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This study evaluated the relationship of perfectionism and self-perceptions with burnout and life satisfaction in aesthetic performers (N = 254) recruited in Sweden. Cluster analysis revealed four groups: perfectionistic with maladaptive self-perceptions, perfectionistic (parent-driven) with maladaptive self-perceptions, achievement-oriented with adaptive self-perceptions, and nonperfectionistic with adaptive self-perceptions. Performers in both maladaptive clusters reported characteristics suggesting they were perfectionistic compared to their peers. They also reported relatively high contingent self-worth and low basic self-esteem. In contrast, those in the nonperfectionistic with adaptive self-perceptions cluster scored relatively low on perfectionism and reported relatively high basic self-esteem and low contingent self-worth. The performers in the achievement-oriented with adaptive self-perceptions cluster reported average scores across most variables, moderately high personal standards, and higher basic self-esteem compared with contingent self-worth. Overall, performers in both maladaptive clusters reported the highest burnout and lowest life satisfaction. Study findings underscore the importance of perfectionism and self-perceptions when considering burnout and life satisfaction.

A sport-specific, self-report measure of identity foreclosure was developed through a systematic process that included item pool generation, expert review, administration of items to a development sample of intercollegiate student athletes (N = 326), item evaluation, and administration of scales to validation samples of intercollegiate student athletes (N = 322, N = 54, and N = 64, respectively). The process yielded two four-item scales reflecting commitment to the occupational identity of athlete and one 4-item scale reflecting active exploration of roles other than that of athlete that (a) are internally consistent and temporally stable, (b) demonstrate preliminary factorial and convergent validity, and (c) can be used to create indices of identity foreclosure tailored to the sport context. The resulting Sport-Specific Measure of Identity Foreclosure has potential utility as an assessment tool for research and practice with athletes.

By bridging the literature on shared mental models and the individual zones of optimal functioning, the author advances a new framework called the shared zones of optimal functioning. The shared zones of optimal functioning is a probabilistic methodology designed to (a) capture optimal and suboptimal performance experiences in teams, (b) track team momentum through the analysis of within-team performance fluctuations, and (c) estimate within-team psycho–bio–social synchrony and leader–follower dynamics (i.e., leader–follower dichotomy, shared leadership). To test the shared zones of optimal functioning framework, three dyadic juggling teams were asked to juggle for 60 trials, while having their performance, arousal, pleasantness, and attentional levels recorded. Ordinal logistic regression, frequency counts, and cross-correlation analyses revealed that each team showed idiosyncratic affective and attentional levels linked to optimal performance, team momentum patterns, and leader–follower dynamics. The implications of these findings for the development of high-performing teams and specific avenues of future research are discussed throughout.

This study sought to determine the efficacy of particular strategies for delivering information about coping skills for stress to college student-athletes. This study analyzed 166 undergraduate varsity student-athletes. Among these participants, 60.8% were female (n = 101). The authors used a randomized controlled trial to compare video-based and text-based interventions designed to deliver coping skills information. Five weeks after the intervention, the participants completed a follow-up survey containing simple self-report questions regarding the memorability, use, and helpfulness of the coping skills information. In general, both strategies led to the use of coping skills by a sizeable proportion of the sample. The participants in the video-based deep breathing intervention were more than twice as likely to use coping skills compared with participants in the text-based intervention (risk ratio = 2.20, 95% confidence interval [1.02, 4.71], p = .03). Overall, the results suggest that both video- and text-based interventions have the potential to promote coping skills.

