Research suggests that exercise groups can provide social resources, such as a social identity, social support, and social comparison, and that people may join groups to manage uncertainty during times of change, such as midlife. This study examines how midlife adults utilize Peloton, an online group exercise cycling platform, as they navigate midlife. Twelve Peloton participants aged 40-64 underwent three data collection stages: (a) an initial semistructured interview on exercise history, (b) a 2-week postexercise diary, and (c) a follow-up topic exploration interview. Data were analyzed using abductive thematic analysis informed by the social identity approach. Findings reveal a midlife process of identity erosion, characterized by reduced agency and physical decline, prompting a reassertion of competitiveness through online exercise and social comparison. This study extends the social identity model of identity change into transitional nonevent-based (e.g., life stage) rather than event-based (e.g., retirement) life changes. It suggests that identity erosion precedes identity change in transitional life contexts and that identity remooring may occur sequentially. This study suggests that live feedback and real-time interactions facilitate the formation of group norms and social identity in online exercise groups, even in the absence of live communication.
This study is part of a three-phase project with Tennis Canada to design, implement, and evaluate a sport-specific version of the Mental Health Strategy for High Performance Sport in Canada to improve the mental health outcomes of sport participants. Following the design phase, which resulted in a 45-action mental health strategy, the purpose of this study was to investigate the 1st year of implementation from the perspectives of 21 leaders within and outside of Tennis Canada. Three research questions guided the study: (a) What were the leaders' experiences and initial outcomes of participating in different components of Tennis Canada's strategy? (b) What factors influenced the implementation of the strategy? and (c) What recommendations did the leaders put forth for continued success and gap closure in implementing the strategy? Data were collected using group discussions, individual semistructured interviews, and a reflexive journal. The reflexive thematic analysis revealed that leaders were highly engaged and benefited from increased support and learning. Influential factors included a diverse leadership group, promotion and alignment of initiatives, adoption of a feasible implementation framework, and prioritizing wellness and recovery. Recommendations focused on the ongoing need for leaders to fully embrace mental health at the senior and high performance levels and to adapt education to different groups of Tennis Canada participants. Overall, findings provide practical and transferable guidance for sport organizations seeking to embed strategic mental health initiatives within their community.
This study aimed to identify potential modifiable risk factors that predict psychological resilience in female athletes and evaluate how well resilience predicts outcomes over time in this group. Three hundred ninety-three female athletes completed demographics and self-report measures at baseline and at least one (3-, 6-, and/or 12-month) follow-up assessment. The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale 10 and Brief Resilience Scale measured resilience. Hypothesized upstream risk factors included sleep, emotion dysregulation, experiential avoidance, social support, and intolerance of uncertainty. Hypothesized downstream outcomes of low resilience included posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and high perceived stress. Greater emotion regulation difficulties, experiential avoidance, intolerance of uncertainty, social support, and sleep difficulties each significantly longitudinally predicted decreases in resilience over 12 months. Resilience significantly predicted decreases in prevalence of high perceived stress, depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder over 12 months. Resilience may be a useful focus of intervention. Difficulties with emotion regulation, experiential avoidance, intolerance of uncertainty, social support, and sleep difficulties are identified as modifiable risk factors and may be targeted in future interventions to enhance resilience in female athletes.
The purpose of this mixed methods study was to design, implement, and evaluate a 13-week sport psychology intervention designed to facilitate team culture change of a poor-performing university football team. Participants were 74 male athletes who participated in a season-long intervention, including four culture workshops, two team-building sessions, and biweekly psychological skills training sessions. Data were collected and analyzed using a convergent parallel mixed methods design, incorporating quantitative measures of team cohesion at three time points and qualitative individual semistructured interviews at the end of the season. Quantitative results showed significant increases in team cohesion from pre- to midseason, with these gains maintained through the end of the season. Furthermore, between-group differences based on athlete tenure and position were explored, revealing that first-year athletes showed sharp increases in group integration (particularly Group Integration-Social), whereas players with four or more years of tenure reported lower baseline Group Integration-Social and more gradual change. Postseason qualitative interviews with six athletes highlighted how the intervention supported a player-driven cultural shift, with early workshops fostering buy-in and accountability and ongoing sessions reinforcing values, psychological safety, and team unity. Players described the season as a meaningful cultural rebuild marked by greater clarity, connection, and shared leadership. Overall, this study advances the empirical, conceptual, and methodological understanding of culture change in sport by addressing calls for theory-driven approaches and providing practical strategies to foster cohesive, value-based cultures while tracking their integration over time.
