ECSS Paris 2023: CP-SH01
Introduction: Despite hearing loss being one of the top causes of years lived with disability, most audiological care focuses only on auditory processing deficits and neglects a key aspect of such impairments, understanding speech in background noise. Earlier research has shown that understanding speech in noise (SIN) requires not only increased listening effort but also an upregulation of executive processes. Similarly, prior work has found that higher fit individuals perform better on executive function tasks compared to their lower fit peers. Given that understanding SIN relies on executive functions and, in turn, higher cardiovascular fitness levels benefit executive function, we hypothesized that CRF would be associated with SIN performance. Methods: We recruited 41 healthy adults ages 18-61. Our main dependent variable was intelligibility from a speech-in-noise task where they heard sentences in three different levels of noise (quiet, 0 dB SNR, -5 dB SNR) and had to repeat out loud what they heard. The percentage of correct words were calculated for each noise condition. Participants’ VO2max was measured using a modified Balke protocol and a median split was performed to bifurcate participants into lower and higher fitness groups. We conducted a 2 (fitness group) x 3 (noise condition) mixed ANOVA to investigate whether VO2max levels affect speech-in-noise performance. Results: There was a marginally significant effect of fitness group F(1,39) = 3.63, p = 0.064, η2G = 0.063 such that higher fit participants trended towards performing better across noise conditions than their lower fit counterparts. There was also a significant effect of noise condition as participants performed worse with increased task difficultly (i.e. from quiet to -5 dB SNR), F(1.66, 64.1) = 383.59, p < 0.001, η2G = 0.734. Importantly, there was a significant fitness group x noise condition interaction, F(1.66, 64.1) = 383.59, p= 0.027, η2G = 0.029. Post hoc pairwise analyses with Bonferroni correction showed that the fitness groups’ differences on SIN performance depended on condition difficulty. At -5B SNR, the higher fit participants repeated significantly more correct words (M=58.36, SD=13.69) compared to lower fit participants (M=48.38, SD=14.99) t(39)=2.21, p=0.03, d=0.70. At 0 dB SNR, higher fit (M=86.29, SD=12.40) repeated more correct words than lower fit (M=80.16, SD= 11.24) participants, although group differences were non-significant t(39)=1.62, p=0.11, d=0.51. In the quiet condition, no group differences were observed. Discussion: These novel findings suggest that higher fit individuals perform better in more difficult environments with noisy speech when listening effort is increased. Despite decades of research investigating why some listeners struggle in noise more than others, there remains a lack of beneficial interventions. Improving cardiorespiratory fitness may be a low-cost noninvasive way to bolster hearing health.
Read CV Bridget CareyECSS Paris 2023: CP-SH01
Introduction Artistic athletes in professional ballet navigate a demanding lifeworld where elite athletic performance intersects with aesthetic excellence. This environment creates conditions for mental health vulnerabilities. Research reports elevated anxiety prevalence among professional dancers, yet most studies examine isolated career phases. A comprehensive understanding of how anxiety develops and persists from vocational training through professional employment remains absent. The aim of this study is the identification of factors that influence anxiety experience throughout a professional dance career, providing evidence-based insights for targeted mental health interventions in artistic sport settings. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 professional ballet dancers (6 female, 6 male) with a mean age of 25.3 years (SD=1.8) trained at state ballet training institutions in German speaking countries and are currently employed in professional companies. The interview guide contained questions about anxiety experiences across key career phases: vocational training, transition phase, and ongoing professional employment. Transcripts were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. A combined deductive-inductive category development process enabled systematic data condensation. Results Structural, interpersonal, and intrapersonal dimensions emerge as both sources and manifestations of anxiety that is systematically embedded in organizational structures across the career trajectory. Authoritarian structures, precarious contracts, outdated pedagogy, and absent mental health support generate anxiety. These mechanisms established during vocational training become organizationally normalized in professional settings. Discussion Anxiety manifests as embedded across career phases, necessitating multi-level prevention. Vocational training represents the most critical intervention point. Resilience-building and pedagogical reform can enable systemic transformation as trained pre-professional dancers enter professional contexts. Early intervention could disrupt generational cycles of anxiety-inducing practices. Future research should engage educators, artistic directors, and healthcare providers to integrate evidence-based mental health promotion for populations balancing athletic and artistic demands.
Read CV Hannah Sophia HofmannECSS Paris 2023: CP-SH01
Introduction Facing demands in school and sports settings, burnout among student-athletes is common, and school burnout is especially crucial for them because it is linked with reduced learning motivation and increased health concerns. Anchored in Conservation of Resources Theory (COR theory) (Hobfoll, 1989), the present study aims to examine the mediating role that self-concept clarity plays in the relationship between school demands and school burnout. Second, the moderating effect of sense of belonging with peers on the relationship between self-concept clarity and school burnout is examined. Lastly, the moderated mediation of school demands, self-concept clarity, sense of belonging with peers, and school burnout is explored. Methods This study targeted collegiate student-athletes in Taiwan. A structured questionnaire survey was employed for data collection, yielding 350 valid responses. Hypothesis testing was conducted using hierarchical regression analysis. Results School demands predict school burnout through the mediation of self-concept clarity. Sense of belonging with peers moderates the relationship between self-concept clarity and school burnout. When sense of belonging with peers is at higher levels, the negative relationship between self-concept clarity and school burnout is weakened. In addition, sense of belonging with peers also moderates the mediation effect of self-concept clarity between school demands and school burnout. Discussion The present study supports the moderated mediation of school demands, self-concept clarity, sense of belonging with peers, and school burnout among student-athletes as being valid under the COR theoretical framework. To address the issue of student-athletes’ school burnout, it is suggested that educational institutions foster stable learning environments that prioritize their mental well-being by reducing academic demands through institutional support and flexibility, enhancing self-concept clarity to build resilience, and strengthening peer belonging to promote social and psychological adjustment.
Read CV Yun-Fang ChangECSS Paris 2023: CP-SH01