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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.

Injury is a serious setback for athletes and might jeopardize mental health. The aim of this study is to investigate if a mindfulness- and acceptance-based intervention can improve mindfulness (nonreactivity and acting with awareness), acceptance, and well-being, and decrease the level of symptoms of anxiety and depression. A single-case design with multiple, staggered, and nonconcurrent baselines was used. Six seriously injured athletes took part in an 8-week intervention and repeatedly completed questionnaires on all variables for the duration of the study. The results showed that, on average, there were significant clinical changes between phases in nonreactivity, well-being, and acceptance. No effect was seen in the two remaining scales. On an individual level, two participants showed effects in all scales, two participants in some of the scales, and two participants in the scale nonreactivity. Results are discussed in light of existing research, and implications for practitioners’ clinical methods are presented.

Fatigue, boredom, pain, performance anxiety, and negative thoughts are challenges characteristic of competitive running. One psychological technique that is gaining support and has been successfully implemented in sport is the practice of mindfulness. Where conventional psychological skills training interventions aim to change dysfunctional thoughts and emotions, mindfulness focuses on altering the relationship to physiological and psychological states. This could help in dealing with the demands of distance running but this has yet to be examined. This article was focused on reviewing mindfulness interventions on performance and performance-based factors in long distance running, assessing (a) mindfulness scores, (b) physiological performance-related factors, (c) psychological performance-related factors, and (d) performance outcomes. A search of relevant electronic databases yielded seven studies which met the inclusion criteria. The review provided some tentative support for the use of mindfulness interventions regarding: reducing competitive anxiety, attenuating immune responses to high-intensity running, and increasing state mindfulness. However, due to the methodological weaknesses of studies more research is required using high-quality randomized controlled trial designs.

Using the framework of multidisciplinary best practice recommendations promoted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, this study used a mixed-methods approach to investigate Division I student-athletes’ perceived access to and satisfaction with mental health service availability. Participants were asked about their satisfaction with direct (e.g., counseling, psychiatry, assessment) and indirect (e.g., mental health outreach, educational workshops) service availability, both on campus and within athletics. Results from a researcher-generated survey indicated that participants were moderately satisfied with service availability in each of the four contexts. Hierarchical multiple regressions revealed that student-athletes’ satisfaction was predicted by different factors for each service type-location combination. Qualitative data contained requests for more athlete-centered mental health services as well as more preventative outreach in general. These data provide a foundation for understanding factors that influence student-athletes’ satisfaction with mental health service availability and offer practical implications for current best practice recommendations.