This study investigated whether gratitude predicted burnout directly and indirectly through coach–athlete relationships. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divisions I (n = 305), II (n = 202), and III (n = 89) student-athletes (N = 596, 76.5% women) completed a survey regarding athlete burnout, coach–athlete relationships, trait gratitude, and state gratitude (sport and general). Structural equation modeling revealed that gratitude predicted athletes’ burnout. Sport state gratitude was the most accurate negative predictor of burnout. In addition, indirect associations between sport state gratitude and burnout emerged through coach–athlete relationships, suggesting that sport state gratitude was positively associated with coach–athlete relationships, which in turn, negatively predicted burnout. Coach–athlete relationships were positively predicted by sport state gratitude. These findings suggest that grateful student-athletes may experience less burnout, and athletes who have strong coach–athlete relationships may experience more gratitude.

Person-centered investigations of athlete burnout have utility to unearth novel information about this developmental experience within the social environment of competitive sport. Guided by extant theory, conceptually proposed developmental patterns of athlete burnout were examined across a season as expressed in profiles of emotional and physical exhaustion, reduced accomplishment, and sport devaluation perceptions. Athlete social perceptions were also explored as predictors of profile membership. Collegiate athletes (N = 129) completed established assessments of study variables at four in-season time points. Latent profile analysis revealed profiles characterized by athletes experiencing the three burnout dimensions similarly at any given time point, with the notable exception of exhaustion being more frequently experienced in some profiles. Social support perceptions predicted profile membership with moderate success. Trends in profile stability provide some support for consideration of exhaustion-driven burnout experiences. Results shed light on the theoretical pathways of burnout development and inform continued longitudinal burnout research efforts.

Impaired inhibitory control has been shown in individuals with substance use disorder (SUD). Cardiorespiratory fitness has been described as a potential factor to improve inhibitory control; however, the benefits in individuals with SUD are unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness with general and drug-specific inhibitory control in individuals with SUD. Sixty-two male participants under treatment for SUD performed a general and drug-specific inhibitory control test (go/no-go) and a cardiorespiratory fitness test. Cardiorespiratory fitness, age, and years of drug use were inversely associated with reaction time for both general and drug-specific inhibitory control. In addition, the regression models showed that cardiorespiratory fitness predicts general and drug-specific inhibitory control adjusted for age and time of drug use. However, cardiorespiratory fitness predicts equally both general and drug-specific inhibitory control. These findings suggest that increasing cardiorespiratory fitness could provide benefits in the inhibitory function of individuals with SUD.

The study purpose was to validate the psychometric properties of a Spanish-language version of the weight pressures in sport scale for male athletes. The weight pressures in sport scale for male athletes assesses risk factors associated with sport-specific weight pressures from coaches, peers, and team uniform. The scale was back translated and administered to 407 Spanish male college athletes. The sample was randomly split to perform the exploratory and confirmatory analysis. After item analysis, three items were removed. The exploratory analysis identified two latent constructs (referring to coaches and teammates pressures, and pressures due to uniform), and the confirmatory analysis produced a two-factor model (comparative fit index_SB = .946, Tucker–Lewis index_SB = .925, root mean square of approximation_SB = .071, standardized root mean square residual_SB = .068). The overall scale showed adequate internal consistency (α = .82) and demonstrated adequate convergent validity with the other questionnaires. The Spanish-language version of the weight pressures in sport scale for male athletes can be used to measure weight-related pressures among male athletes in sport psychology and clinical settings.

Flow is a desirable state of consciousness and absorption in an optimally challenging activity. Prior research has investigated individual differences in flow. The present study investigates flow by contrasting physical versus mental activities, using a mixed-methods, sequential explanatory design. The sample from the quantitative phase included 205 undergraduate university students assessed on measures of personality, difficulties in emotion regulation, and flow. The big-five traits intellect and conscientiousness, as well as the emotion regulation subscale “lack of emotional clarity” predicted flow during mental activities, but unexpectedly no variables significantly predicted physical flow activities. The second phase used semi-structured interviews with 10 participants. Analyses of the interviews helped further explain the statistical findings, revealing four main themes: role of stress, source of guilt, presence of others, and satisfaction and fulfillment. We conclude that flow is especially relevant in physical activities which have advantages over mental activities in opportunities to experience flow.