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High performance sport consists of stressor events which can disrupt an athletes' functioning and negatively influence performance. The way in which one reflects upon stressor events and develops insights regarding how they coped is essential to overcoming similar experiences in the future. We conducted a pilot randomised controlled trial with a qualitative analysis to explore the coping insights among 48 highly trained/national level swimmers in the lead up to major swimming competitions, who reflected on stressor events from self‐distanced or self‐immersed perspectives over a 3‐week period. Using the self‐reflection and coping insight framework as a guideline, we captured divers coping insights across both groups. Irrespective of the group to which they were assigned, athletes showed positive signs towards re‐interpreting their stressor experience and embracing the stressor event, whereas consideration of individual values and adoption of a future‐focus viewpoint were areas lacking. The emotionality described by athletes in their written reflections varied across both groups and influenced the development of coping insights. Our findings indicate a necessity to examine the emotionality associated with unique stressor events and consider integrating reflection strategies, while also enhancing the operational definitions within conceptual models of stress reflection protocols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We conducted a pre-registered systematic review of seven databases and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials with athletes to examine the effectiveness of stress regulation interventions on performance outcomes, and the conditions under which their effects are strongest. We found a positive and significant moderate overall effect of stress regulation interventions on performance outcomes (65 effects, k = 21, N = 2022, g = 0.52, 95% CI = 0.19, 0.84) and a significant large effect on physiological outcomes (28 effects, k = 10, N = 368, g = 2.13, se = 0.81, 95% CI =.47, 3.79), yet the effect on psychological dimensions was statistically inconsequential (28 effects, k = 10, N = 787, g = 0.35, 95% CI = −0.12, 0.81). Sensitivity and meta-bias analyses generally supported the robustness of the pooled effect of stress regulation interventions on athlete performance, yet the prediction intervals suggested some interventions may be inefficacious or detrimental for athlete performance. The strongest effects on performance were observed at follow-up when compared with post-test. Collectively, our findings offer a high-quality assessment on the effectiveness of stress regulation interventions for athlete performance and provide direction for future research in terms of conceptual and methodological issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Via systematic review with narrative synthesis of findings, we aimed to document the ways by which researchers have defined, operationalized, and examined sleep variability among athletes. We identified studies in which scholars examined intraperson variability in sleep among athletes via a search of six databases (Web of Science, Embase, Medline, PsycINFO, CINHAL Plus, and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global) using a protocol that included keywords for the target outcome (sleep*), population (athlet* OR sport*), and outcome operationalization (variability OR variation OR "standard deviation" OR fluctuate OR fluctuation OR stability OR instability OR reactivity OR IIV OR intraindividual). We complemented this primary search with citation searching of eligible articles. Assessments of study quality captured eight core elements, namely aims/hypotheses, sample size justification, sample representativeness, number of days sleep assessed, measures of sleep and its correlates, missing data, and inferences and conclusions. From a total of 1209 potentially relevant papers, we identified 16 studies as meeting our eligibility criteria. Concept definitions of variability were notably absent from this work and where available were vague. Quantitative deviations from one's typical level of target sleep metrics reflected the essence by which all but one of the research teams operationalized sleep variability. We assessed the overall quality of empirical work as moderate in nature. We propose a working definition of sleep variability that can inform knowledge generation on the temporal, day‐to‐day dynamics of sleep functioning that is required for personalized interventions for optimizing sleep health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors aimed to update knowledge of the use of supplements among Australian athletes at a state-based sports institute. The authors conducted a cross-sectional survey using an online questionnaire to assess the influence of age, sports category, and scholarship category on supplement use. Of 94 completed questionnaires, 82 (87%) indicated supplements in the previous 12 months (mean = 4.9 ± 3.3). No significant difference in supplement usage rate was identified when considering age, scholarship category, or sport category. The most frequently used supplements were sports drinks (70%), caffeine (48%), protein powder (42%), and sports bars (42%). Recovery (63%), health maintenance (59%), and improved energy (50%) were the most frequently reported rationale to use supplements. Allied health professionals and credible online