Confidence is a key psychological quality for athletes' performance success. Researchers have previously examined sources from which athletes gain their confidence; however, limited research has considered the coach's role in rebuilding athlete confidence when returning to sport after dealing with setbacks. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to understand how coaches can work effectively with athletes to build confidence after a setback, considering the specific setback experienced by a rider from falling off a horse. To gain multiple perspectives, participants were six riders and six coaches (10 females and two males). Initially, participants wrote reflective letters to their younger selves on their experiences around the fall and consequent issues with confidence, with the content from these letters used to stimulate follow-up interviews. Three main themes were developed to represent the process of working effectively with riders to rebuild confidence: providing the foundation for building confidence, facilitating an understanding and awareness, and creating change in rider approach. These results informed the development of a temporal framework that suggests three stages that practitioners could implement into their practice. Findings were presented back to a further selection of coaches (n = 9) and sport psychologists (n = 3) as part of a member/external reflection process, to consider how these results might inform applied practice when working with riders after experiencing setbacks. The results are discussed regarding the practical implications for informing practitioners on how to work with riders who have lost their confidence in this context.
Conceptualized as the tendency for negative events, stimuli, and factors to have a greater impact on an individual than positive and neutral counterparts, negativity bias is a widespread, pervasive psychological phenomenon (Baumeister et al., 2001). Despite researchers observing negativity bias in many processes that could be relevant to sport performance (e.g., attention, affect, decision making, perception, memory; Norris, 2021), negativity bias research in sport is limited. Further, a vast majority of research focused on negativity bias is quantitative in nature, and as such, there is a lack of understanding surrounding the experience and perspectives of the phenomenon. Accordingly, the purpose of the present study was to qualitatively explore how negativity bias may manifest in sport. Adult competitive athletes (N = 31) were recruited to participate in two semistructured one-on-one interviews during their competitive season. Participants were encouraged to supplement data generated between the two formal interviews with audio diaries, which permitted more immediate reflections surrounding negativity bias in ongoing experiences. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyze the data within an interpretive description framework. The analysis process culminated in three themes: (1) more accessible, more vivid, more memorable, (2) seizing attention, for better or for worse, and (3) a potent contaminate. It appears the sport context is not exempt from the pervasiveness of negativity bias. Findings from the present study may inform efforts to recognize and address negativity bias in sport and, importantly, demonstrate the value of qualitative approaches in expanding understanding of such complex phenomena.
Burnout is becoming increasingly common in athletes. It has also recently been found to increase the risk of further physical and mental health consequences. However, few studies have examined possible explanatory mechanisms of this relationship. Therefore, the present study aimed to test whether changes in key physiological systems may help explain the relationship between athlete burnout and mental and physical health outcomes over time. Following a preregistered protocol, with open methods, code, and data, we recruited 64 competitive athletes who completed measures of athlete burnout, physical symptoms, depressive symptoms, and insomnia, as well as provided saliva samples for the analysis of biomarkers (testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate, secretory immunoglobulin A) at three time points over 6 months. In multilevel analyses, at the between level, burnout was associated with all health outcomes, and testosterone was associated with physical symptoms. At the within level, total burnout and a reduced sense of accomplishment predicted increases in depressive symptoms, and in the exhaustion model, decreases in secretory immunoglobulin A predicted increases in insomnia. In exploratory Bayesian analyses, at the within level, burnout additionally predicted decreases in testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate, and secretory immunoglobulin A. However, we found no indirect effects linking burnout to health via changes in biomarkers. Overall, we found further evidence for the links between burnout, biomarkers, and mental and physical health over time; however, it is possible that the mechanisms underpinning these relationships are more complex.
