No description available.

Aim The study had the aim to increase knowledge of characteristics possessed by Swedish elite athletes. More specific the level of affect, athlete engagement and reaction time were investigated. A second aim was to test if a reflective training log based on principles from self-regulation could influence these variables.   Questions part one: Baseline What are the level of affect, athlete engagement and reaction time in a sample of Swedish elite athletes? How strong are the correlations between these variables? Questions part two: Intervention Does a self-regulation training log effect athlete engagement, affect or reaction time in Swedish elite athletes? Is there a difference if the reflections are based on either personal strengths or weaknesses? How do the athletes perceive the use of a self-regulation training log? Method/Experiment design The general outline is a randomized controlled trial on a population of Swedish elite athletes using a baseline measurement and an intervention consisting of two experiments (EG1; EG2) and one placebo group (PG). Eligibility criteria for participants were a membership in Sport Campus Sweden (SCS). The data were collected in the participants own home or current location using correspondence by mail/e-mail and a web-based test platform provided by Hogrefe psykologiförlag. A simple 1:1:1 randomization was used for allocation. Only previously tested and validated measurements were used (PANAS; AEQ; CompACT simple RT). 40 athletes performed the baseline registration of reaction time and 32 persons participated in the measurements of affect and athlete engagement. 23 athletes completed all stages of the one month intervention including pre and post-tests. EG1 (reflections on personal weaknesses) N=6; EG2 (reflections on personal strengths) N=8; PG (writing down time spent by watching TV or by the computer as a placebo) N=9.   Result Part 1 showed that Swedish elite athletes outperformed 91 % of a normative sample in reaction time. They were also more stable than 87 % of the norm. Correlation analysis show a strong significant correlation between positive affect and athlete engagement (0.74) (p=0.00). In Part 2 the training log intervention showed no significant results in affect, athlete engagement or reaction time. There were no differences if the reflections were based on personal strengths or weaknesses. In general the athletes perceived the self-regulation training log as rewarding and easy to use.   Conclusions Swedish elite athletes have a superior reaction time compared to a normative sample and are also more stable in their reactions. They experience a high level of positive affect and athlete engagement and these variables are also strongly correlated. A self-regulation training log did not show any results on affect, athlete engagement or reaction time. The training log got positive feedback. Consequences of these findings are discussed. / Syfte Studien har som syfte att utöka kunskapen om specifika egenskaper som svenska elitidrottare besitter. Mer detaljerat undersöks affekt, engagemang och reaktionstid. Vidare är syftet att undersöka om dessa variabler kan påverkas genom att skriva i en självreglerings- och reflektionsinriktad träningsdagbok.   Frågeställningar Del 1: Baslinjeundersökning Var ligger nivån gällande affek, idrottsligt engagemang och reaktionstid hos svenska elitidrottare? Hur starka är korrelationerna mellan dessa variabler? Del 2: Intervention: skriva i en reflektionsinriktad träningsdagbok Kan en träningsdagbok baserad på självreglering påverka affekt, idrottsligt engagemang och reaktionstid hos svenska elitidrottare? Är det skillnader om reflektionerna är baserade på personliga styrkor eller svagheter? Hur upplever elitidrottarna användandet av träningsdagboken? Metod Metoden är en randomiserad kontrollerad experimentell fältstudie på en population av svenska elitidrottare. Studien består av en baslinjeregistrering och en intervention under en månad med två experimentgrupper (EG1;EG2) och en placebogrupp (PG). Urvalskriterium var ett medlemskap i Sport Campus Sweden (SCS). Deltagarna genomförde tester i sitt eget hem eller på sin dåvarande position via brev/mail samt en webbaserad testplattform som tillhandahölls av Hogrefe psykologiförlag. En enkel 1:1:1 randomisering genomfördes. Enbart tidigare validerade frågeformulär samt mätutrustning användes (PANAS; AEQ; CompACT simple RT). 40 deltagare genomförde baslinjeregistreringen av data gällande reaktionstid och 32 deltagare genomförde den första mätningen av affekt och idrottsligt engagemang. Efter avslutad intervention hade 23 deltagare genomfört samtliga för -och eftertest. EG1 (reflektion på svagheter) N=6; EG2 (reflektion på styrkor) N= 8; PG (placebo genom att skriva ner tv-tittande och tid framför datorn) N=9.   Resultat Del 1 visade att elitidrottarna hade en kortare reaktionstid än 91 % av ett normativt snitt av befolkningen i samma åldersgrupp. De var även mer stabila i sina reaktioner än 87 % av normen. En stark och statistisk signifikant korrelation återfanns mellan positiv affekt och idrottsligt engagemang (0.74 )(p=0.00). Del 2 visade att interventionen med en reflekterande träningsdagbok inte gav några signifikanta resultat oavsett om interventionen var baserad på reflektioner gällande personliga styrkor eller svagheter. Idrottarna upplevde generellt träningsdagboken som givande och enkel att använda.   Slutsats Svenska elitidrottare har en överlägsen reaktionstid jämfört med en normalbefolkningsnorm. De är även mer stabila i sina reaktioner samt upplever en hög nivå av positiv affekt och idrottsligt engagemang. Dessa variabler var även starkt signifikant korrelerade.  Träningsdagboken hade ingen signifikant påverkan på upplevelsen av affekt och idrottsligt engagemang eller idrottarnas reaktionstid. Träningsdokumentationen upplevdes i allmänhet som givande. Konsekvenser av dessa resultat diskuteras

