Dorothee Alfermann

Career transitions in sport: European perspectives.

Wylleman, P., Alfermann, D., Lavallee, D. (2004). Career transitions in sport: European perspectives. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 5 (1), 7-20 RAE2008

ISSP Position stand: Career development and transitions of athletes

Abstract The ISSP Position Stand on Career Development and Transitions of Athletes draws attention to viewing athletes from the perspective of their career development and their broader historical and socio‐cultural contexts. The particular focus of this paper is on career transitions as turning phases in career development. Successfully coping with transitions both within and outside of sport allows greater opportunity for an athlete to live a long and successful life in sport as well as being able to adjust effectively to the post‐career. Alternatively, failure in coping with a transition is often followed by negative consequences (e.g., premature dropout from sport, neuroses, alcohol/drug abuse, etc.). Therefore, helping athletes prepare for and/or cope with career transitions should be of primary concern for coaches, managers, athletes’ parents, and sport psychology consultants. In this paper we emphasize the role of contextual factors in career development/transition research and practice. Based on the literature review, we propose six statements and related recommendations for athletes and their significant others, as well as for researchers and consultants

Parental involvement and athletes' career in youth sport.

Abstract Objectives : The purpose of this study was (a) to examine the pattern of involvement of parents in youth sport across career phases and career transitions, and (b) to identify this pattern from the perspective of athletes and both of their parents. Methods and design : The parental involvement in sport questionnaire (PISQ, Eur. J. Phys. Educ. 2 (1997) 167), which measures perceptions of Active Involvement (AI), Praise and Understanding (PU), Directive Behaviour (DB), and Pressure (PR), was administered to 193 young athletes, their mothers, and their fathers. In addition, athletes filled in the PISQ twice over a 12-month interval. They were classified into different career phases according to their level of performance and other criteria. Results : Athletes perceive only low levels of pressure, but high levels of praise and understanding. Mothers see themselves primarily as a source of praise and understanding, fathers give a greater amount of directive behaviour than mothers. Pressure is solely correlated with directive behaviour. Athletes with successful career transition during the 12-month period report a higher amount of parental involvement than athletes with no transition. Conclusions : The results add confidence to the cross-cultural validity of the PISQ. They corroborate the assumption that both parents play an important though slightly different role in an athlete’s career development.

Reactions to sport career termination: a cross-national comparison of German, Lithuanian, and Russian athletes.

Objectives: To assess the cognitive, emotional, and behavioural consequences of sport career termination of national and international level athletes in three nations. Design and methods: Athletes of Germany (n 88), Lithuania (n 65), and Russia (n 101) were asked to describe in retrospect their reactions to career termination. The Athletic Retirement Questionnaire developed by the first two authors and presented in three corresponding languages was used. Planning of retirement and national identity served as independent variables. Dependent variables were reasons and circumstances for career termination, participants’ emotional reactions, coping reactions, athletic identity during and after sport career, and adjustment to life after career termination. Results: Analyses of variance revealed significant main effects of retirement planning and national identity on most dependent variables. Planning of retirement contributed to significantly better cognitive, emotional, and behavioural adaptation. In addition, high athletic identity contributed to less positive reactions to retirement and to more problems in the adaptation process. The emotional reactions of Russian and Lithuanian athletes were similar, but differed from the German athletes who, in general, showed more positive and lesser negative emotions after retirement. Though accepting the reality of retirement was the most often used coping strategy among all participants, Lithuanian athletes showed more denial and Russian athletes more distraction strategies after retirement than the other nations. Discussion: The results are discussed with regard to athletes’ readiness for career transition in different social and cultural environments. Recommendations are given on how to help athletes to prepare for and to cope with career termination.

Career transitions in sport

The transition out of sport prompts an identity change for the athlete. When putting an end to their sporting career, an athlete loses an important part of themselves, particularly if they have been training and competing in their sport for much of their life. This may apply to the youth athlete who will not compete in college, the collegiate athlete who will not compete professionally, and the professional athlete who is retiring. Because athletes spend a great deal of time training and devoting themselves to their sport, they may not have time for exploration of activities or careers outside of sport. This leads to identity foreclosure and a strong athletic identity, which has been associated with difficulty adjusting following sport career termination (Murphy, Petitpas, & Brewer, 1996).

