FEPSAC newsletter (July 2016)

July 2016 edition of the European Federation of Sport Psychology (FEPSAC) Newsletter

FEPSAC newsletter (May 2016)

Welcome to this issue of the FEPSAC Newsletter – Fédération Européenne de Psychologie des Sport et des Activités Corporelles (European Federation of Sport Psychology). FEPSAC 2015 Awards During the 14th European Congress of Sport Psychology held in Bern, Switzerland (14–19 July 2015), Professor Roland Seiler, University of Bern, was bestowed the statutory Honorary Membership during the General Assembly. The Honorary Membership is a major honor, awarded for life and aimed at acknowledging the significant contribution of the honorary member (a) to the attainment of the goals and the advancement of FEPSAC and/or (b) for rendering outstanding service to sport and exercise psychology in Europe. Furthermore, the Ema Geron Award was presented to Professor Dorothee Alfermann, University of Leipzig, Germany and Professor Claudio Robazza, University “G. d'Annunzio” of Chieti-Pescara, Italy for their exceptional national contribution to the development of sport and exercise psychology. Nominations for both honorary membership and Ema Geron Award can be submitted to the secretary-general by either (a) group members, (b) the Managing Council, or (c) the Past-Presidents Council. For the former, nominations are evaluated by the Honorary Membership Committee, which is chaired by the president's appointee and consists of the president and members of the Past Presidents' Council of FEPSAC. For both awards, the Managing Council formulates the final decision on acceptance or rejection of the nominee during its last full meeting before the European Congress of Sport Psychology. News from FEPSAC We are happy to announce that a new FEPSAC book edited by Markus Raab, Paul Wylleman, Roland Seiler, Anne-Marie Elbe and Antonis Hatzigeorgiadis Sport and Exercise Psychology Research: From Theory to Practice will appear in Elsevier in the Summer 2016. The book provides a comprehensive summary of latest research in sport and exercise psychology; encompassing theory, research and applications, the book is organised in several themed sections. Section 1 discusses basic antecedents to performance including fitness, practice, emotion and team dynamics amongst other. Section 2 identifies factors influencing individual performance. Section 3 discusses applied sport psychology for athletes and coaches, and section 4 includes approaches from exercise psychology on motivation and well-being. Forthcoming events The PhD course titled “The integrative role of sport – What can research contribute?” will take place at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark (7th November – 11th November 2016). The aim of the course is to provide PhD students with more in-depth knowledge about research on how sport can promote integration (e.g., amongst migrants, older adults, disabled individuals, gender issues). Furthermore, participants will gain practical experience on how to prepare manuscripts for publication and the ins and outs of the submission process. What editors and reviewers expect from submitted manuscripts will be addressed, too. Students will also have the opportunity to network with international students and experts. The course provides a space to exchange ideas and knowledge about research methods related to the course topic, enabling communication, networking and cooperation amongst all participants. The invited lecturers in this course are Sine Agergaard (Aarhus University, Denmark), Antonis Hatzigeorgiadis (University of Thessaly, Greece), Dominic Malcolm (Loughborough University, UK), Xavier Sanchez (University of Cumbria, UK), Brett Smith (University of Birmingham, UK), and Anne-Marie Elbe, Adam Evans and Gertrud Pfister (University of Copenhagen, Denmark). More information can be requested from the course organizer Anne-Marie Elbe ([email protected]). The 12th Workshop of the European Network of Young Specialists in Sport Psychology (ENYSSP) will take place in Warsaw, Poland (21st and 22nd October 2016) under the theme “Professional development: Where can you take sport and exercise psychology?”