Do Emotion Regulation Intentions and Strategies Differ Between Situations?

Abstract -The present study examined relationships between actual and desired emotional states, meta-beliefs concerning the utility of distinct emotions, and emotion regulation strategies used by individuals in a sport situation as well as an emotion-eliciting situation from a different aspect of their lives. Participants (N = 924) reported their emotions, metabeliefs for optimal emotional states, and their use of emotion regulation strategies across two broad categories of situations: Before sports competition, and a situation from daily life. Results indicated that prior to competition, high activation emotions such as anger, anxiety and excitement were preferred. In terms of strategy use, analyses revealed greater intention to use of strategies intended to increase pleasant and unpleasant emotions were associated with daily life. In conclusion, results indicated that meta-beliefs for optimal emotional states, and strategies used to regulate emotions vary between situations. We suggest that the ability to regulate emotions in a flexible manner to suit the specific dynamics of various situations is proposed to be helpful in the pursuit of personally meaningful goals and that training of a variety of emotion regulation skills could be beneficial

Exploring the transformative effects of flow on children's liminality and trauma

The process of creating art seems to be a healing as much as an expressive practice for children. Not only are art activities recognized as a necessity for children’s cognitive development, but also as a voice to express the trauma of their distressing experiences. The following article is based on art making as an effective trauma intervention therapy, adding to previous knowledge of childhood trauma and liminality for teachers and health community services. In our diverse, fast changing, challenging times, we need to encourage reflecting and utilising social justice in professionalism to achieve lasting changes in society. Therefore, the authors investigated the concept of “liminality” (a phase of change, transition and transformation) as a framework for understanding how the process of art making soothes “childhood trauma.” Recent research has revealed that the beneficial effects of drawing are due to children entering a time and phase of liminality. Emotions and states such as despair, depression and fear, accompanied by intuitive knowledge, memory, resilience and wellness might be experienced. This leads to an integrative process: while children are drawing, they are completely engaged in a non-verbal activity which needs their total involvement, concentration, imagination and creativity. The healing effect of drawing while in the flow, which helps children with trauma, has been translated from research findings into a poem. This unique contribution to the literature on art therapy’s transformative effects summarizes the results of the above study

A Theories of Practice Perspective in Understanding Barriers to Sustainable Commuting:The Case of UAE

A critical step to mitigate climate change is to reduce automobile pollution emissions. The transportation sector produces 23% of world energy-related CO2 emissions with three-quarters of the emissions coming from road transport, specifically passenger cars and light-duty trucks. The daily commute constitutes a significant portion of the traffic demand in cities, as people’s use of private cars remains an integral part of daily life. Using theories of practice, this paper investigates the range of elements (meanings, competencies and materials) that collectively shapes the practice of daily commuting. Adopting a qualitative approach, the research comprises 21 interviews with UAE residents. Our findings reveal two major insights: (1) “meanings” play a more dominant role in shaping the practice of daily commuting, thus, competencies and materials are integrated in a way that addresses these meanings; and (2) practices are simultaneously interconnected with other practices and often compete for the finite resources of consumers. The paper provides insights to the barriers to sustainable commuting practices and outlines significant opportunities for intervention

Women’s Perspectives on What Helped and Hindered Building Shame Resilience During an Adolescent Eating Disorder

Eating disorders (EDs) in adolescence are serious mental health disorders that commonly have noteworthy medical and mental health comorbidities (Fitzsimmons-Craft, Karam, Wilfley, 2018). Shame has been found to be a significant factor associated with EDs (Burney & Irwin, 2000; Goss & Allan, 2009; Waller, Ohanian, Meyer & Osman, 2000), yet no studies have explored what helps and hinders building shame resilience during adolescence from the perspective of the adult who lived through it. This retrospective qualitative study used the enhanced critical incident technique (Butterfield, Borgen, Maglio, & Amundson, 2009), and the sample of this study included women who received an ED diagnosis between the age of 11 and 21 (N = 10). Data analysis revealed 13 helping categories, 15 hindering categories, and 9 wish list items.shame, shame-resilience, eating disorders, adolescenc

Supporting Academy Football Coaches to Develop Psychological Attributes in Male Academy Players

