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Sport psychology as an academic pursuit is nearly two centuries old. An enduring goal since inception has been to understand how psychological techniques can improve athletic performance. Although much evidence exists in the form of meta-analytic reviews related to sport psychology and performance, a systematic review of these meta-analyses is absent from the literature. We aimed to synthesize the extant literature to gain insights into the overall impact of sport psychology on athletic performance. Guided by the PRISMA statement for systematic reviews, we reviewed relevant articles identified via the EBSCOhost interface. Thirty meta-analyses published between 1983 and 2021 met the inclusion criteria, covering 16 distinct sport psychology constructs. Overall, sport psychology interventions/variables hypothesized to enhance performance (e.g., cohesion, confidence, mindfulness) were shown to have a moderate beneficial effect (d = 0.51), whereas variables hypothesized to be detrimental to performance (e.g., cognitive anxiety, depression, ego climate) had a small negative effect (d = -0.21). The quality rating of meta-analyses did not significantly moderate the magnitude of observed effects, nor did the research design (i.e., intervention vs. correlation) of the primary studies included in the meta-analyses. Our review strengthens the evidence base for sport psychology techniques and may be of great practical value to practitioners. We provide recommendations for future research in the area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic brought unprecedented changes to daily life and in the first wave in the UK, it led to a societal shutdown including playing sport and concern was placed for the mental health of athletes. Identifying mood states experienced in lockdown and self-regulating strategies is useful for the development of interventions to help mood management. Whilst this can be done on a general level, examination of sport-specific effects and the experience of athletes and coaches can help develop interventions grounded in real world experiences. The present study investigated perceived differences in mood states of boxers before and during COVID-19 isolation in the first lockdown among boxers. Boxing is an individual and high-contact sport where training tends to form a key aspect of their identity. Boxers develop close relationships with their coach and boxing. Hence boxers were vulnerable to experiencing negative mood, and support via the coach was potentially unavailable. Participants were 58 experienced participants (44 boxers, male n = 33, female n = 11; 14 boxing coaches, male n = 11, female n = 3). Boxers completed the Brunel Mood Scale to assess mood before COVID-19 using a retrospective approach and during COVID-19 using a "right now" time frame. Boxers responded to open-ended questions to capture mood regulation strategies used. Coaches responded to open ended questions to capture how they helped regulate boxer's mood. MANOVA results indicated a large significant increase in the intensity of unpleasant moods (anger, confusion, depression, fatigue, and tension) and reduction in vigor during COVID-19 (d = 0.93). Using Lane and Terry (2000) conceptual framework, results showed participants reporting depressed mood also reported an extremely negative mood profile as hypothesized. Qualitative data indicated that effective mood-regulation strategies used included maintaining close coach-athlete contact and helping create a sense of making progress in training. When seen collectively, findings illustrate that mood state responses to COVID-19 were severe. It is suggested that that active self-regulation and self-care should be a feature of training programmes to aid coaches and boxers in regulating mood when faced with severe situational changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within this opportunity to dialogue in commentary exchange about a previously conceived adaptation model, published in the Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology, we revisit the utility of our model (Schinke et al., 2012a) and consider Tamminen and Crocker's (2014) critique of our earlier writing. We also elaborate on emotion and emotion regulation through explaining hedonistic and instrumental motives to regulate emotions. We draw on research from general and sport psychology to examine emotion regulation (Gross, 2010). We argue that when investigating emotion, or any topic in psychology, the process of drawing from knowledge in a different area of the discipline can be useful, especially if the existing knowledge base in that area is already well developed. In particular, we draw on research using an evolutionary perspective (Nesse & Ellsworth, 2009). Accounting for these issues, we clarify the adaptation framework, expand it, and arguably offer a model that has greater utility for use with athletes in relation to training and competition cycles and progressions throughout their career. We also clarify for the readership places of misinterpretation by the commentary authors, and perhaps, why these have resulted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coping is highly relevant to performance in any domain where individuals strive to attain personally important goals. Thirty-three female national standard adolescent netball players participated in focus group and one-on-one interviews. Participants reported stressors experienced in not only sport, but also in other areas of life. They also reported coping strategies used and factors that might influence the stressor-coping process. Results identified stressors that derived from attempts to achieve highly important personal goals in different areas of daily life, including academic, sport, and social settings. Usage of future-oriented coping strategies such as planning, prioritizing, time-management, goal setting, and problem solving were associated with successfully managing multiple stressors and a sense of well-being. The present study illustrated the potential contribution of encouraging athletes to use future-oriented coping strategies when seeking the attainment of goals across domains. Future research should look to test the effectiveness of interventions designed to promote usage of future-oriented coping strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiday ultra-endurance races present athletes with a significant number of physiological and psychological challenges. We examined emotions, the perceived functionality (optimal-dysfunctional) of emotions, strategies to regulate emotions, sleep quality, and energy intakeexpenditure in a four-man team participating in the Race Across AMerica (RAAM); a 4856km continuous