. Young scientists and practitioners are invited to participate by submitting short oral presentations, applied sport psychology workshops, and posters (with a £50 Routledge® prize). Furthermore, two keynotes are scheduled including current FEPSAC MC member Dr. Maurizio Bertollo, Associate Professor at the University of Chieti-Pescara (Italy) and Professor Jan Blecharz, sport psychologist and researcher at the University of Krakow (Poland). The workshop is organised by Malgorzata Slawinska and Grzegorz Wieclaw (two graduates of the European Master in Sport and Exercise Psychology, EMSEP), and Agata Kuczynska and Karolina Chlebosz – in collaboration with the University of Humanities and Social Sciences. Further information on ENYSSP website. Master programmes in Sport and Exercise Psychology The University of Thessaly in Greece offers a “European MSc in Sport and Exercise Psychology”. The two-year English programme starting in September will prepare students for both academic and applied fields. Furthermore, students who complete successfully one semester at the University of Jyväskylä (Finland) will be awarded a double degree. The application deadline for this year is the 27th of May 2016. Further information at http://postgrad.pe.uth.gr/pse/index.php/en/. The German Sport University Cologne has launched the new MSc “Psychology in Sport and Exercise”. The programme is in English and begins in October. In four semesters, 11 modules will be taught, comprising aspects of psychology, sport and health from an international perspective and providing the students with the necessary academic knowledge and foundational skills in research and applied fields. Students can apply as from the 1st of June (until the 15th of July). Further information available at https://www.dshs-koeln.de/studium/studienangebot/master/msc-psychology-in-sport-and-exercise/. 20th Intensive Course in Sport and Exercise Psychology hosted in Trikala, Greece By Thierry Middleton, Rolf Drenthe, Marina Pavelic and Iita Pienimäki (University of Jyväskylä, Findland), and Gautam Kumar and Asger Ravn Nissen (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands). In the last week of January, 40 students from 22 countries and 8 different universities traveled to Trikala, Greece to take part in a one of a kind educational experience. Twenty years after the first Intensive Course (IC) of the European Masters in Sport and Exercise Psychology took place in Leuven, Belgium, Professor Papaioannou and his colleagues at the University of Thessaly's School of Physical Education and Sport Science organised an exceptional course by bringing together some of the top-researchers and practitioners of Sport and Exercise Psychology in Europe. The result was a wide variety of topics being presented and discussed throughout the week. This provided a forum for the group of young experts within the field to ask questions and initiate discussions creating an intellectually-stimulating experience for both students and professors. Top researchers and practitioners were invited to teach the students about recent insights in sport and exercise psychology. The lecture topics ranged from life-skills training to exercise addiction and the students were encouraged to stimulate discussions during sessions. This open environment created many intellectual conversations and inspired students to learn more about recent topics in the field of sport and exercise psychology. Their shared experiences were invaluable to those just beginning their careers in applied sport and exercise psychology work. In addition to the lectures, the IC programme also included events outside the classroom. For instance, an official event organised by the University of Thessaly staff consisted of a Greek cultural night on Tuesday evening and a trip to Meteora, one of the largest and most important complexes of the Eastern Orthodox monasteries. The Greek cultural night began with a town hall meeting at which two major projects, which include the involvement of the University of Thessaly as well as the municipality of Trikala, were presented to students and rest of participants attending the event. This was followed by an evening of traditional Greek food, music and dance. This experience allowed students and professors to meet in an informal setting. Looking back on the course we are all so grateful to have taken part in such a wonderful and rewarding journey. In particular, we have been greatly inspired by fellow students and teachers. The relationships forged during this week helped us to establish a network of fellow students and teachers in the same field of expertise worldwide. Finally, we would like to give our thanks and appreciation to the University of Thessaly; they did an outstanding job by hosting this event and made all of us feel very welcome indeed. Last but not least, we would like to express our gratitude to all the lecturers and presenters who provided us with an inspiring learning experience. On behalf of the MC, we would like to thank all those who contributed to the making of this Newsletter. We look forward to receiving more contributions for forthcoming Issues so do not hesitate to send them by email to [email protected]. Xavier Sanchez (University of Cumbria, Lancaster, UK) Julian Fritsch (University of Thessaly, Greece, and University of Copenhagen, Denmark

