ECSS Paris 2023: OP-SH18
Before kick-off, centre pass, opening tip, and the bell ring, athletes from grassroots to the international stage perform bazar actions which seemingly have nothing to do with their sport. These actions are known as Superstitious Rituals (SRs); actions which individuals believe to be powerful in controlling luck or external variables. SRs are commonplace in sporting environments, whereby the difference between success and failure can be attributed to the smallest variable. It is therefore important to understand how athletes use SRs and how they, in turn, influence the athlete. This study explored the experiences of athletes to better understand how they both view and experience SRs. 16 individual semi-structured interviews and five focus groups were conducted with 30 participants. Three themes were identified during the thematic analysis process: Identifying Superstitions vs Pre-Performance Rituals; The Lifecycle of Superstitious Rituals; and Sporting Classifications & The Influence of Competitive Prestige. The results demonstrate the physical and mental impacts that SRs and Pre-Performance Rituals (PPRs) have on athletes, and how SRs and PPRs differ in their timings and intent. Additionally, how athletes form SRs was found to influence whether they are maintained or disappear once they are perceived to no longer work for their intended purpose. Findings challenged prior SR literature and suggested that PPRs and SRs have been interchanged leading to incorrect identification and measurement across sporting demographics (i.e., professional, team, individual, novice) and occasions. Distinguishing SRs and understanding their impact acts as a foundation for future research into whether these rituals can be beneficial or detrimental to athletes. It places the groundwork for informing grassroot Sunday league coaches, up to the top 1% of athletes, to pull on some ‘lucky’ underwear or ditch that ‘game winning’ shirt number.
Read CV Benjamin MorrisECSS Paris 2023: OP-SH18
Physical education is an important part of university curriculum, aiming at promoting students physical and mental health development. However, in college physical education courses, some students may experience various pressures related to physical exercise in the process of participating in physical activities.This will affect college students physical education curriculum, enthusiasm for participation and their intention to continue to participate in sports activities in the future. Therefore, it is very important to evaluate and analyze the influencing factors of sports stress in college physical education courses.The sample of this study comes from 513 students( (316 male, 197 female) in several universities in Sichuan and Henan, China. In this study, SPSS 27 andAMOS 25 were used for statistical analysis, and exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were used to explore the sports stress scale of college students in physical education courses.The purpose is to fully understand the potential factors that affect college students exercise stress.The results of the exploratory factor analysis indicate that sports-related stress can be extracted into four factors. These factors are as follows:1. Interpersonal Relationship Stress with Physical Education Teachers: 3 observed variable. 2. Behavioral Stress from Physical Education Teachers: 3 observed variable. 3.Academic Stress: 7 observed variable. 4.Training Stress: 5 observed variable. In total, there are 18 observed variable. The overall variance explained by these factors is 83.603% The KMO value is .966. Additionally, the reliability analysis for each variable yields the following results: Interpersonal Relationship Stress with Physical Education Teachers (α = .881),Behavioral Stress from Physical Education Teachers (α = .870), Academic Stress (α = .958),Training Stress (α = .955). The results of the confirmatory factor analysis indicate the following fit indices:RMSEA=.080,GFI=0.810,NFI=912, TLI=.922,CFI=.931. All the standardized factor loading coefficients are above .7. This study demonstrates that through exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis, researchers can explore and validate the fundamental dimensions of sports-related stress. By considering these dimensions, researchers can propose various stress coping strategies to enhance the continuity of sports participation.
Read CV Feng Jun ShenECSS Paris 2023: OP-SH18
Young adult women are at risk for Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), which are highly comorbid. The antidepressant effects of resistance exercise training (RET) are established; however, little is known among young adult women with at least subclinical, or analogue, Generalized Anxiety Disorder (AGAD) with or without comorbid subclinical, or analogue, Major Depressive Disorder (AMDD). PURPOSE: This preliminary analysis of an ongoing fourteen-week randomized controlled trial quantified the comparative efficacy of low versus moderate-to-high intensity, guidelines-based RET on depressive symptoms among young adult women with AGAD with or without comorbid AMDD. METHODS: 22 young adult women (21.7±2.6 y) with AGAD (Psychiatric Diagnostic Screening Questionnaire GAD subscale ≥6 and Penn State Worry Questionnaire ≥45) with or without AMDD (Psychiatric Diagnostic Screening Questionnaire MDD subscale ≥9) were randomized to low or moderate-to-high intensity RET. Following a two-week familiarization, participants completed eight weeks of twice-weekly, one-to-one, World Health Organization and American College of Sports Medicine guidelines-based RET with loads of approximately 20% or 75% one-repetition maximum (1RM). The 16-item, self-reported Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (QIDS) measured depressive symptoms at baseline, end of familiarization (pre-week 1), week 4, 8, and 1-month follow-up. A 2 (group) x 5 (timepoint) RM-ANOVA examined differences between low and moderate-to-high intensity RET. Hedges’ d effect sizes (95%CI) quantified the magnitude of differences in change between groups across time. Cohen’s d effect sizes (95%CI) quantified the magnitude of within-group change. RESULTS: No significant group x time interaction was found for depressive symptoms (F(4,68)=1.46, p=0.223; d=0.70 [95%CI: -0.22 to 1.63]). A significant main effect for time was found (F(4,64)=11.42, p<0.001); depressive symptoms were reduced following both low (d=0.52 [95%CI: -0.48 to 1.51]) and moderate-to-high (d=1.38 [95%CI: 0.49 to 2.27]) intensity RET from baseline to week 8. Antidepressant effects persisted at the one-month follow-up for low (d=0.78 [95%CI: -0.24 to 1.79]) and moderate-to-high (d=1.79 [95%CI: 0.80 to 2.78]) intensity. CONCLUSION: Moderate-to-high intensity RET induced stronger reductions in depressive symptoms, with a moderate-to-large magnitude effect, compared to low intensity RET. However, the difference in change between groups (d=0.70) was not significant, potentially due to the small, preliminary sample size. Both low and moderate-to-high intensity RET induced potentially clinically-meaningful, moderate and large magnitude [within-group] reductions in depressive symptoms, respectively, that persisted at one-month follow-up.
Read CV Darragh O SullivanECSS Paris 2023: OP-SH18