resources were the predominant sources of influence regarding use. However, athletes from lower scholarship categories were more likely to have social media, parents, and siblings influence usage, and age was inversely related to increased influence from parents, social media, physicians not associated with the institute, the Internet, and siblings. Older athletes and those on higher scholarships were more likely to source supplements from training facilities and sports nutrition staff outside of the institute or direct from a supplier, whereas those on lower scholarships tended to rely more on family and friends for their supplements. Findings from this study show a high prevalence of supplement use and are the first to show an influence of social media, particularly in younger athletes. Opportunities exist to optimize how athletes are informed regarding supplement use and organizational and supplement policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We brought together various lines of work on motivation, morality, and doping by testing a theory-based model prospectively linking contextual and personal motivational variables, moral attitudes, moral disengagement in doping, doping intentions, and doping use. Participants were 257 Greek athletes who completed a questionnaire pack at the beginning of a sport season. In the case of doping use, we also obtained data close to the end of the same season. The model showed that perceptions of controlling coach behaviors predicted athlete need frustration, which in turn predicted low moral functioning and doping intentions/doping use. The findings highlight pathways (direct and indirect) by which the social environment may impact on athletes' intentions and decisions to engage in doping and could pave the way for future antidoping interventions aimed at improving coaching interpersonal style. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Coach-centred antidoping education is scarce. We tested the efficacy of a motivationally informed antidoping intervention for coaches, with their athletes' willingness to dope as the primary outcome.Methods: We delivered a cluster randomised controlled trial in Australia, the UK and Greece. This study was a parallel group, two-condition, superiority trial. Participants were 130 coaches and 919 athletes. Coaches in the intervention group attended two workshops and received supplementary information to support them in adopting a motivationally supportive communication style when discussing doping-related issues with their athletes. Coaches in the control condition attended a standard antidoping workshop that provided up-to-date information on antidoping issues yet excluded any motivation-related content. Assessments of willingness to dope (primary outcome) and other secondary outcomes were taken at baseline, postintervention (3 months) and at a 2-month follow up.Results: Compared with athletes in the control group, athletes in the intervention group reported greater reductions in willingness to take prohibited substances (effect size g=0.17) and psychological need frustration (g=0.23) at postintervention, and greater increases in antidoping knowledge (g=0.27) at follow-up. Coaches in the intervention group reported at postintervention greater increases in efficacy to create an antidoping culture (g=0.40) and in perceived effectiveness of need supporting behaviours (g=0.45) to deal with doping-related situations. They also reported greater decreases in doping attitudes (g=0.24) and perceived effectiveness of need thwarting behaviours (g=0.35).Conclusions: Antidoping education programmes should consider incorporating principles of motivation, as these could be beneficial to coaches and their athletes. We offer suggestions to strengthen these programmes, as most of the effects we observed were not sustained at follow-up.Trial Registration Number: This trial has been registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=371465&isReview=true). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigated athletes' and coaches' beliefs about the role of athletes' entourage in deterring or promoting doping. Competitive athletes and coaches in Greece and Australia took part in semi-structured interviews. Our analysis of the interviews produced five main themes: coach influence, peer influence, doping stance, doping stigma, and entourage's culture. Overall, coaches and peers having a close and trusty relationship with the athletes were considered most influential with respect to doping-related decisions. The majority of the athletes held a strong anti-doping stance but could not articulate why they held this position. This inability could be ascribed to the stigmatization of doping which led to lack of knowledge and anti-doping education. Finally, an anti-doping culture in the athletes' environment was considered central to an anti-doping stance. The study findings provide valuable information towards a comprehensive understanding of the role athletes' entourage can play in shaping athletes' attitudes and decision for doping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: We tested a conceptually grounded model linking athlete perceptions of strength and conditioning and technical coach doping confrontation efficacy (DCE) with athletes' doping self‐regulatory efficacy (SRE), doping moral disengagement (MD), and susceptibility to intentional and inadvertent doping. Design: Cross‐sectional, correlational. Methods: Participants