The role of dispositional emotion regulation strategies on the longitudinal emotional process and subjective performance during a competitive season

The purpose of this study was to shed light on the associations between emotion regulation (ER) strategies used, their emotional processes (including cognitive appraisals and discrete emotions), and subjective performance across a competitive season. A sample of fifteen national-level rink hockey players completed ER questionnaire at the beginning of the season (T0) and reported their experiences of everyday appraisal, emotions, and subjective performance every week. A series of hierarchical linear modelling analyses (HLM) were performed to investigate the associations between the variables. Sobel tests were computed to identify the mediating effects of emotions and appraisals on these relationships. HLM results revealed that (a) T0 adaptive ER strategies were positively related to adaptive appraisals; (b) adaptive appraisals were positively related to pleasant emotions and negatively with unpleasant emotions and opposite relationships emerged for maladaptive appraisals; (c) happiness was positively associated with subjective performance. Sobel tests provided evidence of mediating effects of (a) appraisals in the relationships between T0 adaptive ER and pleasant emotions; and (b) happiness in the relationships between appraisals and subjective performance. The results highlighted the positive relationships between the adaptive dispositional ER strategies at the beginning of the season and the emotional experiences. Moreover, the analyses revealed relationships between appraisals, emotions, and subjective performance of athletes. In sum, this study provided additional knowledge about the capture of the emotional process during a competitive season highlighting the associations between a variety of emotions and selected key variables in a competitive context (i.e. ER strategies, appraisal, subjective performance).

Self-determined motivation, emotional process and subjective performance among young elite athletes: A longitudinal hierarchical linear modelling approach

This study aimed to explore relationships between contextual self-determined motivation, everyday appraisals and emotions related to the competitive environment and subjective performance of young elite athletes. Thirty-one young tennis players (18.45 years ± 4.63) involved in intensive training centres completed initial (Time 0 - T0) self-determined motivation questionnaire and a fortnightly logbook including everyday cognitive appraisals, discrete emotions and subjective performance. We computed a series of hierarchical linear modelling analyses (HLM) to explore the relationships between the variables and Sobel tests to examine the mediating effects. HLM results showed that: (a) T0 autonomous motivation was positively associated with adaptive appraisals (challenge and benefits); (b) threat and loss were positively related to unpleasant emotions (anxiety, anger, dejection) and negatively associated with pleasant emotions whereas challenge and benefits were positively related to pleasant emotions and negatively associated with unpleasant emotions; (c) subjective performance was positively associated with happiness and negatively associated with dejection. Moreover, the Sobel tests revealed that: (a) appraisal was a mediator of the relationship between T0 self-determined motivation and discrete emotions; and; (b) emotions were mediators of the relationship between appraisals and subjective performance. In sum, the present study showed that young athletes' self-determined motivation assessed at the beginning of the study impacted their everyday cognitive appraisals, their experience of pleasant and unpleasant emotions, and their subjective performance levels along a 4-month period. To conclude, this study highlighted the relationships between the self-determined motivation, the emotional process and the performance of young elite athletes involving in intensive training settings.

The Influence of WB-EMS-Training on the Performance of Ice Hockey Players of Different Competitive Status

Purpose

The aim of this study was to examine the influence of long-term whole-body electromyostimulation (WB-EMS) training in addition to standard ice hockey training in the following areas: shot speed, counter-movement-jump (CMJ) height and power, 10 m-sprint, isokinetic maximum force at 60 and 300°/s of the knee extensor muscle and subjective performance. The purpose was further to check, whether competitive status influenced the extent of response to WB-EMS and whether WB-EMS would hypothetically be a suitable method to reduce injury rate.

Methods

Thirty male amateur ice hockey players participated in this study. They were divided into two cross-over groups (Group A and Group B). EMS sessions were carried out once a week for 12 weeks for each group with a subsequent 4 week EMS pause. The sessions consisted of 20 min electromyostimulation with 150 contractions (4 s duration, 85 Hz). Shot speed of slap shot was measured with Sportradar 1503. Jumping ability was determined with a ground reaction force platform (GRFP). Sprint time for 10 m skate was recorded using an infrared photo sensor. Isokinetic force of the knee extensor muscle was detected with Isomed 2000 at two different angular velocities (60 and 300°/s) and the subjective performance was collected using a questionnaire.

Results

After 12 weeks of WB-EMS training jumping power increased significantly for the WB-EMS groups by 5.15%, 10 m skating time decreased significantly by 5%, and maximum isokinetic force at 300°/s increased significantly by 7% (all p < 0.05). In contrast post training shot speed showed no significant change. Isokinetic torque at 60°/s and vertical jump height were collected as secondary variables and showed increases of 5.45 and 15.15%, respectively. After finishing the WB-EMS and continuing the normal training, it was shown that the training effect regressed.

Conclusion

This study demonstrated that WB-EMS training significantly decreased 10 m skating time and increased jumping power and maximum isokinetic force at 300°/s. We conclude that with additional WB-EMS training, an increase in performance might also be achieved for athletes in lower leagues. Due to the higher training potential of leisure athletes, the effect is probably even more pronounced than would be expected for competitive athletes.

