Mindfulness meditation has received increased attention from clinicians and researchers alike in recent decades and subsequently has been incorporated into treatments for a variety of psychological conditions, including anxiety. Although a small body of experimental research examining the influence of mindfulness on anxiety has developed, few studies to date have experimentally tested the effects of mindfulness meditations beyond a brief breathing meditation. This gap in the literature restricts our understanding of the efficacy of various brief mindfulness interventions currently utilized as clinical tools for anxiety. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to expand upon previous studies by examining the differential effect of two mindfulness exercises – a mindful body scan and a breathing meditation. More specifically, the current project investigated the influence of each intervention on 1) state mindfulness, 2) state cognitive anxiety, and 3) state somatic anxiety. Further, the project examined the moderating influence of participants’ reactions and compliance to each condition on pre-to-post intervention changes in cognitive and somatic anxiety. The current study suggests that brief mindfulness tasks induced state decentering, but not curiosity. However, there appears to be relative uniformity in the effect of both interventions on cognitive and somatic anxiety. Finally, the current study indicates that enjoyment while completing a mindfulness exercise is an important moderating factor on the efficacy of mindfulness interventions for anxiety.

Despite the success of available medical and psychosocial treatments, a sizable subgroup of individuals with commonly co-occurring disorders, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and major depressive disorder (MDD), fail to make sufficient treatment gains thereby prolonging their deficits in life functioning and satisfaction. Clinically, these patients often display temperamental features reflecting heightened sensitivity to underlying motivational systems related to threat/safety and reward/loss (e.g., somatic anxiety) as well as inordinate negative self-referential processing (e.g., worry, rumination). This profile may reflect disruption in two important neural networks associated with emotional/motivational salience (e.g., salience network) and self-referentiality (e.g., default network, DN). Emotion Regulation Therapy (ERT) was developed to target this hypothesized profile and its neurobehavioral markers. In the present study, 22 GAD patients (with and without MDD) completed resting state MRI scans before receiving 16 sessions of ERT. To test study these hypotheses, we examined the associations between baseline patterns of intrinsic functional connectivity (iFC) of the insula and of hubs within the DN (anterior and dorsal medial prefrontal cortex [MPFC] and posterior cingulate cortex [PCC]) and treatment-related changes in worry, somatic anxiety symptoms and decentering. Results suggest that greater treatment linked reductions in worry were associated with iFC clusters in both the insular and parietal cortices. Greater treatment linked gains in decentering, a metacognitive process that involves the capacity to observe items that arise in the mind with healthy psychological distance that is targeted by ERT, was associated with iFC clusters in the anterior and posterior DN. The current study adds to the growing body of research implicating disruptions in the default and salience networks as promising targets of treatment for GAD with and without co-occurring MDD.

