Amount of mental practice and performance of a simple motor task
- Authors: Kremer, Peter , Spittle, Michael , McNeil, Dominic , Shinners, Cassandra
- Date: 2009
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Perceptual and Motor Skills Vol. 109, no. 2 (2009), p. 347-356
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: The effects of different amounts of mental practice on the performance of a motor skill were studied. Research supports the effectiveness of mental practice on performance; however, little is known about how much practice is needed and whether there is an optimal amount for these practice effects. Participants, 209 students ages 18 to 44 years (M=20.5, SD=2.9), completed a pre- and posttest of dart throwing with the nonpreferred hand. In the practice phase, participants completed either 25 (Mental Practice 25), 50 (Mental Practice 50), or 100 (Mental Practice 100) trials of the darts task or 50 trials of a catching task (Catching Task). Performance for all groups improved from pre- to posttest. Improvements for the three mental practice groups were greater than for the Catching Task group; however, there were no differences for the three Mental Practice groups. The findings support the positive effect of mental practice over a control condition and suggest that small amounts of mental practice may be sufficient for performance improvements, at least for a simple motor skill.
- Description: 2003008193
Competitive pressure and decision-making accuracy in a video-based simulation of soccer
- Authors: Mesagno, Christopher , Spittle, Michael , McNeil, Dominic
- Date: 2008
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: Paper presented at 43rd Annual Conference of the Australian Psychological Society, Hotel Grand Chancellor, Hobart, Tasmania : 23rd-26th September 2008
- Full Text: false
- Description: Perceptual-cognitive skills and decision-making in sport have typically been explored using videobased protocols in settings where participants are not exposed to the type of competitive pressures that characterise a game situation. Consequently, this study aimed to investigate the influence of competitive pressure, or competitive anxiety, on decision-making accuracy. Seventy-seven (Male=44, Female=33) undergraduate students with mean age of 20.16 years (SD = 3.18) were randomly assigned to an experimental (n=56) or control group (n=21) and completed a video–based perceptual decision-making test of 25 temporally occluded offensive soccer plays. Participants in the experimental group completed the test with and without competitive pressure conditions. Pressure was manipulated by introducing a competition for a monetary prize. Participants in the control condition completed the test twice without competition. All participants completed a state anxiety measure prior to each test. The competition produced significantly higher cognitive anxiety than no competition; however, this was not reflected in any significant differences in decisionmaking accuracy. Although not statistically significant, more experienced performers tended to score more accurately with competitive pressure.
- Description: 2003007671
Distribution of practice trials in the learning and retention of an applied sport skill
- Authors: Spittle, Michael , McNeil, Dominic , Mesagno, Christopher
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Motor Learning & Sport Performance Vol. 2, no. 2 (2012), p. 42-49
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
Imagery training for reactive agility : performance improvements for decision time but not overall reactive agility
- Authors: McNeil, Dominic , Spittle, Michael , Mesagno, Christopher
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology Vol. , no. (2019), p. 1-17
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: This study investigated the effects of imagery training on reactive agility and whether reacting to unpredictable stimuli could be improved using imagery. Forty-seven female athletes (Mage = 21.51, SD = 2.32) were randomly assigned to either a three-week physical training, imagery training, or control condition. Physical training condition involved physically rehearsing the reactive agility task, whereas the imagery training condition involved imagining the presenting stimulus and performing the reactive agility task. The control condition did no reactive agility training. A 3 (training conditions) x 7 (reactive agility performance components) mixed-model MANOVA was conducted to examine changes in reactive agility performance from the training interventions. Physical training improved decision time components and overall reactive agility performance. Imagery training improved Stimulus-Decision Time and Stimulus-Foot performance, but not overall reactive agility performance. No performance improvements occurred for the control condition. Findings support imagery use for the decision time variables associated with lightstimulus reactive agility performance. The lack of overall reactive performance improvement may indicate that imagery training is not effective for all components of perceptual-motor performance. Performance change inconsistencies appear to indicate that participants may not have generated unpredictable stimuli during imagery. Future investigation as to whether imagery improvements translate to sport-specific reactive tasks is needed.
