Graig M. Chow

Using goal orientations to understand motivation in strength training.

Gilson, TA, Chow, GM, and Ewing, ME. Using goal orientations to understand motivation in strength training. J Strength Cond Res 22: 1169-1175, 2008-Despite the importance that todays athletics place on strength training, research exploring the motivation of athletes in this arena is sparse. It is known that not all athletes will use the same motivational cognitions as inspiration, and these differences can be explored through achievement goal orientations. Through questionnaire data and semistructured interviews, the present study investigated how collegiate athletes maintain high levels of motivation over a period of time during strength training and explored relationships among five goal orientations: task-orientation, self-enhancing ego-orientation, self-defeating ego-orientation, social-approval orientation, and work-avoidance orientation. Subjects (N = 133), comprising 90 men and 43 women, were current varsity collegiate athletes from 15 different sports at a major Midwestern university. In addition, using a screener survey to assess achievement goal orientations, 15 subjects from the sample group who demonstrated a stronger inclination to only one achievement goal orientation were interviewed to gain a more in-depth understanding of their motivation cognitions in strength training. Results showed that the strongest achievement goal orientations reported from all athletes were task-orientation and social-approval. Additionally, five higher-order themes (significant others, improvement, competitive demands, being stronger than others, and miscellaneous) were consistent among the interviewed athletes when describing how they stay motivated during strength training. Whereas all athletes were able to describe at least one motivational strategy they employed during strength training, the dominant achievement goal orientation of some athletes influenced their motivational strategy. By employing the T.A.R.G.E.T. model (1), strength coaches can foster adaptive achievement goal orientations and thereby enhance intrinsic motivation for athletes engaging in strength training.

Examining the Influence of Team-Referent Causal Attributions and Team Performance on Collective Efficacy: A Multilevel Analysis

This study examined the relationship between team-referent attributions, team performance, and collective efficacy beliefs in recreational sport teams. A total of 248 recreational volleyball players from 45 different coed teams participated in the study. Participants completed a subjective performance measure and the Causal Dimension Scale for Teams directly following a match and then completed the Collective Efficacy Questionnaire for Sports prior to their subsequent game. Using hierarchical linear modeling, it was found that both objective and subjective measures of performance positively predicted collective efficacy at the team level. In addition, stability negatively predicted collective efficacy beliefs; however, this relationship was moderated by objective performance.

Exploring the relationships between collective efficacy, perceptions of success, and team attributions

Abstract We examined the influence of collective efficacy and subjective interpretations of success/failure on team causal attributions. The participants were 71 male and female high school athletes on 20 track relay teams. Before a selected competition, participants completed a collective efficacy questionnaire. Then, immediately after their race, they were administered a modified version of the revised Causal Dimension Scale-II. A multi-level framework was employed to assess collective efficacy as an individually held perception and as a shared team belief. The individual perceptions of team success/failure significantly predicted the locus of causality and stability dimensions, whereas aggregated collective efficacy emerged as a significant team level predictor of average stability. Individual perceptions of collective efficacy were significantly related to team control and this relationship was moderated by the sex of the team. The findings indicate that collective efficacy beliefs held by athletes and teams prior to a competition influence the formation of post-competition team attributions in sport.

Piloting A Family-Supported Approach to Concurrently Optimize Mental Health and Sport Performance in Athletes

Participation in sports offers exceptional pro-social opportunities. However, sport participation also contributes to uniquely experienced stressors that may interfere with athletes’ achievement in sports and mental health. In this study, we describe the initial process of empirically developing The Optimum Performance Program in Sports (TOPPS). We first review the need to adapt evidence-based behavioral interventions to optimize mental health in athletes. We then review the innovative features of TOPPS and report the results of our initial piloting of TOPPS in a series of case trials. Throughout this developmental process, we underscore our methods of addressing obstacles (e.g., stigma) that appear to have influenced the conspicuous absence of performance programming specific to mental health optimization in athletes. Recommendations are offered in light of the results.

A Systematic Case Examination of The Optimum Performance Program in Sports in a Combat Sport Athlete

The integration of athletics into higher education enriches the experience of student-athletes, and the advantages are both immediate and lifelong. However, it is well-documented that athletes experience unique stressors, and a deficiency exists of evidence-supported programs to concurrently promote goal achievement in mental health and sport performance. Therefore, this case examination reviews efficacious implementation of The Optimum Performance Program in Sports (TOPPS) in a collegiate combat sport athlete evidencing alcohol dependence and concurrent elevations in mental health symptoms. An AB experimental design with follow-up assessments was utilized to determine the influence of intervention on the participant’s substance use, mental health, HIV/sexually transmitted infection (STI) risk behavior (i.e., unsafe sexual practices), relationships, and factors identified to interfere with sport performance. Unique to existing campus counseling programs, TOPPS incorporated significant other support to assist in goal accomplishment. The intervention program included innovative components that were built upon evidence-supported Family Behavior Therapy protocols, including Cultural Enlightenment, Dynamic Goals and Rewards, Performance Planning, Environmental Control, Self-Control, Reciprocity Awareness, and Positive Request. Intervention components were evaluated to be reliably implemented. The participant reported substantial improvements in mental health and reduced substance use from baseline to post-intervention assessment, and these improvements were sustained at 1- and 3-month follow-up assessments. Future directions in performance programming with student-athletes are discussed in light of the results including the incorporation of significant others in the intervention plan.