The purpose of this study was to interview elite First Nations, Inuit, and Métis athletes to gain an in-depth understanding of their personal journeys to excellence. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and a narrative analysis was used to analyze the research findings. The three objectives were to find success strategies, obstacles and advice the elite athletes would provide to Aboriginal youth. The main success strategies were found to be Aboriginal elements, focus, mental preparation for competition, parental support, passion, and positive self-talk. Multiple obstacles were faced by the athletes in this study, with racism and leaving home being the commonalities. The advice they provided for young First Nations, Inuit, and Métis athletes was rich and inspiring. The findings of this study provide useful information for aspiring Aboriginal athletes, and for future ongoing meaningful research, that may lead to reducing the gaps in the literature.

Syfte med denna studie var att undersöka de vanligaste faktorerna som var bidragande till en avslutad elitidrottssatsning i ungdomsåren. För att besvara studiens syfte, har intervjuer använts som datainsamlingsinstrument. Den empirisk data tolkades med hjälp av IPA- metoden. Tolkningsarbetet gav insikt om vilka unika upplevelser respondenter hade om sin avslutad elitidrottssatsning, därefter tolkades och kategoriseras deras citat under teman: övriga, interna- och externa faktorer, skador och sjukdom. Det författarna konstaterade var att elitsatsande ungdomar avslutade sin elitidrottssatsning på grund flera interna och externa faktorer tillsammans. Studien tyder på att de vanligaste faktorerna till en avslutad elitidrottssatsning var: utmattning, prestationskraven, miljöombyte, intressekonflikt, för krävande träningsmiljö och bristande ledarkompetens. / The purpose of this study was to examine the most common reasons why young elite athletes dropped out their sport at the top level. To study this case, we collected our data with an interview as a method and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis as instrument to interpreted participants citations into the factors. These factors later were categorized under different themes: Other, Internal and External factors, Sickness and Injuries. The most common reasons quoted was exhaustion (psychological) and fatigue (physical), too high performance requirement, environmental change, conflict of interest, too demanding training environment and lack of leadership skills.

