ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The article highlights an athlete's cognitive appraisals form the onset to return to play. The narrative provides how an athlete constructs a sense of self within personal and situational factors and describes the subjective experiences during rehabilitation. OBJECTIVES: The study examined the cognitive appraisal and psychological response within the backdrop of personal and situational factors in an injured athlete. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study is contextualized within the injury rehabilitation experiences of a cycling national athlete aged about 18 years old who was presented with the complaint of right shoulder pain, following a right shoulder dislocation. The 22 page narrative account provided by the athlete offered a holistic and integrated account of his experiences from the onset to return to play. A six step narrative analysis was analyzed by two qualified psychologists and two medical practitioners. RESULTS: The themes are extracted to understand what was important to the participant. The cognitive appraisal and lived experiences are discussed within three dominant themes: 1) Injury and consequences in sporting life. 2) Childhood experiences, emotions, social support. 3) Trusting relationship, behavioral outcome and hopeful future. The study indicates the influence of personal and situational factors in cognitive appraisals leading to emotional and behavioral responses during rehabilitation. CONCLUSIONS: The study demonstrates how individual experiences become a dynamic core of psychological response during injury rehabilitation. The study highlights the cognitive appraisals and, emotional upheaval to provide an understanding of how personal and situational factors affect the psychological responses of an injured athlete. Findings suggest the need to develop a holistic approach as an effective strategy in injury rehabilitation.
ABSTRACT
The aim of the present study was to investigate the factorial validity of the Brunel Mood Scale for use with Malaysian athletes. Athletes (N = 1485 athletes) competing at the Malaysian Games completed the Brunel of Mood Scale (BRUMS). Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) results indicated a Confirmatory Fit Index (CFI) of .90 and Root Mean Squared Error of Approximation (RMSEA) was 0.05. The CFI was below the 0.95 criterion for acceptability and the RMSEA value was within the limits for acceptability suggested by Hu and Bentler, 1999. We suggest that results provide some support for validity of the BRUMS for use with Malaysian athletes. Given the large sample size used in the present study, descriptive statistics could be used as normative data for Malaysian athletes. Key pointsFindings from the present study lend support to the validity of the BRUMS for use with Malaysian athletes.Given the size of the sample used in the present study, we suggest descriptive data be used as the normative data for researchers using the scale with Malaysian athletes.It is suggested that future research investigate the effects of cultural differences on emotional states experienced by athletes before, during and post-competition.
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PURPOSE: Some major competitions (e.g. London Olympics, 2012) are scheduled during the Ramadan fasting month. Little attention has been given to explore the archers' performance related subjective experiences with a qualitative method. Therefore, this study addressed individual archers' subjective experiences within the framework of self-regulation during Ramadan. METHODS: Eleven elite Malaysian Muslim fasting archers volunteered to participate in the study. Grounded theory was the qualitative approach used to examine the subjective experiences of athletes during Ramadan. Interviews were conducted and inductive content analysis was adopted to identify the temporal patterns of self-regulation of subjective experiences across the fasting period. RESULTS: Inductive content analysis identified (a) physical, (b) mental,(c) emotional, (d) behavioral, and (e) spiritual experiences. Overall patterns revealed that experiences associated with physical, emotional, behavioral, and spiritual dimensions dominated in the first phase of fasting, while the mental dimension surfaced increasingly in the latter phase of fasting. CONCLUSIONS: The trend showed changes in the patterns of experiences among the major domains across the temporal dimension. Athletes reported increased subjective experiences in mental factors toward the latter half of the fasting period. Practitioners should emphasize on mental aspects of training, as these appear to be salient in archery performance.
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PURPOSE: To examine the subjective perception of daily acute fasting on sports performance, training, sleep and dietary patterns of Muslim athletes during the Ramadan month. METHODS: Seven hundred and thirty-four (411 male and 323 female) Malaysian Junior-level Muslim athletes (mean age 16.3 ± 2.6 y) participated in the survey which was designed to establish the personal perception of their sport performance, sleep pattern, food and fluid intake during Ramadan fasting. The survey was conducted during and immediately after the month of Ramadan in 2009. RESULTS: Twenty-four percent of the athletes perceived that there was an adverse effect of the Ramadan fast on their sporting performance and 29.3% reported that quality of training during Ramadan was also negatively influenced. Majority (48.2%) of the athletes stated that Ramadan fasting did not affect their normal sleep pattern but 66.6% of them complained of sleepiness during the daytime. Half of the athletes (41.4%) maintained the caloric intake during Ramadan as they normally would with the majority of them (76.2%) reporting that they consumed more fluids during Ramadan. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, Malaysian Junior-level Muslim athletes showed diverse views in their perception of changes in their training, sleep and dietary patterns during Ramadan fast. These individual differences probably indicate differences in the athletes' adaptability and coping strategies during fasting and training in Ramadan.
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The study explored the self-generated coping strategies employed by Muslim athletes from South East Asian region during the Ramadan fasting month. Sixty-five National elite Muslim athletes responded to an open-ended question on coping strategies employed during Ramadan fasting. Inductive content analysis identified five general dimensions from 54 meaning units which were abstracted into 14 first-order themes and 10 second order themes. The general dimension included four problem-focused coping: training modifications, dietary habits, psychological, rest and recovery, and one emotion-focused coping i.e., self- control. The coping strategies employed were diverse and dynamic in nature and no specific pattern was evident. The most frequently employed strategies were associated with training and dietary habits. Emotion focused coping was the least frequently used by the athletes. Key pointsMuslim athletes employ diverse self -generated coping strategies during Ramadan fasting which can be categorized as anticipatory coping, preventative coping and proactive coping.Frequently employed coping strategies are task focused such as training modifications and adjustments in dietary habits.
ABSTRACT
This study examined the association between goal orientations and mental toughness and its influence on performance outcomes in competition. Wushu athletes (n = 40) competing in Intervarsity championships in Malaysia completed Task and Ego Orientations in Sport Questionnaire (TEOSQ) and Psychological Performance Inventory (PPI). Using cluster analysis techniques including hierarchical methods and the non-hierarchical method (k-means cluster) to examine goal profiles, a three cluster solution emerged viz. cluster 1 - high task and moderate ego (HT/ME), cluster 2 - moderate task and low ego (MT/LE) and, cluster 3 - moderate task and moderate ego (MT/ME). Analysis of the fundamental areas of mental toughness based on goal profiles revealed that athletes in cluster 1 scored significantly higher on negative energy control than athletes in cluster 2. Further, athletes in cluster 1 also scored significantly higher on positive energy control than athletes in cluster 3. Chi-square (χ(2)) test revealed no significant differences among athletes with different goal profiles on performance outcomes in the competition. However, significant differences were observed between athletes (medallist and non medallist) in self- confidence (p = 0.001) and negative energy control (p = 0.042). Medallist's scored significantly higher on self-confidence (mean = 21.82 ± 2.72) and negative energy control (mean = 19.59 ± 2.32) than the non-medallists (self confidence-mean = 18.76 ± 2.49; negative energy control mean = 18.14 ± 1.91). Key pointsMental toughness can be influenced by certain goal profile combination.Athletes with successful outcomes in performance (medallist) displayed greater mental toughness.