This cross-sectional study examined the bidirectional pathways proposed in the neurocognitive exercise-based affect-related model by testing whether executive function (EF) and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) are indirectly associated through affective responses to acute exercise. Eighty-six young adults (18-25 years; 51% female) completed a Stroop task to assess EF, a cycling VO2max test to measure CRF, and affective ratings collected before, during, and after the exercise test. EF was indexed using Stroop interference inverse efficiency scores (IES), with higher values indicating poorer inhibitory control. Path analyses tested whether EF predicted CRF indirectly through affective responses and, conversely, whether CRF predicted EF through the same pathway, controlling for moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and body mass index. When interference IES was specified as the predictor, lower interference IES was associated with more positive affective responses, which in turn were associated with higher CRF. A significant indirect association with CRF through affective responses was observed for interference IES (indirect beta = -.341, 95% CI [-.506, -.207]). In the reverse model, higher CRF was associated with more positive affective responses, which were subsequently associated with lower interference IES; a significant indirect association was again observed (indirect beta = -.453, 95% CI [-.618, -.272]). Despite limitations related to the cross-sectional design and reliance on behavioral and subjective measures, these findings provide preliminary, partial support for the neurocognitive exercise-based affect-related model and suggest that experiencing more positive affect during exercise may represent an important psychological process linking EF and physical fitness in young adults.
Parent-child relationships are influential elements of youth sport experiences. Nontraditional sports provide contexts for a specific type of parent-child relationship interaction: coparticipation. The limited research on coparticipation suggests the potential to impact youth, adult, and adult-youth relationship outcomes. This study examined experiences of parent-child coparticipation, aiming to understand its processes and outcomes. Guided by interpretative phenomenological analysis, seven parent-child dyads were interviewed. The data were analyzed according to the interpretative phenomenological analysis tradition and four themes were constructed: (a) Family-based and independent participation are harmonious elements of coparticipation, (b) parents flow between roles, (c) participants employ adaptive participation strategies on either side of time-bounded skill overlap, and (d) shared activity creates opportunities for positive interpersonal interactions and relationship building. Our results demonstrate coparticipation's potential to impact sport outcomes across timespans for youth and adults and offer concrete strategies for sport organizations to improve parent engagement.
Running is a popular physical activity, yet many people discontinue. While previous research has often focused on physical factors for discontinuation among experienced runners, this study aimed to explore the psychosocial aspects of recreational running maintenance from both current and discontinued recreational runners. Guided by ontological relativism, 18 current and 11 discontinued runners across Australia participated in semistructured interviews to explore facilitators and barriers to their running activity. Thematic analysis identified five main themes influencing people's decision to run: making it a "priority," the "people" who run with you and the running community around them, "planning" ahead, seeing "progress," and experiencing "pleasure" with running. Prioritizing running, perceiving it as part of their identity, and placing a high value on running promoted running maintenance. Social connections, such as running with like-minded people, having flexible running plans, goal-oriented progress, and finding pleasure in running through recognizing the personal and health benefits enhanced the appeal of running. Together, these factors influenced how much participants saw running as a priority in their lives and ultimately continuing to make time for it (or not). Discontinued runners often placed low value on running and were frequently deterred by the time commitment involved. Hearing from discontinued runners provided unique insights into the complexities of running not yet explored, allowing a deeper understanding and holistic perspective on running maintenance. This research highlights the factors affecting recreational running, offering valuable insights for community running groups and self-directed runners looking to reap the health benefits of sustained running engagement.
Sport parenting research has established that parents encounter sport-specific stressors, which, if not managed appropriately, can affect their well-being, as well as having adverse effects on how they support their children. Resilience in sport literature has illustrated how athletes, teams, and organizations draw upon protective factors to buffer themselves from the negative effect of stressors. However, to date, little consideration has been given to resilience in parents. To this end, the purpose of this study was to define and characterize parental resilience in youth sport. Through a qualitative research design, 59 parents from 57 households, with children in several sports, participated in either one-to-one interviews (n = 25) or focus groups (n = 34). Data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2019). Parental resilience within youth sport was defined as "a dynamic process in which parents draw upon multiple psychosocial assets and strategies to effectively manage their responsibilities and maintain their psychological well-being, when encountering a range of stressors." The four psychosocial assets that characterized parental resilience were maintaining perspective in sport, the ability to perceive and utilize social support, adaptability to different circumstances in sport, and maintaining optimism in sport. This study extends sport psychology research by introducing the concept of parental resilience in youth sport, highlighting key indicators and outcomes of parental resilience, and identifying psychosocial assets that facilitate a parent's ability to manage the stressors they encounter. With this framework, future research could look to understand the psychosocial assets that are most applied for specific stressors and how parents developed these psychosocial assets over their sport parenting journey.
