
• Secondary appraisal looks at the evaluation of what can be done in the situation: Do I have any control over the situation?

Results of Cognitive Appraisal

• Harm, or Psychological damage that you have determined is done and not reversable
• Threat, you anticipate that harm is likely to occur
• Challenge, you determine that things are challenging, but you can succeed

Types of Stressors in Sport Contexts

Acute vs. Chronic Stressors

• Chronic stress: Occurs over a long period of time Ex: chronic injury
• Acute stress: Occurs within a short period of time, and with a sudden onset, ex: miss the penalty shot in hockey

Expected vs. Unexpected Stressor

• Expected stressors: Are planned or or prepared for ex: how to recover from a fall Unexpected stressors: Are stressors that cannot be anticipated and cannot be prepared for ex: family trauma

Competitive vs. Non-competitive

• Competitive stressors happen prior to, during, or immediately following competition
• Non-competitive stressors: Are related to sport but not directly part of an actual competitive performance Ex: getting stuck in traffic on the way to the tournament

Physiological Effects of Stress and Emotions

• Emotions trigger physiological processes automatically
• Physiological processes include: Respiration rate, heart rate, cardiovascular activity, body temperature, and skin conductance, hormones released in body and Fight or flight response

Coping With Stress

• It refers to Cognitive and behavioural efforts to manage specific external/internal demands that are appraised as taxing or exceeding the resources of the person
• Purposeful effort that includes thoughts and actions
• Strong coping skills might help perceive stress in the first place include: time management when school assignments are due close to a tournament

Ways to cope

• Problem-focused coping: Coping efforts that help people change the actual situation
• Emotion-focused coping: Coping efforts to change the way a situation is attended to, or to interpret to deal with the emotions that arise during the situation
• Avoidance coping: Coping efforts where athletes attempt to remove themselves from the stressful situation

Factors Influencing Coping

• Cross-cultural discipline examines differences between groups, such as Korean athletes using prayer
• Cultural norms and practices as well as typical stressors need to be considered

Emotion Regulation

• Involves Conscious and effortful attempts to manage the experience/expression of emotions.
• Learning appropriate emotional responses is necessary

Burnout

• It is a A possible complication of Stress in Athletes that consists of physical and/or psychological exhaustion, devaluation of one's sport and reduced sense of accomplishment
• Results from chronic stress and ineffectively managing excessive demands; signs include poor performance, exhaustion, mood disturbances, decreased motivation, and frustration and poor emotional regulation are signs

Consequences of Burnout

• Lowers psychological well being, and includes Clinical Depression and Increased interpersonal difficulties

Stress-burnout relationship Examined

Athletes were measured on

• Survey, 300 college student athletes (174 males, 126 females)/ M age = 20.43 years.
• Sport-specific stress (i.e., coach relationships, performance demand, sports injuries, and training adaptation) and general life stress (i.e., family relationships, romantic relationships, academic requirements)
• negative thinking, and Athletic Burnout

How Often They Had Negative Thoughts

• A survey assessing "I am annoyed with my coach's bias against me” or “I am annoyed by my repetitive injury," “I feel so tired from my training that I have trouble finding energy to do anything else"
• And a study on "The effort I spend in sports would be better spent doing other things."
• Giving them a Total score = high burnout

Results

• High levels of stress, negative thoughts, and athletic burnout were positively correlated.
• Negative thoughts were a mediating variable
• Results implied that sport psychology consultants need to work on BOTH stress levels and thinking patterns to try to prevent or help athletic burnout

The research demonstrated the correlation - How To Help The Situation

• Interventions using multiple methods are the most effective.
• Stress management can reduce participant's stress using methods like stress management, negative thinking, coping skills and emotional regulation
• Individuals that train for stress are best adapted with techniques like getting comfortable getting unconformable
• Acknowledge the "Stake comes untied? Tie it quickly and keeping going, etc"

Methods for Stress Relief

• Journaling, Mindfulness or mindful meditation
• talk to a professional, or friends and teammates