This article reports on a two-year study of a community-based suicide postvention support service in the UK. Attention centres on the implementation of four integrated elements within the service model: multi-agency working with real-time suicide surveillance, persistent pro-active contact; volunteer-led support; continuous open-ended support. Our approach involved analysing utilisation data and qualitative techniques, including in-depth interviews with a diverse group of stakeholders. The study is the first of its kind to provide an in-depth examination of an innovative approach focusing on the integrated model and its constituent components. Our findings offer evidence-based examples of collaborative service efforts in implementing real-time interventions, with agencies working together to provide timely, co-ordinated, proactive responses and support with the potential to alleviate suffering and prevent loss of life. The value of volunteer-led support and open-ended access and associated challenges are emphasised. Findings hold promise for international impact with policy implications for services worldwide.

After cognitively demanding work, individuals tend to be less physically active. However, the psychological mechanisms underlying this effect have not been thoroughly tested. The aim of this article was to experimentally investigate the impact of cognitive work demands on subsequent physical activity behavior. Across two preregistered experiments, participants were exposed to high or low levels of cognitive work demands, operationalized as workload in Experiment 1 and as working-memory load in Experiment 2. In a subsequent choice task, participants made binary consequential choices between leisure nonphysical activities (e.g., drawing) and effortful physical activities (e.g., cycling). Choice alternatives were matched on attractiveness rankings. Additionally, physical endurance performance was measured using a standardized cycling protocol in Experiment 1. In contrast to the hypotheses, after performing work with high cognitive demands, participants were not more likely to choose nonphysical over physical activities nor did they perform significantly worse on the physical endurance task. Exploratory analyses suggest that preexisting preferences for either physical or nonphysical activities explained physical activity behavior above and beyond exposure to cognitively demanding work. These experiments question the impact of cognitively demanding work on subsequent cognitive fatigue and physical activity behavior. Implications for theory, practice, and future directions are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

This paper describes the SPOWTT project. The intention of this project was to understand how sailing by crew transfer vessel (CTVs) to offshore wind farms affects the mental and physical wellbeing of individuals on board. The focus was on quantifying this impact, understanding the key drivers, with an aim to ensuring personnel can arrive to the wind turbines in a fit state to work safely and effectively. Impacts looked at subjective state beyond simply vomiting. Key results include the ability now to predict vessel motions from given Metocean conditions and vessel designs. We also discovered that the impact of vessel motions on seasickness is different for different symptoms and is driven not only by vertical z-axis accelerations but also by certain frequencies of motion in the y-axis. Frequencies other than 0.16 Hz were found to be impactful, and x-axis movements appeared to have a longer-lasting effect on the day's work. Through the formulation of a new, evidence-based understanding of seasickness, we have created an operational planning tool, designed to have a direct benefit on the safety and productivity of offshore wind farm operations.

All football teams that compete within the F. A. Premier League possess an academy, whose objective is to produce more and better home-grown players that are capable of playing professionally. These young players spend a large amount of time with their coach, but little is known about player's perception of the coach-athlete relationship within F. A. Premier League Academies. The objectives of this study were to examine whether perceptions of the coach-athlete relationship changed over six months and if the coach-athlete relationship predicted self-reported goal achievement among F. A. Premier League academy players. This study included cross-sectional (n = 104) and longitudinal (n = 52) assessments, in which academy soccer players completed a measure of the coach-athlete relationship and goal achievement across either one or two time periods. The cross-sectional data were subjected to bivariate correlations, whereas the longitudinal data were analyzed using multiple regressions. Perceptions of the coach-athlete relationship remained stable over time. The coach-athlete relationship predicted the achievement of mastery goals six months later. Enhancing the quality of the coach-athlete relationship among elite adolescent athletes appears to be a suitable way of maximizing mastery achievement goals, particularly among developmental athletes who participate in team sports.

Fifty-nine men completed a VO2max test and a questionnaire to establish reasons for test termination, perceived exercise reserve (difference between actual test duration and the duration the individual perceived could have been achieved if continued until physical limitation), and perception of verbal encouragement. Participants gave between 1 and 11 factors as reasons for test termination, including leg fatigue, various perceptions of physical discomfort, safety concerns, and achievement of spontaneously set goals. The two most common main reasons were leg fatigue and breathing discomfort, which were predicted by pre-to-post test changes in pulmonary function (p = 0.038) and explosive leg strength (p = 0.042; R2 = 0.40). Median (interquartile range) perceived exercise reserve, was 45 (50) s. Two-thirds of participants viewed verbal encouragement positively, whereas one-third had a neutral or negative perception. This study highlights the complexity of exercise tolerance during VO2max testing and more research should explore these novel findings.