Investigating the moderating role of coping style on music performance anxiety and perfectionism
- Authors: McNeil, Dominic , Loi, Natasha , Bullen, Rachel
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Music Education Vol. 40, no. 4 (2022), p. 587-597
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Classical musicians are under constant pressure to perform at near perfect levels, and are highly vulnerable to the negative effects of music performance anxiety. This study aimed to examine the mechanisms by which two types of perfectionism (personal standards and evaluative concerns) relate to music performance anxiety, and to explore the moderating roles of active and avoidant coping on the relationship between these perfectionism types and music performance anxiety. A sample of 118 classical performing musicians (35 males, 82 females, 1 other; Mage = 42.00, SD = 14.68) were recruited to participate in an anonymous online questionnaire assessing music performance anxiety, coping and perfectionism. Results indicated that the two dimensions of perfectionism were positively associated with music performance anxiety. Personal standards perfectionism was associated with active coping, and evaluative concerns perfectionism with avoidant coping. Active coping moderated the relationship between personal standards perfectionism and performance anxiety, but only at high and medium levels. Contrary to the prediction, avoidant coping did not moderate the relationship between evaluative concerns perfectionism and performance anxiety. These findings highlight key relationships between music performance anxiety and the interaction of personal standards perfectionism and active coping. © The Author(s) 2022.
Health empowerment scripts : simplifying social/green prescriptions
- Authors: Lawson, Justin , Wissing, Ross , Henderson-Wilson, Claire , Snell, Tristan , Chambers, Timothy , McNeil, Dominic , Nuttman, Sonia
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Frontiers in Psychology Vol. 13, no. (2022), p.
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Social prescriptions are one term commonly used to describe non-pharmaceutical approaches to healthcare and are gaining popularity in the community, with evidence highlighting psychological benefits of reduced anxiety, depression and improved mood and physiological benefits of reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and reduced hypertension. The relationship between human health benefits and planetary health benefits is also noted. There are, however, numerous barriers, such as duration and frequencies to participate in activities, access, suitability, volition and a range of unpredictable variables (such as inclement weather, shifting interests and relocating home amongst others) impeding a comprehensive approach to their use on a wider scale. From a multidisciplinary perspective, this commentary incorporates a salutogenic and nature-based approach to health, we also provide a range of recommendations that can be undertaken at the patient level to assist in shifting the acknowledged systemic barriers currently occurring. These include using simple language to explain the purpose of health empowerment scripts, ensuing personal commitment to a minimum timeframe, enabling ease of access, co-designing a script program, providing ongoing motivational support and incorporating mindfulness to counter unexpected disruptions. Copyright © 2022 Lawson, Wissing, Henderson-Wilson, Snell, Chambers, McNeil and Nuttman.
Exploring nature-and social-connectedness as mediators of the relationship between nature-based exercise and subjective wellbeing
- Authors: McNeil, Dominic , Singh, Ashumeet , Chambers, Timothy
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Ecopsychology Vol. 14, no. 4 (2022), p. 226-234
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Background and Objectives: Underlying mechanisms behind the benefits of nature-based exercise (NBE) for subjective wellbeing (SWB) remain largely unknown. Nature-and social-connectedness may be the factors that contribute to better subjective welling. This study explores whether nature connectedness and social connectedness mediate the relationship between NBE and SWB. Method: Participants (N = 359 Australian citizens; Female = 229 (63.8%); Mage = 40.15, SD = 16.23) recruited through social media responded to an online survey focused on NBE, SWB, social connectedness, and nature connectedness. Results: Correlations revealed positive associations between variables. The relationship between NBE and SWB was significantly serially mediated by nature connectedness and social connectedness. Yet, at an individual level, social connectedness mediated the relationship, but nature connectedness was not significant. Conclusion: It is important that researchers better understand potential mechanisms associated with increased perception of happiness and life satisfaction through nature. Individuals who exercise in nature, with stronger connections to nature, perceive a stronger bond to the social world, and are more likely to have greater wellbeing. The importance of social connectedness identified further supports that more research is needed to better understand the role of connection to humanity regarding exercise in nature. © Copyright 2022, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers 2022.