were high‐level athletes (nmale = 532; nfemale = 290) recruited in Australia (n = 261), the UK (n = 300), and the USA (n = 261). All participants completed questionnaires assessing the variables alongside a variant of the randomized response technique to estimate the prevalence of doping. Results: The estimated prevalence of intentional doping in the sample was 13.9%. Structural equation modeling established: (a) perceptions of technical and strength and conditioning coaches' DCE positively predicted doping SRE; (b) doping SRE negatively predicted doping MD; (c) doping MD positively predicted susceptibility to intentional and inadvertent doping; and (d) the predictive effects of coach perceptions on susceptibility to doping were mediated by doping SRE and doping MD. Multisample analyses demonstrated these predictive effects were invariant between males and females and across the three countries represented. Conclusions: The findings show the conceptually grounded model to offer extended understanding of how multiple individuals within the athlete support personnel network may influence athlete doping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mental Toughness (MT) development is an important consideration when seeking to increase and maintain high levels of performance in sport settings. There has been limited research on effective methods to develop MT, and an opportunity exists to incorporate other developmental frameworks in psychology that have shown a positive effect on performance. In this article, we detail a coach-targeted education program aimed at increasing the frequency of desirable mentally tough behaviors (MTb) in elite athletes, which draws on recent work on MTb and an established behavioral coaching model (i.e., GROW) as the guiding framework. The theoretical foundations of behavioral coaching and relationship with improving performance are briefly discussed. We then describe how we applied the behavioral coaching model in a professional team sport environment during the course of a competitive season, including learning points and future considerations for those practitioners looking to develop MT in sporting contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study explored actor and partner effects for Big Five self- and other-ratings (i.e., ratings of the partner’s traits) with respect to relationship commitment. Among a sample of athlete–athlete (i.e., sporting) dyads, actor–partner interdependence model analyses revealed that athletes reported greater commitment to their partnership not only when they rated themselves as highly agreeable, conscientious, or open to experience, but also when they scored their partners favorably on these same traits. Dyad members were also more committed when their partner rated him/herself as highly agreeable and/or conscientious. By modeling actor and partner effects simultaneously for self- as well as other-ratings, these findings provide novel insight into the way that both forms of trait perception align independently with relationship quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various self-report measures based on Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985; Ryan & Deci, 2017) have been developed to assess athletes' perceptions of their coaches' need supportive and thwarting behaviors. We propose that it is also conceptually important to distinguish between coaching behaviors that thwart and those that are indifferent to athletes' psychological needs. This distinction is useful, as we contend that athletes' degree of need frustration, and concomitant negative outcomes, are likely to be more pronounced in a coaching environment that actively thwarts (vs. is indifferent to) athletes' needs. In this three-study paper, we outline the conceptual rationale for, the development of, and initial validity evidence for a tripartite (need supportive, thwarting, and indifferent) measure of interpersonal behaviors of coaches (TMIB-C). In Study 1, we developed 54 candidate items and gathered evidence for their face and content validity with athletes and an expert panel. Competing factor models were tested in Study 2 to determine the best representation of the measure's factor structure. In Study 3, we tested the replication of such models and the nomological network surrounding the identified factors. In Study 2, a 22-item, three-factor structure (supportive, thwarting, and indifferent behaviors) using exploratory structural equation modeling, demonstrated acceptable fit, good standardized factor loadings, factor correlations in the expected directions, and acceptable estimates of internal consistency. This model was replicated in Study 3. Tests of nomological networks showed that as expected, need indifference was a weaker predictor of autonomy and competence need frustration as compared to need thwarting, and the only significant predictor of irrelevant thoughts. Unexpectedly however, need indifference, when compared to need thwarting, was as good a predictor of exhaustion and a better predictor of relatedness frustration. Evidence supports the TMIB-C as a parsimonious and promising measure of athletes' perceptions of coach interpersonal behaviors. Our tripartite conceptualization and measure should be further tested in terms of its predictive utility in order to advance conceptual understanding and intervention efforts targeting interpersonal behaviors in sport, and potentially other life domains. • Interpersonal behaviors