Putting culture into context: Cultural and cross ‐cultural perspectives in career development and transition research and practice

Abstract Within this paper, we address the importance of historical and socio‐cultural contexts in research and practice of athletes’ career development and transitions. We stress that not only sport participants, but also sport psychology researchers and consultants, are infused by their historical and socio‐cultural contexts. This is illustrated by evolutions of career development and transition research and practice in two different countries, Russia and Germany, where cardinal historical and social changes during the last decades illuminated the salience of the contextual factors. We use our European Perspectives on Athletic Retirement Project (e.g., Alfermann, Stambulova, & Zemaityte, 2004) to exemplify the contributions of recent crosscultural studies to a better understanding of athletes’ career termination and adjustment to the post‐career and discuss the lessons learned from the Project. In conclusion, we propose how contemporary methodological approaches in cultural and cross‐cultural psychology may help to develop more contextually sensitive career research and assistance to athletes

Die Messung des physischen Selbstkonzepts (PSK)

Zusammenfassung: Obwohl im deutschen Sprachraum verschiedene Messinstrumente zum physischen Selbstkonzept existieren, stehen kaum Verfahren fur sportpsychologische Fragestellungen zur Verfugung, di...

Single Versus Combined Cognitive and Physical Activity Effects on Fluid Cognitive Abilities of Healthy Older Adults: A 4-Month Randomized Controlled Trial With Follow-Up

BACKGROUND Physical and cognitive activity seems to be an effective strategy by which to promote age-sensitive fluid cognitive abilities in older adults. METHOD In this randomized controlled trial, 70 healthy senior citizens (age 60-75) were allocated to a physical, cognitive, combined physical plus cognitive, and waiting control group. The trial assessed information processing speed, short-term memory, spatial relations, concentration, reasoning, and cognitive speed. RESULTS In contrast to the control group, the physical, cognitive, and combined training groups enhanced their concentration immediately after intervention. Only the physical training group showed improved concentration 3 months later. The combined training group displayed improved cognitive speed both immediately and three months after intervention. The cognitive training group displayed improved cognitive speed 3 months after intervention. CONCLUSIONS Physical, cognitive, and combined physical plus cognitive activity can be seen as cognition-enrichment behaviors in healthy older adults that show different rather than equal intervention effects.

Psychosocial Skills in a Youth Soccer Academy: A Holistic Ecological Perspective

Psychosocial Skills in a Youth Soccer Academy: A Holistic Ecological Perspective Objectives: The latest research in talent development show that more varied psychological and especially social and cultural circumstances play an important role in talent development. This study assumes an ecological approach to explore which psychosocial skills are important in a youth soccer academy and how psychosocial skills are practiced in this particular environment. Method: The research takes the form of a case study. Data were collected from multiple perspectives (in-depth interviews with managers, coaches and players), from multiple situations (observation of training, competitions and meetings) and from the analysis of documents. Results: The findings reveal explicit (being practiced and talked about) and implicit (indirectly practiced and talked about) psychosocial skills in the youth soccer academy and a differentiation between internal and interpersonal psychosocial skills. Conclusions: Important explicit psychosocial skills are motivation, self awareness and the ability to work hard. However, even more important for the young soccer players dealing with the transition to professional soccer seem to be implicit psychosocial skills such as managing performance and process outcomes (internal) and the ability to utilize team skills and general social skills (interpersonal). Despite the fact that the environment expects the young players to display these skills, they are only indirectly practiced. This study demonstrates the interweaving of psychosocial skills and practice in the talent development environment, and thus underlines the social construction of psychosocial skills in elite sport.

Effects of Physical Exercise on Resources Evaluation, Body Self-Concept and Well-Being Among Older Adults

This study addressed the effects of a 14-week moderate physical activity program on resources evaluation, body self-concept and other health-related psychological variables among older adults. In a quasi-experimental design participants were divided into three groups and completed questionnaires twice, before ( t 1) and after ( t 2) the 14-week program. The experimental group participated in a supervised mixed exercise program of moderate intensity. The placebo attention control group took part in a foreign language course. The no intervention control group did not get any intervention/attention at all. The dependent variables were resources evaluation, body self-concept, trait anxiety, and psychosomatic complaints. Using the pretest data as covariates multivariate analyses of covariance revealed significant improvements in body self-concept in the experimental group compared to the control groups. No other significant differences could be detected. Results point to the positive effects of exercise on body self-concept even among older adults.