Constructions of athlete mental health post-retirement: a discursive analysis of stigmatising and legitimising versions of transition distress in the Australian broadcast media
- Authors: Cosh, Suzanne , Crabb, Shona , McNeil, Dominic , Tully, Phillip
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health Vol. 14, no. 7 (2022), p. 1045-1069
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Athletes are vulnerable to experiencing mental health disorders, yet, disclosure and help-seeking around mental health remains low, with stigma the most widely reported barrier. However, the ways in which stigma around mental health may be produced (or resisted) in dominant constructions of athlete mental health remain under examined. This study explores constructions of athlete mental health into retirement in an example of Australian broadcast media, with consideration of the ways in which these representations might function to reproduce and perpetuate (or not) stigmatising versions of athlete mental health. Data from a two-part special of a current affairs programme focusing on transition difficulties and poor mental health of nine retired athletes were analysed using Discursive Psychology. Analysis focused on identifying the constructions of mental health and recovery produced in this broadcast, with consideration as to how these depictions might function to perpetuate and/or resist stigma. Mental health was constructed in two key ways–biomedical and life-stress–which externalised mental health. Recovery was, conversely, located as solely the individual’s responsibility and was depicted as achieved through self-awareness and engaging in new pursuits. Thus, individual experiences of mental health disorders were partially legitimised through externalising blame and presenting a plurality of depictions, yet did not redress stigma around transition distress more broadly by overlooking contextual factors. Depictions trivialised recovery, potentially functioning to stigmatise long-term or chronic mental health experiences as well as help-seeking. These results inform ways in which stigma around athlete mental health may be challenged, and implications for practice are discussed. © 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Classifying excessive exercise : examining the relationship between compulsive exercise with obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms and disordered eating symptoms
- Authors: Cosh, Suzanne , Eshkevari, Ertimiss , McNeil, Dominic , Tully, Phillip
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: European Eating Disorders Review Vol. 31, no. 6 (2023), p. 769-780
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Objective: There remains a lack of consensus around nosology for compulsive exercise (CE). Although widely observed in eating disorders (ED), CE shares theoretical overlap with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), where exercise compulsions occur in response to obsessions. Yet, there is limited and mixed evidence of a relationship between CE with OCD. This study aims to explore the appropriate diagnostic classification of CE through examination of CE in relation to OCD, obsessional thinking, and ED symptoms. Method: Two hundred and eighty one adults with mental health symptoms, dieting, and exercise behaviour completed measures of OCD, CE, and disordered eating symptoms. Regression and Receiver Operating Characteristic analyses examined relationships between dimensions of CE with OCD and ED symptoms, and the predictive ability of CE assessment for detecting threshold OCD and ED symptoms. Results: CE assessment was poor at predicting threshold OCD symptoms, probable Anorexia Nervosa, and Binge Eating Disorder and moderate at detecting probable disordered eating and Bulimia Nervosa. Associations between CE and OCD symptoms were not significant after adjustment for ED symptoms. Obsessional thinking was associated only with lack of exercise enjoyment. Conclusions: Results indicate that excessive exercise might represent a distinct disorder, with some shared traits across CE, OCD and ED symptoms. Findings question the utility of adaptation of OCD diagnostic criteria for CE. Assessment and treatment implications are considered. © 2023 The Authors. European Eating Disorders Review published by Eating Disorders Association and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Poor mental health outcomes in crisis transitions: an examination of retired athletes accounting of crisis transition experiences in a cultural context
- Authors: Cosh, Suzanne , McNeil, Dominic , Tully, Phillip
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Qualitative research in sport, exercise and health Vol. 13, no. 4 (2021), p. 604-623
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Up to 20% of retiring athletes continue to experience crisis transitions, characterised by a lack of adjustment, ongoing psychological distress, depression and low self-esteem. Crisis transitions remain under researched compared with transition difficulties, especially within cultural sport psychology. This study aims to explore crisis transitions and related psychological distress within a cultural context. The media is a site of cultural exploration, thus this study examines data from the Australian media: specifically, a two-part special of a current affairs programme (120 minutes of footage) that examined the crisis transitions of nine former elite Australian athletes. Data were analysed using inductive thematic analysis, located within a constructionist epistemology. The focus of analysis was on the broad repeated patterns of representation around experiences of and reasons for crisis transitions. Athletes depicted transitions predominately as difficult, invoking diagnostic language, including depression and substance abuse, to further constructions of transition distress. However, transition was also presented as a relief and an ongoing process, using varying constructions of choice in order to produce different versions of retirement. A range of themes were identified in accounting for these experiences during crisis transitions: sport was constructed as an addiction, inactivity partly related to lack of activities and self-worth was invoked, as well as constructions of abandonment by sporting organisations. The findings contribute to the cultural praxis of transitions and crisis transition literature by extending understanding around these experiences and resultant poor athlete mental health. Implications for career assistance programs and supporting retiring athletes are outlined.
Perfect imperfections: Locus of control, perfectionism, and postpartum depression
- Authors: Jackman, Lauren , Thorsteinsson, Einar , McNeil, Dominic
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: SAGE open Vol. 7, no. 2 (2017), p. 215824401771068
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: We examined whether locus of control (LOC) moderates the apparent relationship between perfectionism and postpartum depression (PPD). It was predicted that external LOC would moderate the relationship between self-oriented perfectionism and PPD, and socially prescribed perfectionism and PPD. A sample of 243 women completed an online self-report questionnaire assessing perfectionism, LOC, and PPD. Self-oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism were significantly associated with PPD. Increased personal loci of control (i.e., low external LOC and high internal LOC) moderated (strengthened) the relationship between perfectionism and PPD. LOC may be an important concept and one of the underlying factors at work in the perfectionism–PPD relationship. This outcome may be attributed to the self-directed nature of self-oriented perfectionists.