FEPSAC newsletter (March 2016)

March 2016 edition of the European Federation of Sport Psychology (FEPSAC) newsletter

FEPSAC Newsletter (September 2017)

Welcome to this issue of the FEPSAC Newsletter – Fédération Européenne de Psychologie des Sport et des Activités Corporelles (European Federation of Sport Psychology). 1. B-WISER: Let's support elite athletes' employability and employment By Simon Defruyt (Vrije Unvirsiteit Brussel). As elite athletes are often challenged in their vocational development outside of elite sport, they may be confronted with reduced opportunities in employability and actual employment during, as well as after their elite athletic career. The project ‘Be a Winner In elite Sport and Employment before and after athletic Retirement’ (B-WISER) is a 2-year project, co-funded by the Erasmus + programme, which allows 13 partner organisations from six EU Member States (i.e., Belgium, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden) and 8 expert organisations (The Adecco Group, IOC, IPC, EOC, UEAPME, Schuman associates, Kapito HR, and Unizo) to examine the vocational development of elite and former elite athletes in order to develop best practices. In the opening phase (WP1), the B-WISER project will identify existing structures and measures on the support of ‘elite sport and employment’. Subsequently, in WP2 the project will identify the competences that athletes require to combine ‘elite sport and employment‘, and also the competences they require to successfully make the transition from elite sport to the labour market at the end of their elite sports career. In the next phase, the B-WISER project will examine the added value of employing (former) athletes for employers (WP3). Finally, based on the results of the previous phases, the project will identify, develop, implement (WP4) and evaluate (WP5) best practices in the participating countries to optimize the matching process between (former) athletes and (future) employers. This will allow educational institutions, sport governing bodies, employers and career counsellors in the participating countries to optimize their support and guidance in ‘elite sport and employment’ trajectories. More information can be found on the website www.bwiser.eu. 2. Sport and exercise psychology at the 2017 ECSS congress The European College of Sport Science (ECSS) organizes a yearly congress. At the ECSS Metropolis 2017, a total number of 110 abstracts were submitted in the field of sport and exercise psychology. This equals to a 6.51% of all submissions, resulting in the second highest number of sport and exercise psychology communications presented within the last 8 years of the yearly ECSS Congress (e.g., in 2014 was 7.55%). FEPSAC MC members Anne-Marie Elbe and Markus Raab contributed to the scientific programme with two sessions. Anne-Marie Elbe presented about “Volition in the physical activity context: Measurement of volition and its importance for keeping up regular exercise” in the symposium “Volition in Sport and Physical Activity” chaired by Michael Kellmann from Ruhr-Universität Bochum. Markus Raab was the chair of the symposium “The psychology of judgements and decision-making in sport and exercise” and his presentation was about “The power of simplicity: Why less is more in sport and exercise choices”. Over the past years FEPSAC and ECSS have been working on a closer collaboration and exchanging ideas on how the yearly ECSS Congresses could also become a meeting point for the sport and exercise psychology community. To discuss further collaborations a fruitful meeting between the ECSS board and FEPSAC president Anne-Marie Elbe took place during the congress. As another new initiative a FEPSAC evening took place at the ECSS Congress which was very much enjoyed by all participants. We look forward to the next FEPSAC evening at the ECSS Congress in Dublin in 2018. 3. ISSP congress 2017 FEPSAC would like to congratulate the newly elected President Rob Schinke and the rest of the MC members of the International Society of Sport Psychology (ISSP). FEPSAC is looking forward to a close collaboration between FEPSAC and ISSP. During the recently held 2017 ISSP Congress in Seville, FEPSAC MC member Maurizio Bertollo chaired the FEPSAC invited symposium on “Psychological features and interventions in endurance performance” with contributions by Tadhg MacIntyre, Carla Meijen, Selenia di Fronso, Daniel Gucciardi, Antje Hill and Laura Schücker. Furthermore, Antonis Hatzigeorgiadis and Anne-Marie Elbe contributed to the ISSP symposium on “Transnationalism, mobility, and acculturation in and through sport”. Last but not least, Karin Moesch contributed to the well-attended symposium “Global efforts in developing credentialing systems for sport and exercise psychologists: Four organizational perspectives” (AASP, FEPSAC, EFPA, and ISSP), with the talk “The FEPSAC certification for specialists in applied sport psychology”. Keep an eye on the forthcoming newsletter for a more, in depth overview on FEPSAC's plans for certification. 4. FEPSAC and social media – keep in touch with FEPSAC Facebook (https://en-gb.facebook.com/people/Fepsac-SportPsy/100010095409342). Twitter (https://twitter.com/FEPSAC_MC). On behalf of the MC, we would like to thank all those who contributed to the making of this Newsletter. We look forward to receiving more contributions for forthcoming Issues so do not hesitate to send them by email to [email protected]

FEPSAC newsletter (January 2017)