A study is reported on the effects of task load and task motivation on the relationship between effort and fatigue in a demanding life-support simulation, aimed to test the hypothesis that effort, rather than demands, was the direct cause of fatigue in task performance. This was done by independently manipulating two factors that affect effort: task load and task motivation. A total of 28 participants were tested in a mixed 3 × 2 factorial design; task load (within-Ss) was varied in terms of the number of manual control systems (1, 3 or 5) that needed to be managed during a 100 min session, while task motivation (between-Ss) was defined by instructions (standard vs. enhanced) designed to influence the level of voluntary commitment to task goals. Effort and fatigue were measured by self report, as were perceived demands and anxiety (included as manipulation checks). While both task load and task motivation led to an increase in effort, there was a stronger fatigue response to task load under enhanced task motivation. As predicted, while both perceived demands and anxiety increased with task load, they were not affected by task motivation. An independent assessment of after-effects of fatigue on a fault finding task showed an increased use of low effort strategies under enhanced task motivation. The findings support the hypothesized effort → fatigue linkage. During task performance, fatigue is a consequence not of task demands per se, but of the level of commitment of effort in meeting demands.

Mental toughness in higher education: Relationships with achievement and profession in first-year university sports students

Research into mental toughness has largely been confined to elite sport but should theoretically be important across other performance domains. We examined mental toughness in 161 first year sport students at a UK university using a self-report questionnaire (MTQ48). A measure of achievement (year grade) and progression (pass, fail, or re-sit) was also obtained for each participant. Significant and positive correlations were found between total mental toughness, grades, and progression. Results suggest that the MTQ48 may be a useful screening device to identify students at risk of failing and dropping out of their program. Interventions that target life control and interpersonal confidence would appear to be most salient. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The following article outlines a series of ‘bullets’ that every sport psychologist working in this unique setting may wish to consider. My observations are based on issues I have faced during my many years of experience as a sport psychology consultant working in rugby league; however, a number of key areas in the paper centre around my time spent with a Super League club. The background to this consultancy experience started with an email from the club’s Chairman stating that the coach required some ‘assistance’. After meeting the Chairman and the coach it was agreed that I was to be given a relatively free role within the club to help improve the support for players and coaches.

Background Despite efforts to provide a comprehensive diagnosis of whiplash (eg, The Quebec Classification system, 1995; Soderlund & Dennison) it is an ill defined and poorly understood injury. Its occurrence seems to be dependent on a number of contextual variables. Objective The primary objective of this study was to identify the number of cases of whiplash reported in one complete season by professional rugby players. Design A longitudinal design was adopted. The assessment of whiplash was carried out independently of the assessment of the number of incidents that could potentially lead to WAD. The two assessments were blinded to each other. Setting The study was undertaken within a professional rugby club in the north of England. Participants The full first team squad (n=32) were included in the study. Assessment of risk The main independent variables was the number of potential whiplash inducing incidents over the entire season. Main outcome measurements The main outcome measure was the number of whiplash related injuries reported. Results There were six cases of whiplash reported during the entire season. Five followed an on field assessment during the game and the players were deemed fit to continue with play. They needed treatment post injury in readiness for the next game, however in all five cases the injuries were not sufficiently serious to rule the player concerned out of contention for selection and all have missed no matches as a result of their injury. The minimum number of collisions that would have been expected to produce whiplash was found to be three per game. Conclusion It is clear that the number of reported/diagnosed whiplash injuries in this sample is much lower than would be expected if you were to use data from the non-sporting domain. Further investigation into why this discrepancy happens is underway, using physiological, psychological and biomechanical markers.

The traditional view has been that VO2max is limited by the cardiovascular system's capacity to deliver oxygen to working muscles, resulting in muscle hypoxia, accumulation of intramuscular lactate, and muscle fatigue resulting in the termination of exercise. More recently, it has been suggested that the termination of a VO2max test is due to some intolerable level of pain or discomfort. PURPOSE: Provide an in-depth exploration of reasons why subjects terminate a VO2max test. METHODS: Ten men undertook an incremental treadmill VO2max test and were then immediately interviewed. The main focus of the interview was to establish why the subjects terminated the test. RESULTS: Reasons for terminating the test included insufficient leg speed, leg and breathing discomfort, and being concerned about falling on the treadmill, becoming unconscious, or suffering a heart attack. Although being injury free was an inclusion criterion for testing, four subjects cited being concerned about aggravating a previous injury as a contributing factor. Each subject gave between two and four factors that they perceived as contributing to the decision to terminate the test. Out of the seven subjects who stated the main reason for terminating the test, four cited breathing discomfort; one, concerned about collapsing on the treadmill; one, not being able to maintain leg turnover speed; and one, concerned about aggravating a previous injury. Why nine of the subjects terminated the test was also influenced by goal setting. Early on in the test five subjects set a speed or time that they wanted to achieve. Four subjects set only short-term goals when they approached the end of the test. Subjects stated that their decision to terminate the test was influenced by whether or not their goal had been reached. Seven subjects stated that the verbal encouragement given during the test was helpful in increasing their performance time, whereas three perceived verbal encouragement as either annoying, distracting, demotivating, or a combination of these, regardless of the timing of the verbal encouragement. CONCLUSIONS: For a given subject, the decision to terminate the VO2max test was multifactorial. The reasons were mainly related to perceived discomfort or safety concerns. Achievement of personal goals and verbal encouragement also were contributory factors.