Rich Neil

Recent developments in competitive anxiety direction and competition stress research

The area of competitive anxiety continues to be extensively researched with considerable attention focused on the notion of ‘direction’. The purpose of this review is to demonstrate how the study of direction has advanced our understanding of the competitive anxiety response through providing an overview of the existing research, and emphasizing why sport psychologists investigated the underlying mechanisms of performers’ facilitative interpretations of anxiety symptoms. Finally, we discuss how direction has been integrated into Lazarus (1990, 1991a); Lazarus & Folkman, 1984) transactional perspective of stress, and how this may be used to inform future research into the broader area of competition stress.

A conceptual framework of organizational stressors in sport performers

In the study reported here, 12 sport performers (six elite and six non‐elite) were interviewed with regard to organizational‐related issues they had experienced in preparation for competition. Grounded theory procedures facilitated the development of a conceptual framework of organizational stressors consisting of five general dimensions: factors intrinsic to the sport, roles in the sport organization, sport relationships and interpersonal demands, athletic career and performance development issues, and organizational structure and climate of the sport. The data indicate that the stressors were encountered proportionately more by elite performers (#EPOS=315) than non‐elite performers (#NPOS=228) with some demands being in common and some unique to each group. The results are discussed in relation to previous research and regarding their implications for professional practice.

The perceived benefits and barriers of sport in spinal cord injured individuals: a qualitative study

Purpose: This study explores what individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) perceive to be the benefits of becoming involved in organized sport and identifies the barriers to participation. Method: Seven SCI athletes from a variety of sports were interviewed in a semi-structured format. Results: 20 benefits and 18 individual barriers were identified and categorized into sub-themes: benefits were categorized into sub-themes of “socialization,” “self-worth,” “physical challenge” and “emotional.” Barriers were grouped into “organization,” “medical,” “emotional,” “a lack of available information” and “views held by others.” Conclusion: A variety of benefits from participating in sport were identified, including socialization, the acquisition of knowledge from others, the development of greater awareness of health and well-being issues, weight maintenance, functional development and independence. Barriers identified included financial constraints, the lack of information regarding medical complications and sporting opportunities, and the need for able-bodied support. The findings have implications for the rehabilitation of individuals with SCI. Implications for Rehabiliation The findings of this study showed that there are many benefits to participating that included socialization (e.g. incidental learning from others), self-worth (e.g. proving physical strength to others), physical challenge (e.g. maintenance of body weight) and emotional (e.g. exercise providing an emotional outlet). There were also many barriers to participating including organizational (e.g. availability of facilities), medical (e.g. urinary tract infections), emotional (e.g. general lack of confidence), lack of relevant information (e.g. lack of or inappropriate medical advice) and views held by others (e.g. patronizing views of others).

The contribution of qualitative inquiry towards understanding competitive anxiety and competition stress

The purpose of this review is to demonstrate how the use of qualitative inquiry has advanced competitive anxiety and competition stress research. We first identify the potential reasons for researchers adopting qualitative approaches in the field, and then provide an overview of how these investigations have increased our understanding of performers’ experiences of anxiety and stress. Next, we discuss the actual methods used to collect, analyse and present the data. Finally, we describe alternative methods that may be adopted by researchers to advance knowledge and understanding within the area.

Competitive anxiety intensity and interpretation: A two-study investigation into their relationship with performance

Two experimental studies are reported investigating the relationship between competitive anxiety intensity and interpretation and performance within the sports of rugby union and basketball. Study 1 employed video recall procedures and the Immediate Anxiety Measurement Scale (IAMS) to assist an elite and non-elite rugby union performer recall their anxiety symptoms prior to lineout throw-ins at different levels of situation criticality. Examination of the relationship between anxiety intensity, interpretation, and performance as a function of skill level and situation criticality revealed that anxiety interpretation was a stronger predictor of performance than anxiety intensity. In addition, anxiety intensity increased, interpretations became more debilitative, and performance decreased as the situation became more critical, and anxiety intensity was lower and interpreted as more facilitative toward upcoming performance by the elite rugby union player, which coincided with better lineout performance. Study 2 measured the free-throw performance of competitive basketball players during simulated basketball matches, with anxiety responses assessed in relation to these free-throws at half time and full time. Anxiety, measured through the IAMS, was interpreted as more facilitative prior to successful free-throws with players suggesting that these interpretations were due to high levels of self-confidence that was associated with an increase in focus. Implications of the findings of both of these studies for future research and practice are provided.

Seeing Things in a Different Light: Assessing the Effects of a Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention upon the Further Appraisals and Performance of Golfers

The effects of a systematic cognitive-behavioral intervention program were examined upon the further appraisals (i.e., emotional orientation) of four golfers who interpreted their emotions as debilitative towards upcoming performance and the subsequent effect on actual performance. A systematic, theoretically underpinned, multiple-baseline single-subject design was employed, with four main phases adopted over a 34-week period: Phase I involved baseline monitoring of emotion and performance data; Phase II included the education and acquisition of the cognitive-behavioral technique; Phase III entailed the integration of technique within actual competitive performance; an immediate and 3-month post intervention phase was incorporated for social validation data. An instant intervention effect on emotional orientation was observed with interpretations changing from debilitative to facilitative or unimportant. Improved and more consistent subjective and objective performances were also reported. Social validation during (open-ended questionnaires) and post-intervention (interviews) indicated changes in performers’ focus from their emotions and negative thoughts towards the task in hand. Indeed, the intervention was suggested to promote a change in focus to play the best shot possible and confidence to perform during problem holes.