Effect of task complexity on ipsilateral motor response programming to physically presented and imagined stimuli
- Authors: McNeil, Dominic , Spittle, Michael , Thorsteinsson, Einar
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Quarterly Journal of Experimental Pyschology Vol. 74, no. 4 (2021), p. 760-770
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: It is unclear whether task representation generated in imagery simulates performance demands in reacting to stimuli. This study investigated whether perceptual and motor control processes used to react to unpredictable stimuli and initiate an ipsilateral movement were replicated during imagery. Fifty-nine undergraduate students (Mage = 27.01 years, SD = 8.30) completed 30 simple, two-choice congruent and two-choice incongruent ipsilateral finger–foot movement trials in response to a physically presented or imagined stimulus. The results appear to indicate that participants were reacting to imagined and actual stimuli, as the ipsilateral finger–foot programming rule was maintained and reaction time initially slowed as task difficulty increased. These findings support theoretical similarities between imagery and physical performance of reaction tasks, with imagers generating and reacting to unpredictable stimuli. Slower imagery performance than physical performance on the two-choice incongruent task may indicate that task complexity is limited during imagery. Variation in results between the imagery and physical conditions potentially supports that imagers were able to react to the imagined stimulus. However, exploratory processes used to react to stimuli were not replicated during imagery. The present findings have potentially significant implications for the functional and applied use of imagery for skill acquisition.
Reducing the fear of re-injury during rehabilitation through mental imagery as a mental health strategy in sport and exercise
- Authors: Lindsay, Riki , McNeil, Dominic , Spittle, Michael
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Journal article , Review
- Relation: Journal of Imagery Research in Sport and Physical Activity Vol. 18, no. 1 (2023), p.
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Returning to sport and exercise following injury requires the athlete to become more confident in the ability to gradually explore the use of the injured area in increasingly complex and challenging ways. Emotional responses, such as fear of re-injury, are a key mental health barrier to a performer's return to sport and exercise. To navigate such psychological responses, performers need well-developed psychological strategies, like mental imagery (MI), to facilitate a successful return to pre-injury levels of sport and exercise. MI is a well-established strategy for dealing with negative symptoms associated with injury, providing a safe and less intimidating environment to practice movements that may be perceived as risky and otherwise performed within physical training due to the fear of causing further injury. This paper aims to provide sport psychologists with recommendations on how to utilize MI to reduce fear of re-injury during the rehabilitation process to successfully facilitate return to sport and exercise. Specific examples are also outlined and discussed. © 2023 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston.
Compulsive exercise and its relationship with mental health and psychosocial wellbeing in recreational exercisers and athletes
- Authors: Cosh, Suzanne , McNeil, Dominic , Tully, Phillip
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport Vol. 26, no. 7 (2023), p. 338-344
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Objectives: Better understanding of compulsive exercise is needed in sports medicine. Whilst compulsive exercise may impact mental health, the limited research exploring the relationship between compulsive exercise and psychosocial outcomes is equivocal. The majority of studies have examined eating disorder populations where the eating disorder pathology might account for distress. This study explores relationships between compulsive exercise and mental health. Design: Cross-sectional observational study. Methods: Australian recreational exercisers and athletes (N = 1157; Mage 36.4, standard deviation = 12.9, 77 % female) recruited through sporting organisations, clubs, and gyms, completed measures of compulsive exercise, depression, anxiety, stress, life satisfaction, social physique anxiety, and self-esteem. Regression analyses examined relationships between dimensions of compulsive exercise and wellbeing. Results: After adjustment for eating disorder symptoms and sporting level, compulsive exercise was associated with increased risk of clinically-significant anxiety, depression, and stress symptoms. Compulsive exercise was also associated with lower life satisfaction and self-esteem, and higher social physique anxiety. Notably, different dimensions of compulsive exercise had varying relationships with outcomes, and avoidance and rule-driven behaviour and lack of exercise enjoyment were associated with poorer mental health and wellbeing. Conclusions: Results suggest that compulsive exercise is uniquely associated with a range of psychosocial and mental health outcomes. Results support the need to improve identification and treatment of compulsive exercise in sport and exercise settings. Results highlight that mental health intervention is an important component of treatment, and treatments targeting symptoms related to avoidance and rule-driven behaviour, and anhedonia may be valuable treatment components for those with compulsive exercise. © 2023 The Author(s)