In football, original and useful actions (indicators of creativity) can increase the unpredictability of individual and collective behaviors, which enhances the chance of success. The creativity in sport literature has largely focused on cognitive theories of creativity with little consideration of sociocultural factors that shape creative expression and development. Furthermore, despite coaches' and scouts' critical role as the gatekeepers of selection and progression, research exploring their conceptions of creativity and its development is scarce. Drawing on the He-I-We paradigmatic framework of creativity, this study explored the conceptions of creativity and its development of those involved in coaching and recruitment from 10 European professional football academies located in three countries. Eighteen head of academy coaching or recruitment participated in semistructured dyadic interviews. Through reflexive thematic analysis, two themes were developed (a) creativity can be individual or collective, and it is situated; and (b) creativity needs stimulating environments. Findings suggest practitioners' conceptions of creativity and its development mirror features of the I-paradigm and the We-paradigm. Therefore, as well as consideration of the intraindividual features of creativity in sport, consideration should be given to psycho-social-cultural features, how creativity is situated in time and location, distributed across people, dynamic in relation to the game and society and relational through the interconnections of people, place, and time.
We investigated the effectiveness of mindfulness priming on affective responses and prefrontal cortex activation during exercise. Twenty-nine participants with high trait mindfulness and prior experience in mindfulness exercise were recruited. A within-subjects design was employed, wherein participants completed 20-min treadmill running sessions at ventilatory threshold under three conditions: subliminal mindfulness priming, supraliminal mindfulness priming, and no priming (control). Affective valence and arousal were assessed every 5 min during exercise, while prefrontal cortex activation was measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Linear mixed-effects models were employed to examine differences across conditions and time. Participants reported more positive affective valence (p = .044, 95% CI [0.005, 0.592]) and lower arousal (p = .034, 95% CI [-0.420, -0.012]) in the subliminal mindfulness priming condition when compared to the control condition. Oxygenated hemoglobin was also significantly higher in both the subliminal mindfulness priming (p < .001, 95% CI [0.251, 0.806]) and supraliminal mindfulness priming conditions (p = .006, 95% CI [0.081, 0.635]) relative to the control condition. Subliminal mindfulness priming appears to enhance positive affective valence and increase prefrontal cortex activation. Focusing attention on bodily sensations while maintaining an accepting and nonjudgmental attitude may be particularly beneficial in optimizing affective responses during exercise-particularly among those with high trait mindfulness and prior experience in mindfulness exercise.
Although interest in hip-hop and related styles is growing, and the genre possesses unique characteristics (e.g., more relaxed class structure, emphasis on self-expression; Kushida, 2019), research in this context is limited. Further, as longitudinal qualitative research in dance is scarce (Nordin-Bates, 2023), we know little about how dancers' experiences evolve over time. Thus, the purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of competitive dancers as they trained and competed throughout their dance season. The research questions were: (a) What demands do the competitive hip-hop dancers face over their season? And (b) How do the competitive hip-hop dancers attempt to manage the demands that they experience over their season? The study utilized an interpretive description framework (Thorne, 2016). Five adult women dancers who competed internationally participated in three to four one-on-one interviews throughout their season. Reflexive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2022) guided data analysis and was supplemented by a trajectory analytic approach (Grossoehme & Lipstein, 2016). Throughout the season, dancers experienced demands from the taxing nature of dance, the pressure of competition, and balancing conflicting commitments. Such demands heightened as the season progressed. A combination of coping strategies, including psychological skills, proactive efforts, and distinct aspects of the social atmosphere and approach to communication were highlighted throughout the season. Findings from the present study have important implications for those competing in performance contexts, particularly in showcasing the value of proactive, collaborative, and supportive approaches to coping that may not be typical or emphasized in such contexts.