Magister Artium (Sport, Recreation and Exercise Science) - MA(SRES) / Despite government’s formation of financial support grants such as the Operational Excellence Programme to provide much needed assistance, South African elite athletes have not been performing to expectation at recent international championships, such as the Olympic Games. International experiences demonstrate the importance of a well-structured and implemented funding support system to improve elite athlete performance at international levels. This has led to questions of how to improve this situation for elite South African athletes who receive funding support from the South Africa Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee and to revisit the implementation of the funding support for elite athletes. This study will take, experiences of South African elite athletes as well as sport managers into consideration and will also look at international lessons of experience of the funding support of elite sport to provide improved options for financial support and elite athlete development. Using qualitative research methods, this study explored the underlying factors regarding funding support of elite athletes in South Africa based on experiences and perceptions of elite athletes. Within the context of the study, elite athletes would refer to senior track and field athletes and senior swimmers who had been a part of Team South Africa and represented the nation at international competitions. Data was collected in three ways: a) A literature review in the form of an analysis of the high performance policies of: the National Olympic Committee of South Africa and the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee that has governed elite sport in South Africa post 1994 and the policies that govern high performance funding support within Athletics South Africa and Swimming South Africa; b) interviews with eight preselected elite athletes to discuss career performances and funding support received and c) interviews with four coaches/managers of the preselected elite athletes to discuss their perspectives on the funding support their athletes received. Strict ethics considerations were also adhered to insofar as written consent was obtained from all participants beforehand, as the intended interviews would be either audio recorded or video recorded. Pseudonyms were also used for participants with the assurance that participation was voluntary. The eventual findings of the study brought to light that the implementation of the funding support provided by the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee was good in theory but not necessarily so in practice. Overall, participants were grateful for the support received but felt that certain changes needed to be considered going forward for the improvement of future performances.

The need for an EAP in a sport environment is considered on the basis of a questionnaire completed by a group of Netball players and an overview of the high performance environment of elite athletes. The questionnaire covered the personal, work(career), home and sporting environments of the respondents with a view to identify those stressors that could possibly impact on performance on the playing field. The particular profile of the responding group of Netball players is taken into consideration. Responses received from the group of Netball players together with the characteristics of the high pressure world of high performance or “elite” athletes provides insight into the nature of the related factors at work in this environment. General principles involved in EAP, as applicable in normal workplace situations, are reviewed and the support services provided compared with the support services generally available to athletes. Support services provided by sports organisations are essentially focused on the physical well-being of the athlete and very little is available to attend to the emotional needs of athletes. The stressful environment within which elite athletes function impact the mental well-being of athletes dramatically and interventions are required to ensure that performance quality is not affected. It is concluded that existing support services for athletes are deficient with respect to their emotional needs. By extending traditional athlete support systems to include the basic principles of EAP it is possible to support both the physical and emotional needs of elite athletes. Guidelines for such a sport specific EAP is provided. Copyright 2004, University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. Please cite as follows: Basson, T 2004, Guidelines for a sport specific Employee Assistance Programme, MSD dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd < http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-10182005-105208 / > / Dissertation (MSD (Employee Assistance Programme))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Social Work / unrestricted

The purpose of this study was to interview elite First Nations, Inuit, and Métis athletes to gain an in-depth understanding of their personal journeys to excellence. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and a narrative analysis was used to analyze the research findings. The three objectives were to find success strategies, obstacles and advice the elite athletes would provide to Aboriginal youth. The main success strategies were found to be Aboriginal elements, focus, mental preparation for competition, parental support, passion, and positive self-talk. Multiple obstacles were faced by the athletes in this study, with racism and leaving home being the commonalities. The advice they provided for young First Nations, Inuit, and Métis athletes was rich and inspiring. The findings of this study provide useful information for aspiring Aboriginal athletes, and for future ongoing meaningful research, that may lead to reducing the gaps in the literature.

Elite freestyle snowboarders often expose themselves to large risks while performing their sport. A natural response to risk is fear, and it is the aim of this study to explore how elite freestyle snowboarders experience and cope with emotions of fear in conjunction with performing their sport. When examining these mechanisms, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) will be used as the theoretical framework. The aim is to try to determine if the riders accept or avoid situations, thoughts and emotions of fear. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with seven elite freestyle snowboarders (six men and one woman). The content of the interviews where processed with theory driven thematic analysis and inductive thematic analysis. The analysis revealed eight themes related to the athletes’ experience of fear: (1) Sources of fear, (2) Fear inducing events and situations, (3) Physiological responses, (4) Cognitive changes, (5) Action tendencies, (6) Fear appraisal, (7) Fear and risk and (8) Fear as a problem. In the analysis of the participants’ coping strategies for fear two themes emerged: Coping strategies not related to ACT and ACT-related coping strategies. It can be concluded from this study that elite freestyle snowboarders at times experience fear when exposed to high risk of injury, and can interpret this experience both as a negative and positive for well-being and performance. Participants use a range of coping strategies for fear; some which are in line with traditional sport psychology with an avoidance approach. Despite no previous ACT training, some participants have developed an accepting approach to relate to fear. The complexity of ACT as a theoretical framework is also demonstrated in this study due to the difficulties in categorizing the distinction between processes and orientations of strategies.

