The design and delivery of stress management in professional sport

The professional arena in which sport performers operate can be a breeding ground for stress. Despite the limited investigation of professional sport performers and their experiences of stress, the research conducted to date suggests that these individuals encounter a range of competitive and organizational stressors that are an inherent aspect of the organization in which they are contracted to operate. These stressors can typically lead to a range of adverse outcomes for well-being and performance if they are not appropriately managed. It is therefore important for psychologists to obtain a stronger evidence-base for understanding these performers’ experiences of stress in this organizational setting. By understanding the ways in which these individuals interact and adapt to their professional environment, this can inform the design and evaluation of organizational stress management interventions aimed to optimise performers’ well-being and performance. In so far that the evidence base for effective organizational interventions is limited, evaluating the effectiveness of organizational stress management interventions in sport organizations will make a strong contribution to psychologists’ knowledge of the conditions by which such initiatives may be effective in this organizational context. To make a contribution to the evidence base in this area, the purpose of this thesis was to examine the management of stress as it is experienced in a professional sport organization. [Continues.

Examining the Predictive Validity of the Grit Scale-Short (Grit-S) Using Domain-General and Domain-Specific Approaches With Student-Athletes

This paper contributes to the debate as to whether grit is best conceptualized and measured as a domain-specific or domain-general construct. In the field of sport psychology, grit has traditionally been conceptualized and measured as a domain-general construct, with the majority of studies using the Grit Scale-Short (Grit-S: Duckworth and Quinn, 2009) to assess grit and its relationships with an array of personality-, performance-, and health-related outcomes. To date, no studies have compared the predictive validity of domain-general and domain-specific versions of the Grit-S with athletes who operate in different achievement settings. In a sample of United Kingdom student-athletes (N = 326, 214 males, 112 females; Mage = 19.55 years, SD = 1.48 years), we examined the degree to which a domain-general version and two domain-specific versions of the Grit-S accounted for variance in two criterion variables that were either situated in an academic context (i.e., emotional exhaustion) or a sport context (i.e., competitive level). Results obtained from a series of hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that an academic-version of the Grit-S explained unique variance in academic emotional exhaustion beyond the variance explained by the domain-general version of the scale, and a sport-version of the Grit-S explained unique variance in competitive level beyond the variance explained by the domain-general version. Results support the adoption of domain-specific approaches to measure grit in specific achievement contexts. Our findings highlight the need for researchers to carefully consider the measurement approaches they adopt when studying grit in individuals who operate across different achievement settings.publishedVersio

Exploring and evaluating the two-factor model of perfectionism in sport

Perfectionism is a multidimensional personality trait with two higher-order dimensions; perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns. The purpose of the present study was to explore and evaluate the two-factor model for the first time using three instruments developed to measure perfectionism in sport. In doing so, we (i) assessed the fit of two-factor models when including and excluding various contentious subscales (other-oriented perfectionism, parental pressure, coach pressure, organisation, and negative reactions to imperfection) and (ii) compared two-factor models to alternative one-factor (or unidimensional) models. Participants were recruited from community and university sports clubs in the UK (N = 527; M age = 18.07 years, SD = 0.49) and completed the Sport-Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale-2, the Multidimensional Inventory of Perfectionism in Sport, and the Performance Perfectionism Scale-Sport. Support was found for the two-factor model, with superior fit displayed each time the aforementioned subscales were excluded and, in all cases, when compared to a unidimensional model. The findings suggest that the two-factor model is an adequate representation of the underlying structure of instruments designed to measure perfectionism in sport with better fit and conceptual clarity offered by more parsimonious models

Utilising the learning in development research framework in a professional youth football club