Results of a Single Case Controlled Study of The Optimum Performance Program in Sports in a Collegiate Athlete

In this study, a sport-specific adaptation of Family Behavior Therapy (i.e., The Optimum Performance Program in Sports [TOPPS]) in a collegiate athlete was examined, including a controlled evaluation of several of its intervention components utilizing multiple-baseline methodology. After a 3-week baseline consisting of program orientation, cultural enlightenment, and goal development was established for unsafe sexual practices, alcohol binge drinking (four or more drinks per occasion), and teammate relationships, the participant was sequentially and cumulatively exposed to three distinct intervention phases across 12 meetings. In the first phase, a Dynamic Goals and Rewards intervention was implemented with the intention of reducing unsafe sexual practices. In the second phase, alcohol avoidance was additionally targeted through Goal Inspiration (Consequence Review; that is, a motivational enhancement exercise), Self-Control, and Environmental Control. The third phase focused on teammate relationships using Communication Skills Training while the aforementioned target areas continued to be addressed. A brief probe assessment was administered immediately before each intervention meeting to assess frequency of unprotected sex, frequency of binge drinking, and relationship problems with teammates. Results indicated that each of the target behaviors reduced substantially, but only after they were targeted. The participant’s scores on a standardized measure of troublesome thoughts and stress substantially decreased across intervention meetings. Various mental health and sport performance outcome measures, in addition to the aforementioned target areas, improved up to 5 months post-intervention.

Relationship between General and Sport-Related Drinking Motives and Athlete Alcohol Use and Problems

Abstract Objective: Alcohol use (and adverse consequences due to alcohol use) among college student-athletes is a common occurrence and consequently garners attention as a health concern within athletic departments and the NCAA. One of the strongest predictors of alcohol use in athletes is motivation to drink. However, not much is known about the influence of alcohol use motivations on drinking in collegiate athletes. Therefore, this study examined the influence of sport-related and general drinking motives on alcohol use and alcohol-related problems. Method: Participants were female collegiate softball players (N = 721) from 62 NCAA teams. Athletes completed the Athlete Drinking Scale (Martens et al., 2005), the Drinking Motives Questionnaire, revised (Cooper, 1994; Cooper et al., 1992), alcohol consumption measures, and the Rutgers Alcohol Problems Index (White & Labouvie, 1989). Multilevel modeling was used to analyze the data. Results: Higher scores on Positive Reinforcement motives were associated with greater alcohol consumption, heavy episodic drinking, and alcohol-related problems. Enhancement motives were positively associated with heavy episodic drinking and alcohol-related problems, while Coping motives were positively associated with alcohol-related problems. Lower scores on Conformity motives were related to higher alcohol consumption, whereas higher scores were related to more alcohol-related problems. Conclusions: These results assist in understanding salient drinking motives among athletes while accounting for nesting effects of athletes within teams. Results demonstrate alcohol use as a perceived means of reward for hard work or good athletic performance, thus attempts to control alcohol use in college athletics should emphasize alternative methods to positively reinforce efforts or celebrate victories.

Linking performance decline to choking: players’ perceptions in basketball

ABSTRACT This study was aimed at examining how basketball players view unexpected performance errors in basketball, and under what conditions they perceive them as choking. Fifty-three basketball players were randomly assigned into 2 groups (game half) to evaluate the linkage between performance decline and choking as a function of game-time, score gap and game half. Within each group, players viewed 8 scenario clips, which featured a different player conducting an error, and subsequently rated the extent of performance decline, the instance of choking and the salience of various performance attributions regarding the error. The analysis revealed that choking was most salient in the 2nd half of the game, but an error was perceived as choking more saliently in the beginning of the 2nd half. This trend was also shown for players’ perception of performance decline. Players’ ratings of the attributions assigned to errors, however, revealed that during the end of the 2nd half, time pressure and lack of concentration were the causes of errors. Overall, the results provide evidence towards a conceptual framework linking performance decline to the perception of choking, and that errors conducted by players are perceived as choking when there is not a salient reason to suggest its occurrence.

Student-Athletes’ Mental Health Help-Seeking Experiences: A Mixed Methodological Approach

ABSTRACT This study investigated six National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I student-athletes’ experiences of seeking help for a mental health concern using the Health Belief Model (HBM) as a conceptual framework. A convergent mixed methodological design was utilized. Qualitative data was collected to gain an in-depth understanding of help-seeking, while quantitative data was collected to identify the most salient factors of the HBM. Results from the qualitative data identified numerous themes related to each factor of the HBM. Quantitative data may suggest that perceived benefits of seeking help and self-efficacy to seek treatment are important factors of help-seeking.

The Effect of Motor-Mental Preperformance Routines on Motor Performance in Novice Learners

Two sequential studies were conducted to test the notion that preperformance routines (PPRs) positively affect motor performance. The first study consisted of observations and interviews with 115 elite athletes to explore crucial time periods and body positions inherent in expert preparation for performing a golf putt, tennis serve, volleyball serve, and basketball free throw. In the second study, we taught these features of PPR to novice performers: 240 male and female high school students were assigned to two motor-mental PPR, and one control condition. Findings revealed that PPR enhances motor performance and can be implemented at an early stage of learning.