There is a general perception in the public that mental health problems scarcely exist among elite athletes. The aim of this thesis was to investigate mental health among Swedish elite athletes with a particular focus on depression, overtraining, help seeking and stigma. The sample consisted of 100 athletes; of these 32 % were male and 68 % female, 53 % team athletes and 47 % individual athletes representing 15 different sports. A cross-sectional research design using self-report measures examined variables associated with the mental health of athletes. Results showed the prevalence of depression in the sample was similar to that of the general population. Athletes who reported symptoms of overtraining also reported symptoms of depression. Depressed athletes showed significantly more symptoms of overtraining than non-depressed athletes. Athletes who reported greater symptoms of depression or overtraining also reported higher levels of stigma associated with the condition. In the sample 45 % of participants reported that it was unlikely or extremely unlikely that they would seek help for mental health problems. The results indicate that mental health problems among elite athletes do exist. Athletes that experience problems with their mental health also do not want to disclose these problems. The established relationship between depression and overtraining highlights the difficult in distinguishing between the concepts that may ultimately lead to misdiagnose and ineffective treatment of the symptoms. Sport specialization in health care is required in order to meet the needs of elite athletes. / Det finns en allmän syn i samhället att psykisk ohälsa bland elitidrottare är väldigt ovanligt. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka psykisk ohälsa bland svenska elitidrottare med fokus på depression, överträning, hjälpsökande och stigma. Urvalet bestod av 100 elitidrottare; av dessa var 32 % män och 68 % kvinnor, 53 % lagidrottare och 47 % individuella idrottare vilka representerade 15 olika idrotter. En tvärsnittsstudie genomfördes med hjälp av självskattningsformulär vilka undersökte variabler förknippade med elitidrottares psykiska hälsa. Resultaten visade en prevalens av depression bland elitidrottarna motsvarande den allmänna populationen. Elitidrottare som rapporterade symptom på överträning rapporterade även symptom på depression. Deprimerade elitidrottare hade signifikant fler symptom på överträning än icke-deprimerade elitidrottare. Elitidrottare som rapporterade fler symptom på depression eller överträning rapporterade även högre nivåer av stigma. I urvalet rapporterade 45 % av deltagarna att det var osannolikt eller extremt osannolikt att de skulle söka hjälp vid problem med psykisk ohälsa. Resultaten visar på att psykisk ohälsa bland elitidrottare existerar. Elitidrottare med psykisk ohälsa är obenägna att avslöja dessa problem för andra. Den påvisade relationen mellan depression och överträning visar på att det är svårt att skilja mellan dessa koncept vilket i förlängningen kan leda till feldiagnostisering av symptomen samt att fel behandlingsinsatser sätts in. För att möta behoven från elitidrottare bör hälso- och sjukvården erbjuda idrottsspecifik behandling.

The main purpose of this study is to deepen the knowledge of elite athletes termination of their sport careers. The study also tries to understand the reasons behind where the former elite athletes position themselves in the labor market. The empirical data consists of interviews with 8 former elite atheltes, who all ended their careers within the last five years. The data was analyzed in light of Pierre Bourdieus theory, cultural capital and the related field concept. Based on Bourdieu's concept of capital, we understand elite athletes careers as a capital accumulation by something we call the elite sports capital.   The results of this study indicates that the termination of´a sports career is a complex process, where it proved important to have the decision to terminate into their own hands. We have also been able to show differences in capital compositions between those who experienced anxiety about life after their sporting careers and those who did not. In cases where the termination of career was associated with feeling anxious, we could show that the level of concern was dependent on informants' equity compositions, in which the resource-poor tended to experience more anxiety than them with strong resources.   Common to those who stayed in the clear sports related careers after own sporting careers, was their capital composition. Their assets are mainly in elite sports capital, which refers to the exact position in the sports field. For those who positioned themselves outside the sports field, made up of their resources above all a cultural capital along with elite sports capital.