Underpinned by an ecological dynamics rationale, the Learning in Development Research Framework (LDRF) has been suggested to introduce methodological possibilities to investigate and illuminate: (i) socio-cultural constraints within a sports organization or club, and (ii), a research gap on the need for a more contemporary framework to guide reliable ways of conducting investigations and designing practical applications. To provide a strong justification for the nature of the fieldwork and methods adopted, we present insights from a 3-year and 5-month study at a professional football club in Sweden that adapted the framework as a central feature of their Department of Methodology for player development. A phronetic iterative approach was employed to analyze the data. The findings highlight the nature of constraints acting over varied timescales, transcending contexts to manifest in other contexts (e.g., practice task designs), influencing events and experiences. This indicated a need to dampen (using probes) the influence of the pervasive organizational “control over context” approaches that were acting as “sticky” socio-cultural constraints, shaping the intentions (in session design) and attention (during practice and performance) of players and coaches. A practical implication is that the LDRF does not prescribe a universal solution to player development. Rather that it can guide how researchers, practitioners, clubs and organisations could challenge themselves to adapt strategies to design contemporary athlete development frameworks within their ecosystem

Perfectionism and Grit in Competitive Sport

Perfectionism and grit have both been linked to the achievement-striving process in sport, yet very little is known about the relationships between the two constructs. The present study explored the degree to which perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns predicted two dimensions of grit—consistency of interest and perseverance of effort—in a sample of 251 intercollegiate varsity athletes (Mage = 20.34 years; SD = 2.0). Both perfectionism and grit were conceptualized and measured as multidimensional domain-specific constructs. Results of structural equation modeling analyses indicated that perfectionistic strivings was positively associated with consistency of interest (β = .49, p < .001) and perseverance of effort (β = .92, p < .001). In contrast, perfectionistic concerns was negatively associated with both consistency of interest (β = -.47, p < .001) and perseverance of effort (β = -.66, p < .001). Results indicate that higher-order dimensions of perfectionism (i.e., perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns) are associated with domain-specific aspects of grit in sport. Results highlight the importance of (a) differentiating between athletes’ perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns in sport, and (b) treating consistency of interest and perseverance of effort as separate components of grit. Future research that examines the combined effects of perfectionism and grit on the achievement-striving process in competitive sport is recommended

A systematic review of stress management interventions with sport performers.

The purpose of this review was to systematically identify and evaluate the psychosocial interventions used to manage a component of the stress process in competitive sport performers. Inclusion criteria were devised to select research relevant to the topic area. Studies were assessed for inclusion by examination of their title, abstract, and then full text. On the basis of the outcome of this process, 64 studies were included in the review. These studies encompassed a variety of cognitive (n = 11), multimodal (n = 44), and alternative interventions (n = 9). The results indicate that, in general, a variety of stress management interventions are associated with athletes' optimized stress experience and enhanced performance. The findings suggest that the effectiveness of stress management is moderated by a number of diverse design features (e.g., treatment adopted, stress component outcome measured). These design features are important to consider when designing interventions for athletes of various sports, ages, and competitive standards

Utilising the learning in development research framework in a professional youth football club

Underpinned by an ecological dynamics rationale, the Learning in Development Research Framework (LDRF) has been suggested to introduce methodological possibilities to investigate and illuminate: (i) socio-cultural constraints within a sports organization or club, and (ii), a research gap on the need for a more contemporary framework to guide reliable ways of conducting investigations and designing practical applications. To provide a strong justification for the nature of the fieldwork and methods adopted, we present insights from a 3-year and 5-month study at a professional football club in Sweden that adapted the framework as a central feature of their Department of Methodology for player development. A phronetic iterative approach was employed to analyze the data. The findings highlight the nature of constraints acting over varied timescales, transcending contexts to manifest in other contexts (e.g., practice task designs), influencing events and experiences. This indicated a need to dampen (using probes) the influence of the pervasive organizational “control over context” approaches that were acting as “sticky” socio-cultural constraints, shaping the intentions (in session design) and attention (during practice and performance) of players and coaches. A practical implication is that the LDRF does not prescribe a universal solution to player development. Rather that it can guide how researchers, practitioners, clubs and organisations could challenge themselves to adapt strategies to design contemporary athlete development frameworks within their ecosystem