Welcome to this issue of the FEPSAC Newsletter – Fédération Européenne de Psychologie des Sport et des Activités Corporelles (European Federation of Sport Psychology). 1. European master in sport & exercise psychology – new intake The University of Thessaly in Trikala, Greece, welcomed new students in the European Master in Sport and Exercise Psychology. Students from all over the world interested in Sport Psychology applied for that programme. Eventually, seven students (from USA, Italy, Slovenia, Netherlands, Estonia and Canada) were accepted and arrived in September for this two-year master programme. Amongst them five students will go to Jvväskylä, Finland, during the second semester and, subject to successful completion of the programme, they will be awarded a double master degree. The welcome period to the programme included a short trip to the great rocks of Meteora, a welcome dinner at the old town of Trikala and a journey to the ancient regions of Delfi and Olympia. In the first semester, the programme includes subjects such as Psychological foundations of sport and physical activity, Psychological skills in physical activity and sports, Psychology in physical education and youth sports, and Research Method and Statistics. The staff at the University of Thessaly are very happy to welcome the new students and wish them all the very best and a warm stay in Greece! Note that the deadline for the next round of applications for this master programme is the 31st of May 2017. More information is available at http://postgrad.pe.uth.gr/pse/index.php/en/ 2. Review of the 12th ENYSSP conference held in Warsaw, Poland. By Malgorzata Slawinska (Research department at ENYSSP; Head of organising committee). The 12th ENYSSP conference “Professional development: Where can you take sport and exercise psychology?” was held at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (SWPS) in Warsaw, Poland (21–22 November 2016). The European Network of Young Specialists in Sport Psychology was born in 2003, on the occasion of the 11th European Congress of Sport Psychology held in Copenhagen, Denmark. The aims of ENYSSP are to provide and facilitate support in education, research, professional practice and service delivery to young people with official qualification or an interest in the field of Sport and Exercise Psychology. During the 12th ENYSSP conference, three world class sport psychologists delivered a keynote lecture. Prof. Martin Hagger spoke about changing physical activity behaviour, Prof. Maurizo Bertollo discussed the multimodal psychological approach and Prof. Jan Blecharz shared his experience as a researcher and an applied practitioner in mental preparation for major sport competitions. The 12th ENYSSP conference offered 13 applied workshops conducted in 4 parallel sessions, an oral presentation session and a poster session, which provided an excellent opportunity for learning and further development. The topics ranged from ACT approach to sport psychology consultancy, sport injury, motivational context, relaxation techniques and decision-making to Kinesiotrapping. For the full list of topics please visit http://www.enyssp.com. There was a total of three scientific prizes awarded to best workshop, best poster presentation, and best oral communication. The prizes sponsored by Human Kinetics, Routledge and Palgrave publishers. Congratulations to all the prize winners from conference. The conference saw an excellent number of attendance; 28 nations were represented including most European countries as well as Canada, Taiwan, Russia, UAE, Thailand, Armenia, India and Australia. ENYSSP would like to thank their partners, SWPS, Human Kinetics, Routledge and Palgrave publishers, Polish Olympic committee (PKOL), Polish psychological association (PTP) and Warsaw tourism organisation. Stay tuned for more information on the next ENYSSP workshop 2017 to be held in Bratislava! 3. FEPSAC internship report. By Nathalie Novembrini (Italy). Few months ago a friend suggested me to look on the FEPSAC website to see if there were interesting internship opportunities. He is currently doing a PhD and knew I was considering to follow his path; it would have been a good chance to collect more elements before making a final decision on my future career. Based on both my interests and my friend's suggestions, I finally opted for a sport psychology internship at the University of Copenhagen. I thought it was a great opportunity to become more familiar with quantitative methods and to have a general idea of what doing research is. Honestly, one of the reasons why I chose Copenhagen is that I have always dreamed of visiting Scandinavian countries and this internship allows me to do it while carrying out research in sport psychology. It sounded perfect to me! I contacted the professor in charge of the internship, Dr. Anne-Marie Elbe, who kindly explained to me how it worked and entrusted me to my supervisor, Dr. Johan Michael Wikman, with whom I discussed in more detail the projects I would be working on. I was also lucky enough to find accommodation at a local family, which gave me a taste of Danish everyday life. Coming from Italy, I must say the first impact with Danish habits was quite bewildering, but after a few days I got used to different rhythms of life and everything went well. Something that was of great help was the fact that everyone in Denmark speaks English. It is really encouraging to know that if you need anything you can easily make yourself understood. As for the internship, I carried out different activities: Literature review, hypothesis creation, data clearing and analysis with SPSS. Studying statistics turned out to be more stimulating than I had thought and I was amazed at how my supervisor took into account my interests before giving me any task. Moreover, he was always available to provide me, patiently, with feedback when needed. The FEPSAC internship was a really exciting experience, both from an academic and a personal point of view. On the one hand, it gave me the chance to make up my mind whether to apply for a PhD or not, and to come into contact with well-known professors from different academic fields. On the other hand, I had the opportunity to experience a completely different way of life and meet wonderful people. 4. FEPSAC and social media – keep in touch with FEPSAC Facebook (https://en-gb.facebook.com/people/Fepsac-SportPsy/100010095409342). Twitter (https://twitter.com/FEPSAC_MC). On behalf of the MC, we would like to thank all those who contributed to the making of this Newsletter. We look forward to receiving more contributions for forthcoming Issues so do not hesitate to send them by email to [email protected]. Xavier Sanchez (University of Cumbria, Lancaster, UK). Julian Fritsch (University of Thessaly, Greece, and University of Copenhagen, Denmark)