The model of excellencism and perfectionism proposes that the effects of pursuing perfection (i.e., perfectionism) need to be assessed while controlling for the effects of pursuing excellence (i.e., excellencism). Our objective in this research was to rely on the model of excellencism and perfectionism to further our understanding of athlete perfectionism on two key points. First, we focused on a scale designed to measure dispositional perfectionism and excellencism-the Scale of Perfectionism and Excellencism (SCOPE)-and tested the factor structure of an adapted version of the SCOPE for athletes (SCOPE-A). Second, we addressed the substantive question of whether perfectionism, while controlling for excellencism, is beneficial, unneeded, or harmful for athlete well-being and performance satisfaction-two indicators of athlete thriving. We conducted secondary data analysis with four samples of athletes (total N = 1,549). The results of confirmatory factor analyses and multiple regression analyses provided evidence to support the factor structure of scores from the SCOPE-A, and the conclusion that, when it comes to athlete thriving, perfectionism is almost always unneeded and excellencism is almost always good enough. These results shed new light on the connection between excellencism, perfectionism, and athlete thriving, and contribute to future research examining the effects of excellencism and perfectionism in athletes using the SCOPE-A.
Participatory research involves collaborative inquiry with individuals directly affected by the issues studied, emphasizing local perspectives to drive meaningful action. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of physical activity interventions developed using participatory methods on mental health determinants in adults and to examine whether the number of participatory stages influences these outcomes. Literature searches were conducted in Web of Science, PubMed, and EBSCO databases, covering eligible studies published up to February 21, 2025. Sixteen eligible studies were identified and analyzed using semiquantitative synthesis and meta-analysis, following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Systematic review results showed 100% positive findings of participatory physical activity intervention on cognitive function; 75% on happiness/mood; 60% on global self-esteem; and reductions in stress (100%), fatigue (100%), and loneliness (75%). However, broader mental health outcomes showed mixed results, with positive effects reported by 54% of findings for overall mental health, 46% for well-being, and 57% for ill-being. Meta-analysis results confirmed small yet statistically significant effects on overall mental health (effect size g = 0.25, 95% confidence interval, CI [0.13, 0.37]) and well-being (g = 0.28, 95% CI [0.09, 0.47]) but not significant for ill-being (g = 0.49, 95% CI [-0.24, 1.23]). Both analyses revealed that interventions involving three or more participatory stages yielded greater effects than those with fewer stages (77% vs. 36% positive findings in systematic review; g = 0.66 vs. 0.12 in meta-analyses). These findings suggest that participatory physical activity interventions positively influence mental health, particularly when involving three or more stages of collaboration. Future research should emphasize multistage participatory approaches for greater effects.
Emergency service operators, including special police units, rescue personnel, and firefighters, confront both physical and psychological demands, such as traumatic incidents and extreme work environments. Despite research addressing these stressors, knowledge remains limited regarding what sustains thriving in these high-risk roles. The aim was to explore what factors emergency operators perceive as important for them to thrive in their jobs, prompting a reflexive thematic analysis of nine semistructured interviews. The findings consist of four themes; personal gain and core values, as a feeling of identity and self-actualization; trust and safety, involving organizational and relational aspects, as well as personal competence; operative experiences and thrill, including significant experiences, mindful presence on mission, and altruism versus egoism; and personal sacrifices. Our findings indicate a need to include strategies that promote operators' self-actualization, safety, and strong relationships with colleagues, such as effective management of difficult situations and collegial support to increase their well-being, subjective experience of job performance, and their long-term motivation for the job. Adequate physical and tactical training time is also essential for achieving operational automation and increased competence. Implementing formal psychological training, like mindfulness, may positively impact the thriving of emergency operators.
Our purpose for the present study was to understand elite track cyclists' stories of attempting to experience thriving during an Olympic qualification window. More specifically, we hoped to describe the narratives underpinning the cyclists' stories during this time and to gain an understanding of the sociocultural factors that were perceived to influence their experiences. Interviews were conducted with eleven elite track cyclists on three occasions over a 6-month period. Interview data were analyzed using a combination of holistic-form structural analysis and thematic narrative analysis. Our results are presented as a realist tale and illustrate three narratives: performance, discovery, and vindication. We interpreted the results to suggest that the performance narrative was prominent and drawn on within many, if not all, athletes' stories. Our results show that, although aspirations exist in research and practice to dilute the prevailing performance narrative with one that provides a frame for concurrent experiences of sporting success and athlete well-being (i.e., thriving), attempts to make this shift will likely be complex. These findings are the first representation of athlete stories as they attempt to experience thriving during a critical part of their Olympic journey and offer a unique insight into the narratives that inform their stories. Moreover, they highlight the important sociocultural factors for supporting thriving in people and systems at the highest level of sport.