The overarching purpose of this thesis was to support academy football coaches to better facilitate the psychological development of young players. To achieve this purpose, three empirical studies were conducted, each with a respective aim. Study one (Chapter 3) aimed to first identify the key psychological attributes to develop within young academy players. Building on study one, study two (Chapter 4) aimed to explore the coaching strategies that can facilitate the development of each psychological attribute, and also to examine the observable behaviours that indicate that the attribute is developed. Finally, study three (Chapter 5) aimed to apply the knowledge constructed in study one and two by designing, delivering, and evaluating a sport psychology coach education and support programme at a case study football academy. Study one (Chapter 3) interviewed nine academy coaches who worked within a category one football academy, with eight psychological attributes constructed from thematic analysis of the interviews: commitment to develop, confidence, coping with the demands of high-level sport, drive to achieve goals, emotional control, resilience, self-aware and reflective, and strong work ethic. The findings provide greater direction for the attributes to develop in academy players but also indicate that current frameworks may not fully capture the key psychological attributes players need to develop in order to successfully progress out of the academy. Study two (Chapter 4) interviewed twelve, category one and two, academy football coaches to explore the coaching strategies used to develop each of the eight psychological attributes identified in study one. Fifty-two coaching strategies were constructed across the attributes providing academy coaches with a catalogue of user-friendly strategies to support their players’ psychological development with. Study two also identified behaviours that indicated the successful development of each attribute, knowledge that can help coaches to observe, intervene, monitor, and assess the psychological development of their players. Study three (Chapter 5) involved the design, delivery, and evaluation of a 14-month coach education and support programme with a case study academy: Dock FC. Summary coach interviews indicated that the programme was well received and helped increase awareness and to some degree their application of strategies to support the psychological development of their players. An indirect approach to the programme was taken to reflect the landscape of psychological support in academies present at the time of the study. Summary player focus groups, along with the coach interviews and researcher reflections indicated that this approach worked well, offering a tangible approach for sport psychology practitioners to adopt, more readily, in football academy environments. The research within this thesis offers empirically informed knowledge which extends the extant literature significantly. The thesis provides novel information on: (a) the key psychological attributes to prioritise the development of in the modern-day academy football player; (b) coaching strategies to support the development empirically informed psychological attributes; (c) behavioural indicators of successful psychological development; and (d) the real-world application of supporting academy coaches to develop targeted psychological attributes in the modern-day academy football academy. The insights provided in this thesis may help improve the holistic development that young football players receive throughout their football academy journey.<br/

The induction of positive affect in a community setting using electronic communications.

Objective: To evaluate the influence of positive affect inductions on daily and weekly Positive and Negative Affect Scales (PANAS) in a community setting. Methods: Humor messages were distributed to participants four times per day during a treatment week with general health messages distributed in the crossover week. Subjects completed a series of self-report psychosocial and behavioral survey instruments on a weekly basis and daily PANAS responses. Messages were delivered through either email or SMS/text messages. Results: The daily and weekly PANAS scores were higher during treatment periods compared to the neutral periods. The observed trends were suggestive of successful positive affect induction although the statistical analysis did not indicate statistically significant group differences. Conclusions: The induction of positive affect manipulations in a community setting appears to have potential. Future research with larger cohorts and refined methods to limit missing data may lead to further insights on positive affect influences. There are indications that positive affect may be increased through humor messages in an applied setting

Walking in a Winter Wonderland? The role of weather for older adults’ winter walking practices in County Durham.

Currently we know that as age increases so does physical inactivity, and generally the more affluent an area is the more active people are. We also know that staying physically active through activities such as walking is important for healthy ageing for older adults. This is increasingly important due to an ageing population and the capability of preventive health care. However, in winter older adults are often less physically active citing the weather as something that dissuades participation. However, we currently know very little about how the varied and combined elements that comprise winter weather (precipitation, ice, wind, sunlight, snow, temperature, fog) shape older adults’ perceptions and experience of walking in winter. This thesis explores the role of weather for older adults’ winter walking practices. Both mobile and traditional semi-structured interviews and creative workshops were used to explore the role of the weather for older adults’ winter walking practices. Data collected was analysed using reflexive thematic analysis that facilitated the findings to be separated into four key areas: Winter Weather and Mental Health, Adapting to the Winter Weather, Constructing and Reinforcing Place Based Identities, and Sensing the weather. Overall, the findings show the complexity of how weather, person, and place interact which effect how the participants live within and are physically active with a place. The findings of this study have also informed a set of practical recommendations for people supporting older adults to be active in winter

Evaluating the experience of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in the career histories of elite equestrian athletes.