cycle race. Cyclists reported experiencing an optimal emotional state for less than 50% of total competition, with emotional states differing significantly between each cyclist over time. Coupled with this emotional disturbance, each cyclist experienced progressively worsening sleep deprivation and daily negative energy balances throughout the RAAM. Cyclists managed less than one hour of continuous sleep per sleep episode, high sleep latency and high percentage moving time. Of note, actual sleep and sleep efficiency were better maintained during longer rest periods, highlighting the importance of a race strategy that seeks to optimise the balance between average cycling velocity and sleep time. Our data suggests that future RAAM cyclists and crew should: 1) identify beliefs on the perceived functionality of emotions in relation to best (functional-optimal) and worst (dysfunctional) performance as the starting point to intervention work; 2) create a plan for support sufficient sleep and recovery; 3) create nutritional strategies that maintain energy intake and thus reduce energy deficits; and 4) prepare for the deleterious effects of sleep deprivation so that they are able to appropriately respond to unexpected stressors and foster functional working interpersonal relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social psychology researchers have proposed a social-functional approach to emotions whereby emotions coordinate people's behaviour to meet the shared challenges in their environment [Keitner, D., Haidt, J., & Shiota, M.N. (2006). Social-functionalism and the evolution of emotions. In M. Schaller, J.A. Simpson, & D.T. Kenrick (Eds.), Evolution and social psychology (pp. 115-142). Madison, CT: Psychosocial Press]. Despite the social nature of sport, a social-functional approach to emotions has yet to be studied in this context. The purpose of the present study was to explore how the social functions of emotions might inform two ice hockey captains' decisions to regulate teammates' emotions. A narrative analysis revealed how the athletes' decisions if, when or how to regulate their teammates' emotions might be situated within a social-functional approach to emotions. Although the emotions evoked, the strategies used, and the social environment was constantly changing, the narratives illustrated the underlying social functions of emotions within each social context [Keltner, D., & Haidt, J. (1999). Social functions of emotions at four levels of analysis. Cognition and Emotion, 13, 505-521. doi:10.1080/ 026999399379168]. Specifically, at the individual level, participants described how emotions informed them of important circumsmnces in their environment that required attention and helped them prepare for such challenges. At a dyadic level, emotions helped participants gauge the emotional states and intentions of their teammates contributing towards an assessment of the extent to which they were prepared to face their challenges. At a group level, emotions helped participants lead their teammates in meeting shared goals. Finally, at a cultural level, emotions helped participants maintain culture-related identities. Findings illustrated the social functions naturally served by emotions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objectives: Three studies examine the factorial validity, internal consistency, test–retest stability, and criterion validity of the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ: ) for use with athletes. Design: Factorial validity, internal consistency, test–retest stability and criterion validity of the ERQ were examined over three stages, using three separate samples. Method: In stage 1 the factorial validity and internal consistency of the ERQ subscales were examined based on responses from 433 sport participants. In stage 2, 176 sport participants completed the ERQ on two occasions separated by an interval of two weeks. In stage 3, the criterion validity of the ERQ was examined. Sport participants (n = 88) completed the ERQ and reported the intensity, frequency and direction of a range of emotions experienced when competing in sport. Results: Confirmatory factor analysis results lend some support to a two-factor model when reappraisal and suppression are allowed to correlate. Alpha coefficients were acceptable. Test–retest stability analyses indicated poor agreement and a greater influence of situational, as opposed to trait factors, in the variance of item scores on the second test administration. In addition, results were partially consistent with findings of : reappraisal scores were associated with pleasant emotions, but suppression scores were not associated with unpleasant emotions. Conclusion: Results provide mixed support for the validity of the ERQ in sport. Because the ERQ is intended to assess stable patterns of emotion regulation, the instability of items is a concern and reasons for this require further investigation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The assessment of an athlete's mental strengths and weaknesses can be a key role for a sport psychologist. Sport psychologists work with athletes for a number of different reasons one of which is to try to improve performance by helping an athlete prepare mentally. The present article examines considerations when measuring athletes' mental states. Self-report is the commonly used method but is limited by its subjective nature. Individuals might be genuinely unclear on how they are feeling, and consequently can only provide an estimate. Test interpreters should be cognisant of the inherent subjectivity in completed self-report measures. Test developers however attempt to reduce error measurement through the use of rigorous validation studies that require large samples and analyse data using theory-led methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research suggests that appropriately-tailored interventions can assist adolescents enhance their coping skills (Frydenberg and Lewis, 2004). The present paper reflects upon the delivery of a longitudinal coping intervention utilized by junior national netball players. Reflection is focused on issues such as the rationale for the intervention, operational issues surrounding the delivery and management of the work. It is also focused on interpersonal issues relating to intervention implementation. We contend that being explicit about developmental and applied processes may enable theoretically sound and efficacious practices to be identified. In addition, unpacking operational issues related to delivery may assist applied sport and exercise psychologists in the development of related work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relationships between self-report trait