ECSS Paris 2023: OP-SH30
INTRODUCTION: Anxiety and anger are emotional states that play central roles in the human affective response to psychological stress and have been increasingly recognized as contributors to adverse mental and physical health outcomes when dysregulated. Therefore, investigations of interventions to mitigate these emotional states are warranted. Aerobic exercise is a non-pharmacological treatment widely recognized for its acute anxiolytic and mood-regulating effects, typically demonstrated in neutral emotional contexts. However, it remains unclear whether such effects are preserved when exercise is performed concurrently with emotionally aversive stimuli, a situation that more closely mirrors real-world stress conditions. The objective of this study was to examine whether a single session of moderate-intensity continuous aerobic exercise, performed simultaneously with exposure to aversive images, could mitigate acute symptoms of state anxiety and anger in young adult women. METHODS: In a randomized controlled design, 52 healthy women (18–40 years) attended two laboratory visits. The first visit included informed consent, health screening, anthropometric assessments, and a graded exercise test. In the second visit, participants were randomized to four groups: Neutral Control, Aversive Control, Neutral Exercise, and Aversive Exercise. During a 30-minute intervention (cycling at 64–76% of maximal heart rate or quiet sitting), participants viewed neutral or aversive images from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS), a widely used tool that includes a broad array of visual stimuli. It comprises hundreds of high-resolution color images designed to evoke emotional responses and encompasses nearly all facets of everyday situations (e.g., sports, landscapes, and violence). State anxiety and state anger were measured at baseline, immediately post-session, and at 10- and 20-minute follow-ups. State anxiety was assessed using the State-trait Anxiety Inventory. State anger was assessed using the State-Trait Anger Inventory. RESULTS: A significant main effect of time was observed for both anxiety and anger (p < 0.05). For anxiety, symptoms increased immediately post-session but returned to baseline, with no main effect of group (p > 0.05) and no significant time × group interaction (p > 0.05). For anger, there was a main effect of time (p < 0.05) and a significant time × group interaction (p = 0.028), driven by an increase in anger in the Aversive Exercise group immediately post-session (p = 0.0001). As expected, no significant effects were detected under neutral conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Concurrent exposure to emotionally aversive stimuli during moderate-intensity aerobic exercise does not reduce acute anxiety or anger in young women and may amplify anger responses. Emotional context may override the affective benefits typically associated with aerobic exercise.
Read CV Claudio de LiraECSS Paris 2023: OP-SH30
Introduction State anxiety, directly manifested in specific contexts with explicit behaviors, may interfere with basketball athletes’ prefrontal cortical function and impair their cognitive control. This study aims to explore differences in cognitive control among basketball athletes with varying state anxiety levels via the AX-Continuous Performance Task (AX-CPT), and further investigate the underlying neurophysiological mechanisms using Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) technology. Methods A 2 (state anxiety level: high vs. low) × 4 (stimulus type: AX, AY, BX, BY) mixed experimental design was adopted. Forty elite basketball athletes were randomly divided into a high-state-anxiety group (n=20) and a low-state-anxiety group (n=20). There were no significant differences in training years, age, or trait anxiety between the two groups (p>0.05). State anxiety was induced through a numerical calculation task combined with reward and social evaluation pressure. The AX-CPT task combined with ERPs technology was used to synchronously record behavioral indicators (reaction time, accuracy) and neurophysiological indicators (P3b, CNV, N2, P3a) of the athletes’ cognitive control ability. Results At the behavioral level, no significant main effect of state anxiety level or interaction between state anxiety level and stimulus type was observed for reaction time and accuracy (p>0.05), while the main effect of stimulus type was significant: the reaction time of AY trials was significantly longer and the accuracy was significantly lower than those of other trial types (p<0.001), with no significant differences between the two groups in the AX-CPT task (p>0.05). At the neurophysiological level, for proactive control indicators, 2×2 repeated-measures ANOVA showed that for P3b amplitude, the main effect of trial type was significant (P<0.001), the main effect of state anxiety level was not significant (p=0.89>0.05), and their interaction was marginally significant (p=0.088); for CNV amplitude, the main effect of trial type was not significant (p=0.187>0.05), the CNV amplitude of the high-state-anxiety group was significantly lower than that of the low-state-anxiety group (p=0.020), and their interaction was not significant (p=0.964>0.05). For reactive control indicators, no significant differences in N2 and P3a components were found between the two groups (p>0.05). Conclusion High state anxiety exerts no significant impact on the behavioral performance of basketball athletes’ cognitive control, yet impairs the neural efficiency of proactive cognitive control and induces a shift toward energy-consuming reactive cognitive strategies. This study provides empirical evidence for the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying athletes’ cognitive regulation under competitive pressure, offering reference value for sport psychological interventions.
Read CV Hongying FanECSS Paris 2023: OP-SH30
Purpose: Perfectionism, a psychological trait characterized by high standards and strict self-regulation in the pursuit of excellence and flawless performance, is composed of multiple dimensions. As a typical aesthetic sport, artistic swimming requires athletes to constantly seek a perfect balance among collective consistency, physical expressiveness, and technical completion. Compared with the general population, artistic swimmers need to pursue excellence and have extremely high demands for perfectionism. Therefore, artistic swimmers are more prone to developing perfectionist tendencies and face more complex and persistent psychological pressure. In recent years, research on the relationship between perfectionism and mental health in the general population has been increasing. However, current research on how the various dimensions of perfectionism affect athletes' mental health is still insufficient, particularly among artistic swimmers. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the relationship between the five dimensions of perfectionism and artistic swimmers' sports motivation, psychological fatigue, and anxiety. Methods: A total of 99 artistic swimmers were recruited from the national and provincial artistic swimming teams in China. The perfectionism was assessed by the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (FMPS). The psychological states of the participants were measured using tools including the Short Form Anxiety Scale (SSAI), the Athlete Psychological Fatigue Questionnaire (ABQ), and the Sports Motivation Scale (SMS). The relationships between the various dimensions of perfectionism and the psychological states of the athletes (such as anxiety, psychological fatigue, and sports motivation) were analyzed via descriptive statistical analysis and Pearson correlation analysis. Results: The dimension of worry about errors was positively correlated with the negative anxiety (r = 0.279, p < 0.01), whereas it had no correlation with exercise motivation and psychological fatigue. The dimension of organization was positively correlated with internal exercise motivation (r = 0.253, p < 0.01), and it was negatively correlated with the sense of achievement (r = -0.268, p < 0.01) and psychological fatigue (r = -0.227, p < 0.01). The dimension of personal standards was positively correlated with internal exercise motivation (r = 0.271, p < 0.01), and it was negatively correlated with the sense of achievement (r = -0.262, p < 0.01). The dimension of action doubts was positively correlated with emotional exhaustion (r = 0.244, p < 0.01), whereas it was positively correlated with negative anxiety (r = 0.293, p < 0.01). The dimension of parental expectations was not correlated with anxiety, psychological fatigue, and exercise motivation (all p > 0.05). Conclusion: The adaptive perfectionism dimensions (organization, personal standards) were significantly correlated with positive psychological outcomes, while the non-adaptive dimensions (fear of mistakes, action doubts) were closely associated with negative psychological states. The parental expectation dimension did not show a significant influence on psychological states of artistic swimmers. These findings provide empirical evidence for the psychological training of artistic swimmers. Future interventional studies should consider adopting differentiated strategies for different dimensions of perfectionism, that is, strengthening the adaptive dimensions while mitigating the negative effects of non-adaptive dimensions.
Read CV qianyi wangECSS Paris 2023: OP-SH30