Objectives: The main objective of the research in this thesis was to investigate the psychological skills, state anxiety and coping of senior rugby players in South Africa. Methodology: The first manuscript (Chapter 2) was a literature review that investigated whether the coping model suggested by Moos and Shaefer (1993) could be applied to investigate the interaction between various psychological factors involved in the coping process, within a sports context. The model was evaluated by examining the relevant factors, including the environmental system, personal factors, life crises and transitions, cognitive appraisals and coping responses, as well as the general health and well-being of individuals. The manuscripts presented in Chapters 3, 4 and 5 made use of a cross-sectional design to assess the constructs central to the stated aims of the study. The participants in this research project were from the following teams during the 2003 and 2004 seasons: South African Super 12 teams (Stormers, Bulls, Cats and Sharks); South African provincial teams (Free State Cheetahs, Gauteng Lions, North-West Leopards and the Falcons); South African club rugby teams (North-West University 1st team, Tswane University of Technology 1st team, Kimberley Combined Forces and the Leopards amateur club team). The players were psychometrically evaluated in the week leading up to an important game (usually 2-3 days before the game). The number of players included in this study was 139 Super 12 rugby players, 106 provincial rugby players and 95 club rugby players, resulting in a cumulative total of 340 senior rugby players. The Athletic Coping Skills Inventory-28 (ACSI-28) was used to evaluate the players' psychological skills (manuscripts 2, 3 and 4). The Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2) was used to ascertain the state anxiety of the rugby players (manuscript 3) and a biographical questionnaire (compiled by the researcher) was used to gather demographical and biographical information of the players (manuscript 4). Results and conclusions of the individual manuscripts: - Manuscript 1 concluded that there were substantial literature findings that supported and explained the influence of the different psychological factors that form part of the Moos and Shaefer (1993) coping model regarding the coping abilities of athletes. It appeared that this model could potentially be applied in a sports context to clarify the factors influencing the coping process of athletes. - The results in manuscript 2 reported significant differences between the psychological skills of the Super 12 and club rugby players on four of the seven ACSI-28 subscales. No differences, however, could be found between Super 12 and provincial rugby players. The research further concluded that no statistically or practically significant differences in psychological skills could be found between forwards and backline rugby players or between the different positional groupings (props, hookers, locks, loose forwards, inside backs and outside backs) in senior South African rugby. - Manuscript 3 concluded that senior South African rugby players with high levels of psychological skills experienced lower levels of state anxiety, and that they interpreted the state anxiety that they experienced as more facilitative to their performance. This might suggest that rugby players with high levels of psychological skills could generally cope better with the challenges of competitive rugby. Rugby players with high levels of psychological skills also experienced higher levels of self-confidence and interpreted their self-confidence as more facilitative to performance. - The results in manuscript 4 suggested that certain prior experiences and a number of sports-specific perceptions could have an influence on the psychological skills of rugby players. However, the only biographical variable that appeared to be a common denominator between the high psychological skills groups on all three levels of rugby were the players' perceptions regarding their own abilities to do optimal psychological preparation before a game. The research could not indicate the direction of the interaction between prior experience, cognitive perceptions and psychological skills, but acknowledged the strong association between these factors and the levels of psychological skills of South African senior rugby players. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

Objectives: The main objective of the research in this thesis was to investigate the psychological skills, state anxiety and coping of senior rugby players in South Africa. Methodology: The first manuscript (Chapter 2) was a literature review that investigated whether the coping model suggested by Moos and Shaefer (1993) could be applied to investigate the interaction between various psychological factors involved in the coping process, within a sports context. The model was evaluated by examining the relevant factors, including the environmental system, personal factors, life crises and transitions, cognitive appraisals and coping responses, as well as the general health and well-being of individuals. The manuscripts presented in Chapters 3, 4 and 5 made use of a cross-sectional design to assess the constructs central to the stated aims of the study. The participants in this research project were from the following teams during the 2003 and 2004 seasons: South African Super 12 teams (Stormers, Bulls, Cats and Sharks); South African provincial teams (Free State Cheetahs, Gauteng Lions, North-West Leopards and the Falcons); South African club rugby teams (North-West University 1st team, Tswane University of Technology 1st team, Kimberley Combined Forces and the Leopards amateur club team). The players were psychometrically evaluated in the week leading up to an important game (usually 2-3 days before the game). The number of players included in this study was 139 Super 12 rugby players, 106 provincial rugby players and 95 club rugby players, resulting in a cumulative total of 340 senior rugby players. The Athletic Coping Skills Inventory-28 (ACSI-28) was used to evaluate the players' psychological skills (manuscripts 2, 3 and 4). The Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2) was used to ascertain the state anxiety of the rugby players (manuscript 3) and a biographical questionnaire (compiled by the researcher) was used to gather demographical and biographical information of the players (manuscript 4). Results and conclusions of the individual manuscripts: - Manuscript 1 concluded that there were substantial literature findings that supported and explained the influence of the different psychological factors that form part of the Moos and Shaefer (1993) coping model regarding the coping abilities of athletes. It appeared that this model could potentially be applied in a sports context to clarify the factors influencing the coping process of athletes. - The results in manuscript 2 reported significant differences between the psychological skills of the Super 12 and club rugby players on four of the seven ACSI-28 subscales. No differences, however, could be found between Super 12 and provincial rugby players. The research further concluded that no statistically or practically significant differences in psychological skills could be found between forwards and backline rugby players or between the different positional groupings (props, hookers, locks, loose forwards, inside backs and outside backs) in senior South African rugby. - Manuscript 3 concluded that senior South African rugby players with high levels of psychological skills experienced lower levels of state anxiety, and that they interpreted the state anxiety that they experienced as more facilitative to their performance. This might suggest that rugby players with high levels of psychological skills could generally cope better with the challenges of competitive rugby. Rugby players with high levels of psychological skills also experienced higher levels of self-confidence and interpreted their self-confidence as more facilitative to performance. - The results in manuscript 4 suggested that certain prior experiences and a number of sports-specific perceptions could have an influence on the psychological skills of rugby players. However, the only biographical variable that appeared to be a common denominator between the high psychological skills groups on all three levels of rugby were the players' perceptions regarding their own abilities to do optimal psychological preparation before a game. The research could not indicate the direction of the interaction between prior experience, cognitive perceptions and psychological skills, but acknowledged the strong association between these factors and the levels of psychological skills of South African senior rugby players. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