Equestrian sport has been present on the Modern Olympic programme since 1900 with Para-Equestrian Dressage making its debut at the 1996 Paralympic Games. Due to the combined governance of Olympic and Paralympic versions of the sport, the mixed gender of competition and the potential age range of competitors, equestrian sport provides an opportunity through which to understand a unique context of athlete experience. This thesis has sought to identify and evaluate athlete experience within the context of the Olympic and Paralympic Games and to place this experience within the wider career histories of members of the British Equestrian Team. This study utilised a combination of a systematic literature review methodology and ethnographic data collection and analysis with a critical realist approach, creating a framework that values interpretive insights into how the subjects perceive and construct their world whilst at the same time considering ways in which the literature and individual subjects identify, comment on, and frame the reality of the world of equestrian sport. This study has resulted in the emergence of six themes pertaining to experiencing the games; equestrian sporting culture, identity, values, challenges, performance support and success. Results show many similarities and shared experiences for both the Olympic and Paralympic equestrian athletes. The differences regarding the lived experience for these athletes are predominantly associated with the development of the sport, the relative short Paralympic history of equestrian sport in comparison to the Olympic disciplines, and the place of the Games in the context of the riders career histories. Recognising and understanding the kinds of satisfactions and challenges that individuals experience, the significant features of their athlete identity, and the structural constraints and opportunities of their environment may help identify and design the services and provision required to support the athletes through this elite sporting experience

Flourishing through Communicative Language Learning: An Exploration of University Learners’ Basic Needs, Well-Doing, and Well-Being

In the last 25 years, world language education (i.e., “foreign” or “second” language education) in the United States has seen a meaningful turn toward pedagogical approaches emphasizing communication, contextualization, and culture. This has coincided with the blossoming of recent theoretical perspectives and empirical research centered on language learners’ emotions, beliefs, and well-being. Two frameworks, self-determination theory (SDT) and positive psychology, are leading this exploration. Although these two perspectives have enhanced the discussion around language learning, each has its gaps; positive psychology research and its recommendations for practice do not often agree on what constitutes well-being and flourishing, while SDT, which contributes a cross-cultural empirical framework, often lacks pedagogical recommendations for how to actualize theory into practice. For this reason, this study sought to further the discussion around well-being in language education by employing the robust and established concept of flourishing offered by the Eudaimonic Activity Model (Sheldon & Martela, 2019), which posits that flourishing is not just about feeling well but also engaging in certain ways of living. In other words, flourishing entails well-doing and well-being. A mixed methods research design was adopted to explore the characteristics of university world language education which help learners to flourish. This involved testing a quantitative hypothesis using structural equation modeling based on online survey responses from a large sample of university language learners (N = 466), as well as follow-up interviews with thirteen (N = 13) survey respondents to determine specific environmental conditions conducive to flourishing. A synthesis of the quantitative and qualitative findings indicated that communicative language learning environments, within both formal academic settings and outside of class, were more conducive to flourishing than noncommunicative environments. Four pedagogical themes in support of flourishing arose, which included prioritizing effective, authentic language comprehension and communication, encouraging discussion around relevant and critical themes, integrating service to others into the curriculum, and investing in students’ language journeys. Results from the study support recommendations from the field of world language education that the language acquisition experience is particularly suitable for supporting learners’ human development and well-being

The lived experience of forgiveness/unforgiveness in victims of violent crime : an empirical phenomenological study.

Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.The aim of this study was to investigate the lived experience of forgiveness or unforgiveness in individuals who had been victims of violent crime. 6 participants who had experienced violent crime underwent an in-depth interview (Silverman, 2000) aimed at gathering descriptions of their life world with respect to their experience of forgiveness/unforgiveness. The method used to analyse the transcriptions was Giorgi's (1985) phenomenological method adapted slightly by Wertz (1985 as cited in Giorgi,1985). Findings indicated that the capacity to forgive is associated with the way in which individuals see themselves, others, their world and their perpetrators. Results were discussed with reference to the literature reviewed and an Object Relations Theoretical framework was introduced in order to explain and illuminate some of the findings. The implications and limitations of the study are discussed as well as recommendations for future research