emotional intelligence and psychological skills were investigated. Male athletes (54) completed the Emotional Intelligence Scale (EIS; Schutte et al., 1998) and the Test of Performance Strategies (TOPS; Thomas, Murphy, & Hardy, 1999). Canonical correlation results suggested psychological skills used in both competition and in practice relate to perceptions of emotional intelligence (Practice: Canonical R = .69, p < .001; Competition: Canonical R = .67, p < .01). Specifically, self-talk, imagery, and activation in both practice and competition were associated with perceptions of the appraisal of others' emotions and the ability to regulate emotions. The direction of relationships showed that individuals reporting frequent use of psychological skills also reported stronger perceptions of emotional intelligence. Future researchers should seek to establish the direction of relationships by investigating whether increased psychological skills use is associated with enhanced emotional intelligence or vice versa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examined the relationship between emotional intelligence and coaching efficacy. Ninety-nine coaches completed the Emotional Intelligence Scale and the Coaching Efficacy Scale with the results of the canonical correlation suggesting significant relationships between the two sets of variables. Regression analyses suggested motivation efficacy to be significantly associated with the regulation of emotions and social skills, whereas character-building efficacy was associated with optimism. Teaching technique efficacy was significantly associated with appraisal of own emotions with no significant predictors for game strategy efficacy. When viewed collectively, results provide an insight to how emotional intelligence relates to coaching efficacy and gives an indication to where applied work with coaches may be directed. Future research suggestions are also provided in reference to coach-related psychology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examined Lane and Terry's (2000) conceptual model in the sport of wakeboarding. We hypothesized that depressed mood would be associated with high anger, confusion, and fatigue, with low vigor, and poor performance. We argued that there would be no significant difference in the number of points set as a goal. Fifty-one wakeboarders completed the 24-item Brunel Mood Scale (BRUMS: Terry, Lane, Lane, & Keohane, 1999) within 1 hr. of competition. Based on scores on the BRUMS depression subscale, participants were dichotomized into a no-depression group (n = 31) or a depressed mood group (n = 20). Goal difficulty was assessed by comparing the number of points that participants set as a goal for the impending competition with the previous best points score. Performance was assessed by calculating the difference in points scored in the current competition with personal best. MANOVA results indicated that the depressed mood was associated with poor performance coupled with anger, confusion, and fatigue. Findings demonstrated that there was no significant difference in the difficulty of the goal. Depressed mood moderated relationships between goal difficulty, other mood states and performance. A difficult goal was associated with vigor in the No-depression group, but was associated with low anger in the depressed mood group. Findings lend support to the notion that mood serves a signal function to the individual that indicates the perceived likelihood of success and failure. Findings show that depressed mood fosters a negative psychological state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examined the relationship between pre-competition mood and performance at the Worm Student Games basketball competition. The purpose of the study was to compare mood and performance relationships using an idiographic (within-subject) design with mood and performance relationships using a cross-sectional (between-subject) design. Players from the United Kingdom basketball team (N = 10) completed the 24-item Profile of Mood States-Adolescents (Terry, Lane, Lane, & Keohane, 1999) I hour before competition for eight games. Participants completed a Performance Satisfaction questionnaire I hour after each game. Results indicated that the predictive power of mood was highly individualized. Within-subject analysis identified five players whose mood significantly related to performance. Data from these five players were grouped and regression analysis on this group indicated that mood significantly predicted 40% of performance variance. By contrast, mood showed no association with performance in the five other players. Multiple regression on data porn all 10 players indicated mood accounted for only 9% of performance variance. We suggest that future research is needed to investigate factors such as personality and/or previous experiences that might account for individual differences in the strength of mood-performance relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reexamines some of the findings of researchers M.V. Jones and colleagues concerning mood and performance relationship in sport. Conceptual issues in sports psychology; Validity of the Profile of Mood States in sports; Difference between mood and emotion.

Recent experimental evidence suggests that the noise of a partisan home crowd may influence soccer officials to make an imbalance of decisions in favor of the home side (Nevill, Balmer, & Williams, 2002). The purpose of the present study was to test the notion that biased decisions in favor of the home team are associated with increased anxiety and arousal due to increased difficulty of making accurate decisions when refereeing in the presence of crowd noise. Using the same video footage used by Nevill et al. (2002), 26 participants recorded decisions when fouls occurred. Participants completed the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory--2 immediately after performing the refereeing task. Degree of mental effort was recorded using self-report and physiological measures. Logistic regression indicated that participants were biased in favor of the home team in their evaluation of fouls carried out by one visiting and one home team. Significant relationships were found between decision bias and increases in cognitive anxiety and mental effort with crowd noise. Hierarchical regression indicated that mental effort and cognitive anxiety combined to account for 36% of the variance in decision bias. Results suggest that crowd noise is associated with increased anxiety and mental effort, and that referees attempt to cope with this increased anxiety and effort by giving a more popular decision in favor of the home team. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]