were classified as need supportive, thwarting, and indifferent. • A new tripartite measure of coach interpersonal behaviours was developed. • A 22-item three-factor ESEM solution provided the best fit to the data. • Need indifference was operationally distinguished from need support, and need thwarting. • Distinct predictive value of the three interpersonal behaviours is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Athlete burnout is a maladaptive outcome that is potentially detrimental for performance and wellbeing. Cross-sectional evidence suggests that mindfulness might be associated with athlete burnout via experiential avoidance and cognitive fusion. In the current study, we extend knowledge of these hypothesized mediational pathways using a longitudinal design. Data was collected at three occasions with a three-month interval. A final sample of 280 elite Chinese athletes aged 15–32 years (M age = 19.13; SD = 2.92; Female = 130) reported their mindfulness at Time 1, experiential avoidance and cognitive fusion at Time 2, and athlete burnout at Time 3. Structural equation modelling was adopted to examine the mediating roles of experiential avoidance and cognitive fusion on the effects from mindfulness to athlete burnout. We found statistically meaningful directs effects from mindfulness (Time 1) to experiential avoidance and cognitive fusion (Time 2), which in turn influenced athlete burnout (Time 3). However, the direct effect from mindfulness at Time 1 to athlete burnout at Time 3 was non-significant. The indirect effects of experiential avoidance and cognitive fusion on the effects from mindfulness to athlete burnout were significant, providing longitudinal evidence that these two variables contribute meaningfully to the mindfulness-burnout pathway. With initial evidence for the mediating effects of experiential avoidance and cognitive fusion, future studies could consider using experimental designs to examine the potential changing mechanisms of mindfulness on reducing athlete burnout. • Significant effects from mindfulness to experiential avoidance and cognitive fusion were found. • Significant effects from experiential avoidance and cognitive fusion to athlete burnout were revealed. • Experiential avoidance significantly mediated the effect from mindfulness to athlete burnout. • Cognitive fusion also significantly mediated the effect from mindfulness to athlete burnout. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research guided by Self-determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985; Ryan & Deci, 2017) has repeatedly demonstrated the importance of focusing on both the bright (satisfaction) and dark (frustration) sides of the three basic psychological needs. Recently, researchers have also argued for the utility of assessing a third need state, that of "unfulfillment". In this paper, we outline an effort to develop and provide initial validity evidence for scores of a new multidimensional and sport-specific measure, the Psychological Need States in Sport-Scale (PNSS-S), to assess the satisfaction, frustration, and unfulfillment of all three needs. In Study 1, we developed 46 candidate items, and tested evidence for the factorial structure of the responses to the newly developed items, internal consistency and discriminant validity of the subscale scores. Following refinement, the replication of the favored model was tested using an independent sample of athletes in Study 2. Evidence for the nomological network of the subscales of the new measure was also demonstrated in Study 2. Factor models incorporating all three need states showed poor fit with the data. However, following post-hoc modifications, a six-factor model assessing the need states of satisfaction and frustration, separately for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, was found to have good fit to the data. After refinement, the 29-item six-factor model was found to demonstrate good fit, good standardized factor loadings, factor correlations in the expected directions, and acceptable estimates of internal consistency in Study 2. Tests of nomological networks showed that the six need states were significantly predicted by contextual autonomy, competence, and relatedness support/thwarts as expected. Autonomy and competence need satisfaction were significantly associated with engagement; and competence and relatedness need satisfaction were significantly associated with positive affect. In addition, autonomy and competence need frustration were significantly associated with exhaustion and all three need frustration states significantly predicted negative affect. A tripartite conceptualization of the need states was not empirically supported. Nevertheless, the PNSS-S makes a unique contribution to the sport literature, as it represents the first sport-specific measure of six distinct, yet, correlated states of the satisfaction and frustration of autonomy, competence, and relatedness needs. • Psychological need states proposed to comprise satisfaction, frustration, and unfulfillment. • An attempt to develop a new tripartite measure of athlete need states was described. • No empirical support was found for a tripartite conceptualisation of need states. • Lack of evidence for need unfulfillment as the third need state is discussed. • Development and initial validation of a measure of the satisfaction and frustration of athletes' three needs is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]