<p>E-mail: 400amanetta@gmail.com</p>

Title: Competitive anxiety in female gymnasts: Association with age and length of sports career Objectives: The main aim of the diploma thesis is to describe levels of competitive anxiety and its association to age and length of sports career in young female gymnasts from Prague. Methods: The thesis has a character of empirical and theoretical research and includes elements of quantitative research with an application of a survey. Specifically the thesis represents a cross-sectional study. A multidimensional questionnaire, the Competitive state anxiety investory-2 was administered to a sample of N = 18 female gymnasts. The questionnaire consists of three subscales measuring: somatic anxiety, cognitive anxiety, self-confidence. Data were analyzed using basic descriptive statistics, and the Pearson correlation coefficient was used to examine the hypotheses about relationships. Results: The results have shown that age is related to somatic and cognitive anxiety, whereas both components of competitive anxiety increase with increasing age. On the other hand age was not associated with self- confidence. The length of sports career was positively associated with somatic anxiety and self-confidence, however was not related to cognitive anxiety. Keywords: activation, emotions, cognitive anxiety, somatic...

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T20:38:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Maria Luiza Scrosoppi Persicano.pdf: 13590026 bytes, checksum: 987e46a955863f199cc4194db928eb40 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-06-22 / First this study presents a review of the economic concept of somatic anxiety, developed by the author in her master's work, as seen from the point of view of Klein's theory of the fantasy. The objective of the study is to further develop ideas that are fundamental to this concept of somatic anxiety and to question them in terms of the new frame of reference. The text establishes counter-positions and counterpoints between the two sets of reference in order to determine the place of somatic anxiety in Klein s view of the process of fantasizing. At first sight, anxiety, which, in Kleinian thought, is an aspect of unconscious fantasy, would seem to go beyond Freud's economic metapsychology, and this might exclude the concept of somatic anxiety from Klein s theory of the fantasy. On the basis of clinical cases, the author tests the effectiveness and the definition of the concept of somatic anxiety in Kleinian thought and locates it metapsychologically in this theory of fantasy. The study has the overall purpose of studying unconscious fantasy and the place of somatic anxiety in such fantasy. This led to the investigation of two opposing general hypotheses: 1) somatic anxiety could be anxiety without unconscious fantasy, a position which runs counter to Kleinian thinking; or, 2) somatic anxiety is located in the theory of unconscious fantasy, implying that somatic anxiety could thus be classified as somatic. These general hypotheses led to a more specific question regarding the metapsychological possibility of somatic fantasizing. The hypotheses thus led us to conclude and to metapsychologically sustain that Kleinian primary fantasy is a state of somatic anxiety experienced in early sensory images. It is therefore a primary somatic fantasy. The author of this thesis introduces the expression somatic-sensitive imagos to refer to such early sensory images and relates manifestations of somatic 20 fantasy to them. The author then formulates the notion of somatic fantasy on the basis of somatic-sensitive imagos and attempts to compose them in a metapsychology of unconscious fantasy. Finally, levels of fantasizing are established, as well as the places of somatic fantasies, of somatic-sensitive imagos and of somatic anxiety / Esta pesquisa empreende, primeiramente, a revisão do conceito econômico de angústia somática, desenvolvido pela autora no Mestrado, seguindo um referencial freudiano, agora pela ótica da teoria kleiniana da fantasia, visando compor uma elaboração das ideias fundamentais deste conceito e problematizá-las frente ao novo esquema referencial. Estabelece contraposições e contrapontos entre os dois referenciais de modo a averiguar o lugar da angústia somática no pensamento kleiniano a respeito do fantasiar, já que, à primeira vista, a angústia, por ser, para aquele, um dos aspectos da fantasia inconsciente ficaria para além da metapsicologia econômica freudiana e isto poderia excluir o conceito de angústia somática da teoria kleiniana da fantasia. A partir de casos clínicos, testa a eficácia e a definição do conceito de angústia somática no pensamento kleiniano e o implementa metapsicologicamente dentro de sua teoria da fantasia. A pesquisa objetivou o estudo da fantasia inconsciente e o lugar da angústia somática na mesma. Isto conduziu à investigação de duas hipóteses gerais opostas: se seria possível que a angústia somática fosse uma angústia sem fantasia inconsciente, contrariando o pensamento kleiniano; ou se seria possível a angústia somática dentro da teoria da fantasia inconsciente e se isto viria a significar que a mesma poderia chegar a ter um estatuto de somático. Estas hipóteses gerais conduziram a uma mais específica a respeito da possibilidade metapsicológica de um fantasiar somático, que levaram a concluir e a sustentar metapsicologicamente que a fantasia primária kleiniana é um estado de angústia somática, vivida em imagens sensoriais arcaicas, portanto, é uma fantasia primária somática. A autora introduz a expressão Imagos sômatosensitivas para se referir a estas imagens sensoriais arcaicas, ligando a elas a manifestação de angústia somática. Formula a noção de fantasia somática a partir das Imagos sômato-sensitivas, buscando compô-las dentro de uma metapsicologia 18 da fantasia inconsciente. Finalmente, estabelece os níveis do fantasiar, o lugar das fantasias somáticas, bem como das Imagos sômato-sensitivas e da angústia somática