A single night of sleep loss impairs objective but not subjective working memory performance in a sex-dependent manner

Acute sleep deprivation can lead to judgement errors and thereby increases the risk of accidents, possibly due to an impaired working memory. However, whether the adverse effects of acute sleep loss on working memory are modulated by auditory distraction in women and men are not known. Additionally, it is unknown whether sleep loss alters the way in which men and women perceive their working memory performance. Thus, 24 young adults (12 women using oral contraceptives at the time of investigation) participated in two experimental conditions: nocturnal sleep (scheduled between 22:30 and 06:30 hours) versus one night of total sleep loss. Participants were administered a digital working memory test in which eight‐digit sequences were learned and retrieved in the morning after each condition. Learning of digital sequences was accompanied by either silence or auditory distraction (equal distribution among trials). After sequence retrieval, each trial ended with a question regarding how certain participants were of the correctness of their response, as a self‐estimate of working memory performance. We found that sleep loss impaired objective but not self‐estimated working memory performance in women. In contrast, both measures remained unaffected by sleep loss in men. Auditory distraction impaired working memory performance, without modulation by sleep loss or sex. Being unaware of cognitive limitations when sleep‐deprived, as seen in our study, could lead to undesirable consequences in, for example, an occupational context. Our findings suggest that sleep‐deprived young women are at particular risk for overestimating their working memory performance.

The Development of a New Sport-Specific Classification of Coping and a Meta-Analysis of the Relationship between Different Coping Strategies and Moderators on Sporting Outcomes

There is an ever growing coping and sports performance literature, with researchers using many different methods to assess performance and different classifications of coping. As such, it makes it difficult to compare studies and therefore identify how coping is related to performance. Furthermore, there are no quantitative syntheses of the results from these studies. A quantitative synthesis would facilitate a more comprehensive understanding of how coping is associated with athletic performance. In order to accurately compare studies, our first aim was to develop a new coping classification that would make this possible. Firstly, we reviewed the strengths and limitations of the different coping classifications and then identified the commonalities and differences between such classifications. We opted for a three-factor classification of coping, because the evidence suggests that a three-factor classification provides a superior model fit to two-factor approaches. Our new classification of coping was based on an existing model from the developmental literature, which received an excellent model fit. We made some adaptations, however, as our classification was intended for an athletic population. As such, we classified coping as mastery (i.e., controlling the situation and eliminating the stressor), internal regulation (i.e., managing internal stress responses), or goal withdrawal (i.e., ceasing efforts toward goal attainment). Undertaking a meta-analysis, our second aim was to identify which coping strategies correlated with sports performance and whether this relationship varied according to moderator variables. Articles were sourced from online electronic databases and manual journal searches. PRISMA guidelines were used to search, select, and synthesize relevant studies. Random effects meta-analyses were performed to identify associations between coping classification and sport performance. Q, I2, and R2 values assessed heterogeneity. Eighteen published investigations, including 3900 participants and incorporating fifty-nine correlations, indicated an overall positive effect for mastery coping, a negligible negative effect for internal regulation coping, and a negative effect for goal withdrawal strategies. The findings of this meta-analysis could be used by sports practitioners to help them deliver effective coping interventions. In order to maximize performance, practitioners could encourage the use of mastery coping, but advise their athletes not to use goal withdrawal strategies.

A 30-Minute, but Not a 10-Minute Nighttime Nap is Associated with Sleep Inertia

STUDY OBJECTIVES

To assess sleep inertia following 10-min and 30-min naps during a simulated night shift.

METHODS

Thirty-one healthy adults (aged 21-35 y; 18 females) participated in a 3-day laboratory study that included one baseline (BL) sleep (22:00-07:00) and one experimental night involving randomization to either: total sleep deprivation (NO-NAP), a 10-min nap (10-NAP) or a 30-min nap (30-NAP). Nap opportunities ended at 04:00. A 3-min psychomotor vigilance task (PVT-B), digit-symbol substitution task (DSST), fatigue scale, sleepiness scale, and self-rated performance scale were undertaken pre-nap (03:00) and at 2, 17, 32, and 47 min post-nap.

RESULTS

The 30-NAP (14.7 ± 5.7 min) had more slow wave sleep than the 10-NAP (0.8 ± 1.5 min; P < 0.001) condition. In the NO-NAP condition, PVT-B performance was worse than pre-nap (4.6 ± 0.3 1/sec) at 47 min post-nap (4.1 ± 0.4 1/sec; P < 0.001). There was no change across time in the 10-NAP condition. In the 30-NAP condition, performance immediately deteriorated from pre-nap (4.3 ± 0.3 1/sec) and was still worse at 47 min post-nap (4.0 ± 0.5 1/sec; P < 0.015). DSST performance deteriorated in the NO-NAP (worse than pre-nap from 17 to 47 min; P < 0.008), did not change in the 10-NAP, and was impaired 2 min post-nap in the 30-NAP condition (P = 0.028). All conditions self-rated performance as better than pre-nap for all post-nap test points (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

This study is the first to show that a 10-min (but not a 30-min) nighttime nap had minimal sleep inertia and helped to mitigate short-term performance impairment during a simulated night shift. Self-rated performance did not reflect objective performance following a nap.