Leader Behaviour, Emotional Intelligence, and Team Performance at a UK Government Executive Agency During Organizational Change

ABSTRACT This paper presents three studies exploring the relationship between performance psychology variables and performance within a UK Government Executive Agency during substantial organizational change. Study 1 examined relationships between transformational leadership behaviours, emotional intelligence (EI), cohesion, and team performance. Task cohesion interacted with EI to predict performance. Specifically, it was found that use of emotions for performance partially mediated the relationship between cohesion and team performance. Study 2 interviewed team leaders about their EI and leadership behaviours and how these influenced cohesion and performance during this organizational change. Team leaders reported using a number of different strategies with their team for cohesion and performance benefits. Study 3 interviewed the head and deputy head of the leaders from studies 1 and 2 about how our findings had been received and were being used. Reported findings from studies 1 and 2 resonated well with the head and deputy, and had been used to develop a leadership charter and skills matrix to monitor leadership behaviours and identify areas for improvement. These studies offer a unique insight into the behaviours of team leaders within the agency, emphasizing the perceived importance of effective leader behaviours and EI for team member cohesion and performance.

PasSport4life: A trainee sport psychologist's perspective on developing a resilience-based life skills program

ABSTRACT The growing field of sport-based youth development has explored the role of coaches in fostering athletes’ lifelong skills to deal with stressors and challenges they encounter as they transition into adulthood. However, the contribution of sport psychologists in implementing programs has received little attention and could provide a beneficial catalyst in facilitating youth development given their training and expertise. In addition, the use of resilience-related life skills could support adolescents in overcoming adversity beyond sport. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to provide a narrative on the experiences of a trainee sport psychologist in designing and delivering a resilience-based life skills program.

Competition and organization stress in sport

The Relative Age Effect (RAE) is a phenomenon that suggests that athletes at elite level are more likely to be born in the first 3 months after the eligibility cut-off date for a particular age group in sports. For example, with sports, such as football, which generally use a cut-off date of January 1st (any player born in 1998 is eligible to play at Under 15 level for the season beginning in 2013) players who compete at elite level of under-age sport are substantially more likely to be born in the months of January, February and March. Similarly if the cut-off date is July 1st then the likelihood of elite players being born in July, August and September increases dramatically. It has been shown that a change in eligibility cut-off date only serves to adjust the RAE to the months following the new date (Butler D; Butler R & Sherman M).Recently, it has been suggested that movement variability –particularly coordination variability – can be functional in reducing the risk of injury. Pollard et al. (2005: Journal of Applied Biomechanics, 21, 143 – 152) reported that females demonstrate lower coordination variability than males during performance of an unanticipated cutting movement. Furthermore, a history of lower extremity injury has been shown to effect lower extremity coordination variability during running (Heiderscheit et al., 2002: Journal of Applied Biomechanics, 18, 110 – 121). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate both the effect of gender and history of ACL injury on lower extremity joint coupling variability during performance of an unanticipated cutting technique. With approval from the University’s ethics committee, 8 female basketball players (age 21.6 +1.41 years, height 1.70 +0.08 m, mass 64.6 +7.3 kg), 8 male basketball players (age 22.9+ 2.95, height 1.90 +0.19 m, mass 77.1 + 11.7 kg) and 6 additional female basketball players with a history of unilateral ACL reconstruction (ACLr; age Abstracts S21 29.4 + 8.92 years, height 1.70 +0.05 m, mass 67.5 + 9.62 kg) provided written, informed consent. During performance of seven unanticipated cutting tasks, three-dimensional joint and segment kinematics were recorded using an eight digital-camera motion capture system (Motion Analysis Corp.,Santa Rosa, CA, USA) sampling at 240 Hz. Between groups differences in joint and segment coupling variability were evaluated with between group ANOVAs. Furthermore, the explained variance (Z2) for each joint coupling was calculated to demonstrate the magnitude of differences between the three groups. In support of Pollard et al. (2005), females demonstrated reduced variability in two joint couplings (hip abduction-adduction/knee rotation variability (P ¼ 0.03, Z2¼ 0.55) and hip rotation/knee abduction-adduction (P ¼ 0.01, Z2 ¼ 0.61). These differences may be associated with female increased risk of ACL injury (Pollard et al., 2005). Female athletes’ movement patterns may not be variable enough to adapt to environmental constraints during basketball play resulting in ACL injuries. Males displayed the most flexible movements in all couplings. Interestingly, the ACLr group demonstrated variability that was greater than females but less than males in the majority of couplings. This study warrants further investigation into the effects of gender and ACL reconstruction on lower extremity joint coordination variability, and its implications to female injury.Annual Conference of the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences 2007