Toward a Theory of Emotions in Competitive Sports

In this article, we introduce a theory on the dynamic development of affective processes, affect regulation, and the relationship between emotions and sport performance. The theory focusses on how affective processes emerge and develop during competitive sport involvement. Based on Scherer’s component process model, we postulate six components of emotion that interact with each other in a circular fashion: (I) triggering processes, (II) physiological reactions, (III) action tendencies, (IV) expressive behaviors, (V) subjective experience, and (VI) higher cognitive processes. The theory stresses the dynamics of affective processes and describes the consequences for performance in competitive sports. It assumes that the peculiarities of different sports must be taken into account in order to understand the affective processes, and offers starting points on which strategies can be used to effectively regulate affective states. Consequences for research and practice are derived and discussed. To study the development of affective processes, future research should test the assumptions in ecologically valid contexts, such as real competitions or competition-like situations, using multi-component measures of emotions

Examination of construct validity and criterion-related validity of the german motor test in egyptian schoolchildren

Physical fitness is an indicator for children’s public health status. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the construct validity and the criterion-related validity of the German motor test (GMT) in Egyptian schoolchildren. A cross-sectional study was conducted with a total of 931 children aged 6 to 11 years (age: 9.1 ± 1.7 years) with 484 (52%) males and 447 (48%) females in grades one to five in Assiut city. The children’s physical fitness data were collected using GMT. GMT is designed to measure five health-related physical fitness components including speed, strength, coordination, endurance, and flexibility of children aged 6 to 18 years. The anthropometric data were collected based on three indicators: body height, body weight, and BMI. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted with IBM SPSS AMOS 26.0 using full-information maximum likelihood. The results indicated an adequate fit (χ2 = 112.3, df = 20; p < 0.01; CFI = 0.956; RMSEA = 0.07). The χ2-statistic showed significant results, and the values for CFI and RMSEA showed a good fit. All loadings of the manifest variables on the first-order latent factors as well as loadings of the first-order latent factors on the second-order superordinate factor were significant. The results also showed strong construct validity in the components of conditioning abilities and moderate construct validity in the components of coordinative abilities. GMT proved to be a valid method and could be widely used on large-scale studies for health-related fitness monitoring in the Egyptian population

Investigating the relation between positive affective responses and exercise instigation habits in an affect-based intervention for exercise trainers: A longitudinal field study

The present study contains an affect-based intervention intended to support exercise trainers in positively influencing their course participants’ affective responses to their exercise courses. We argue that positive affective responses are associated with habit formation, thereby being a promising approach for avoiding high drop-out rates in exercise courses. First, the present study aimed to investigate whether the intervention for exercise trainers could increase (a) affective attitudes, and (b) exercise instigation habit strength, and influence the development of (c) weekly measured affective responses and (d) automaticity among adult participants of exercise courses. Second, it examined the relationship between the development of affective responses and exercise instigation habit strength. Ten exercise trainers of weekly sports and exercise courses at a German university received either an affect-based intervention or a control intervention. 132 of their course participants answered the Self-Report Habit Index (SRHI; the automaticity sub-scale SRBAI was also analyzed) for exercise instigation habit strength and items to measure affective attitude in the initial and final assessment. Moreover, they were assessed for a duration of 10 weeks during which, each time after attending the course, they reported their affective response to exercise as well as their automaticity in arriving at the decision to exercise. In the repeated measures ANOVA, there was a significant main effect of time for exercise instigation habit strength. Overall, habit strength was higher in the final than in the initial assessment. However, there were no significant differences between the two conditions in all study variables. In the latent growth curve model, the trajectory of the latent growth curve of valence was a significant predictor of the final exercise instigation habit strength. While the applied affect-based intervention was not successful in enhancing positive affective responses to exercise, the results indicate that positive affective responses may contribute to strengthening exercise instigation habits. Future studies should examine the effectiveness of interventions in long-term study designs