Normative values for the profile of mood states for use with athletic samples

The Profile of Mood States (POMS) has been used extensively for the assessment of mood in the sport and exercise environments. The purpose of the study was to develop tables of normative values based on athletic samples. Participants (N = 2,086), comprising athletes at the international (n = 622), club (n = 628), and recreational (n = 836) levels, completed the POMS in one of three situations: pre-competition/exercise, post-competition/exercise, and away from the athletic environment. Differences between the athletic sample and existing norms were found for all mood subscales. Main effects of level of competition and situation were identified. The results support the proposition that the use of the original tables of normative values in sport and exercise environments is inappropriate

Re-evaluation of the factorial validity of the Revised Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2

Anxiety is one of the most frequently researched constructs in the field of sport and exercise psychology. Although there are at least 22 published scales available to measure anxiety (see Ostrow, 1996), the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2: Martens, Burton, Vealey, Bump, & Smith, 1990) has generally been the scale of choice since its development. Given its prominence as a research tool, indeed it was described by Woodman and Hardy (2003, p.453) as having 'near sine qua non status', the CSAI-2 has naturally been the subject of considerable scrutiny of its psychometric characteristics. Several studies have now been published which have raised concerns about the factorial validity of the CSAI-2 in its English (Cox, Martens, & Russell, 2003; Lane, Sewell, Terry, Bartram, & Nesti, 1999), Greek (Tsorbatzoudis, Varkoukis, Kaissidis-Rodafinos, & Grouios, 1998), and Swedish (Lundqvist & Hassmen, in press) versions. Collectively, reevaluations of its psychometric properties have raised serious doubts about the validity of the CSAI-2 in its original form and by implication have cast a shadow over the findings of dozens of studies that have used it to measure anxiety. To address this situation, Cox et al. (2003) conducted a two-stage process using calibration and validation samples to arrive at an improved measure. Having deleted problematic items in the original CSAI-2 and having subsequently supported the factorial validity of a revised version of the measure, termed the CSAI-2R, they recommended that researchers and clinicians should in future use the revised measure in preference to the original. The purpose of the present study was to re-evaluate the factorial validity of the CSAI-2R, as recommended by Cox and colleagues. Considering the potential for the revised measure to become the new scale of choice for researchers in the sport and exercise domains, this is judged to be an important contribution to the anxiety literature

Evidence base and applications of music in elite sport

A recent meta-analysis of 107 studies (Terry et al., in press) showed that music is associated with significant beneficial effects on feelings, perceived exertion, performance, heart rate, and oxygen consumption. Effects were moderated by physical activity domain, with benefits of music being greater in exercise settings than sport settings; by physical activity intensity, with benefits being greater for low-moderate intensity activity than high intensity activity; and by training status, with untrained participants deriving more benefits from music than trained participants. No significant moderation was evident for the gender or age group of participants, music type (lyrical, instrumental), music selection (self-selected, researcher-selected), music delivery (pretask, synchronous, asynchronous), study setting (field, laboratory), or type of physical activity (cycling, running, walking, other; weight-bearing, non-weight-bearing). This empirical evidence base is augmented by many anecdotal reports from successful athletes documenting how they have used music to good effect in elite competition. Among the highest profile devotees of music in sport, swimmer Michael Phelps, the most successful Olympian of all time, habitually listens to music until about two minutes before his races start and has attributed part of his phenomenal success to this practice. The aim of this presentation is to provide a framework for how music can be applied in elite sport and to offer a range of applied examples. Exemplars of using music to inspire and/or to manipulate pre-competition mindset are presented from several Olympic sports. The potential role of music in rehabilitation from injury is exemplified, based on work with a six-time kayak world champion incapacitated by chronic fatigue syndrome and unable to compete. Innovative uses of technology to enhance the effects of music are presented and discussed. The evidence-based framework and examples described in this presentation offer practical tips for applied sport psychology practitioners when implementing music interventions with elite athletes

Hall mobility enhancement caused by annealing of Si0.2Ge0.8/Si0.7Ge0.3/Si(001) p-type modulation-doped heterostructures

The effect of post-growth furnace thermal annealing (FTA) on the Hall mobility and sheet carrier density measured at 9–300 K in the Si0.2Ge0.8/Si0.7Ge0.3/Si(001) p-type modulation-doped heterostructures was studied. FTA treatments in the temperature range of 600–900 °C for 30 min were performed on similar heterostructures but with two Si0.2Ge0.8 channel thicknesses. The annealing at 600 °C is seen to have a negligible effect on the Hall mobility as well as on the sheet carrier density. Increases in the annealing temperature resulted in pronounced successive increases of the mobility. For both samples the maximum Hall mobility was observed after FTA at 750 °C. Further increases of the annealing temperature resulted in a decrease in mobility. The sheet carrier density showed the opposite behavior with an increase in annealing temperature. The mechanism causing this behavior is discussed. Structural characterization of as-grown and annealed samples was done by cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy

Psychological models of sporting injury: Janos Selye revisited

A recent model, the Cumulative Stress and Training Continuum Model, emphasizes the complex interactions between psychological, social and physical factors. Such an approach helps to explain how apparently non-significant factors can exert disproportionate effects on injury risk in high stress states. This presentation synthesises psychological models of injury into the same framework and explains some of the processes leading to sport injuries and syndromes characterised by unexplained underperformance. Injury in sport is something of an occupational hazard, with a reported annual incidence among athletes of 30% – 70%. Many injuries are due to human error and/or overload of performance capacities, and are therefore preventable. Most of the models draw directly or indirectly on Selye’s General Adaptation Theory, although the lax use of terminology frequently obscures this. The unique contribution of the present synthesis is that, being inclusive and holistic, it provides a unifying paradigm for research and application. To address the high incidence of injuries among athletes at the Queensland Academy of Sport, a Cognitive-Behavioural Stress Management program has been developed and is being tested. The program teaches stress management skills, including breathing optimisation, muscular relaxation, cognitive restructuring, plus recovery-related and performance-related imagery. The program is introduced over a two-week period and is also provided on MP3 players for daily utilisation. Athletes are monitored over a 10-week period using salivary cortisol and psychometric measures of perceived stress, life events, mood, and stress recovery. Injury characteristics and time lost from planned training is recorded. Pilot results will be presented

Issues on the molecular-beam epitaxial growth of p-SiGe inverted-modulation-doped structures

The influence of boron segregation and silicon cap-layer thickness on two-dimensional hole gases (2-DHGs) has been investigated in Si/Si0.8Ge0.2/Si inverted-modulation-doped heterostructures grown by solid-source molecular-beam epitaxy. Boron segregation, which is significant in structures with small spacer layers, can be suppressed by growth interruption after the boron doping. How growth interruption affected the electrical properties of the 2-DHG and the boron doping profile as measured by secondary ion mass spectroscopy are reported. We report also on the role played by the unpassivated silicon cap, and compare carrier transport at the normal and inverted interfaces

Effects of synchronous music on treadmill running among elite triathletes

This is the post-print version of the final paper published in Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport. The published article is available from the link below. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. Copyright @ 2011 Elsevier B.V.Objectives: Music can provide ergogenic, psychological, and psychophysical benefits during physical activity, especially when movements are performed synchronously with music. The present study developed the train of research on synchronous music and extended it to elite athletes. Design: Repeated-measures laboratory experiment. Method: Elite triathletes (n = 11) ran in time to self-selected motivational music, a neutral equivalent and a no-music control during submaximal and exhaustive treadmill running. Measured variables were time-to-exhaustion, mood responses, feeling states, RPE, blood lactate concentration, oxygen consumption and running economy. Results: Time-to-exhaustion was 18.1% and 19.7% longer, respectively, when running in time to motivational and neutral music, compared to no music. Mood responses and feeling states were more positive with motivational music compared to either neutral music or no music. RPE was lowest for neutral music and highest for the no-music control. Blood lactate concentrations were lowest for motivational music. Oxygen consumption was lower with music by 1.0%–2.7%. Both music conditions were associated with better running economy than the no-music control. Conclusions: Although neutral music did not produce the same level of psychological benefits as motivational music, it proved equally beneficial in terms of time-to-exhaustion and oxygen consumption. In functional terms, the motivational qualities of music may be less important than the prominence of its beat and the degree to which participants are able to synchronise their movements to its tempo. Music provided ergogenic, psychological and physiological benefits in a laboratory study and its judicious use during triathlon training should be considered.QAS Centre of Excellence for Applied Sport Science Researc

Development and initial validation of the Italian Mood Scale (ITAMS) for use in sport and exercise contexts

The current study presents initial validation statistics for the Italian Mood Scale (ITAMS), a culturally- and linguistically-validated Italian version of the Brunel Mood Scale (BRUMS: Terry and Lane, 2010). The ITAMS was administered to 950 sport participants (659 females), who ranged in age from 16 to 63 years (M = 25.03, SD = 7.62). In the first stage of the validation process, statistical procedures in Mplus were used to evaluate the measurement model. Multigroup exploratory structural equation modeling supported the hypothesized 6-factor measurement model for males and females separately and for the combined sample. Analysis of the scale scores using SPSS provided further support for the construct validity of the ITAMS with hypothesized relationships observed between ITAMS scores and measures of depression and affect. The development and validation of the ITAMS opens the way for mood-related research and sport or exercise interventions requiring mood assessments, in an Italian-language context