Bakgrund: Trots den synliga framgången inom idrotten kan tävlingsångest vara en dold utmaning som potentiellt påverkar prestationen negativt. Könsskillnader på tävlingsångest är komplicerad och kan härledas till en kombination av biologiska, psykologiska och sociokulturella faktorer. För att hantera tävlingsångest och optimera prestationen kan flera metoder tillämpas för mental träning, som visualisering, coping-strategier, mindfulness och self-talk. Genom att förstå och hantera tävlingsångest kan atleter uppnå bättre resultat och bidra till en hälsosammare idrottsmiljö. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att belysa eventuella könsskillnader på upplevelsen av tävlingsångest hos atleter. Studien syftar även till att belysa potentiella faktorer som påverkar tävlingsångest samt potentiella åtgärder för att minska tävlingsångest hos atleter. Metod: Studien är en strukturerad litteraturöversikt med en deskriptiv ansats. Fyra olika databaser (Medline, APA PsycInfo, Scopus, Cinahl) användes för att inhämta relevant litteratur, vilket resulterade i inkluderingen av totalt tretton artiklar. Resultat: Resultaten tyder på att kvinnliga atleter rapporterade högre somatisk och kognitiv ångest samt lägre självförtroende än manliga atleter. Även ålder och erfarenhet är avgörande faktorer för tävlingsångest. Äldre och mer erfarna atleter visade lägre nivå av både somatisk och kognitiv ångest samt högre självförtroende. Flera åtgärder utforskades för att hantera tävlingsångest, inklusive self-talk och mental träning, vilket visade sig vara effektivt för att minska tävlingsångest och öka självförtroendet hos atleter. Slutsats: En väsentlig betoning läggs på att individualisera interventioner för att hantera tävlingsångest utifrån enskilda behov och förutsättningar. Dessutom identifieras könsskillnader och individuella skillnader i upplevelsen av tävlingsångest, vilket bidrar till utformningen av skräddarsydda och effektiva stödåtgärder för atleter. För framtiden förespråkas en ökad forskningssatsning i Sverige där forskningsläget är otillräckligt.