Christopher Robert David Wagstaff

University of Portsmouth · Department of Sport and Exercise Science

This study examined the emotions experienced by a team of 12 military personnel during a two-month Antarctic mountaineering expedition, the strategies these individuals employed to manage these emotions, the perceived effectiveness of these strategies, and the impact of such strategies on team dynamics and performance. To address the research aims,...

This study used a single-blind, within-participant, counterbalanced, repeated-measures design to examine the relationship between emotional self-regulation and sport performance. Twenty competitive athletes completed four laboratory-based conditions; familiarization, control, emotion suppression, and nonsuppression. In each condition participants c...

This study aimed to contribute to a growing theoretical body of literature relating to the role of emotional intelligence abilities and emotion regulation strategies in creating optimally functioning in sport organizations. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 21 participants (athletes, coaches, administrators, national performance directo...

ObjectivesThe rapid development of elite sport in Europe and across the world has had far-reaching psychosocial ramifications for those operating within its sphere of influence. Whilst sport psychologists in the latter part of the 20th century largely focused on the cognitive determinates of elite performance, the findings of recent research sugges...

Within sports psychology, researchers have explored intrapersonal conflict, and how individuals perceived to be “problematic players” can create conflict in a team environment. We present an exploration of the psychosocial processes of a case of interpersonal conflict that occurred in an elite sports environment. The case centers on Warwickshire cr...

To ensure public safety, duty of care, and professional advancement, scholars need to consider the competence, ethical practice, and well-being of sport psychology practitioners (SPPs). Despite the growth of sport psychology as a profession, scholars have predominantly focused on how to do applied sport psychology, with issues of professional forma...

The establishment of a strong professional identity (PI) among sport psychology practitioners (SPPs) has the potential to increase the likelihood of individual ethical working, awareness of professional roles, and ultimately, support of a more effective and lasting career. Nevertheless, there is currently no global consensus regarding a definition...

In this study, we aimed to explore experienced and senior sport psychology professionals’ (SPPs’) understanding of and experiences with the relationship between their professional quality of life and self-care. Adhering to the philosophical stance characterizing the consensual qualitative research methodology, we conducted a qualitative study using...

This article provides a neophyte practitioner’s account of providing psychological support to a national team for the first time. The practitioner felt “caught in the headlights” due to his lack of preparation for the range of organizational issues he encountered. In this confessional tale, experiential knowledge gained by the practitioner is share...

High-performance coaches (HPCs) operate in complex and unpredictable environments wherein sustainable performance and well-being are regularly challenged. The purpose of this study was to develop, through an iterative process of data collection, evaluation and action, a brief SMS-based mindful self-reflection intervention to support sustainable hig...

Monitoring the physical load undertaken by athletes and examining the subsequent relationship with performance and injury and illness risk is common practice in high performance sport. Less attention has been paid to the psychological factors contributing to the overall load experienced and the impact upon health status and performance. This paper...

The aim of this study was to explore the experience of parents of gymnasts suffering from overuse injuries. The work is part of a wider ethnographic project, with 43 participants (16 gymnasts, 3 coaches, 1 physiotherapist, 22 parents, and 1 manager), which investigated the psychosocial factors affecting the development of overuse injuries in gymnas...

The rapid growth in forms of technology used within society presents the field of sport and exercise psychology with numerous opportunities and considerations. Nevertheless, there currently exists a scarcity of knowledge or research for sport psychology professionals (SPPs) to draw from when seeking to use technology and media in their service deli...

The field of sport psychology has faced a challenge in its professional formation, to the extent that some scholars have argued that its status as a healthy, sustainable, or viable profession is an illusion. Within the discipline, there continues to be a range of professional qualifications, educational and training pathways, and labels used to def...

One of the fundamental competencies for psychologists is to practice according to the ethical standards and principles of their profession. Two ways of achieving these standards include engaging in continuing education (CE) and lifelong learning (LL). Sport psychology professionals (SPPs) have frequently noted the importance of engaging in CE and L...

We present a systematic review of literature examining leadership and the contagion of affective phenomena, namely emotion, mood and affect. Specifically, an inductive thematic analysis approach was adopted to synthesize the findings from published studies. In addition, a mini meta‐analysis was conducted to quantify reported effects. A rigorous sea...

The field of applied sport psychology (ASP) has developed substantially in recent decades, and there exist a multitude of views regarding how contemporary practices can be best defined and conceptualized. In this article, we reflect on these developments and draw from a growing body of literature on professional development in an attempt to provide...

This paper is a confessional tale that focuses on challenges encountered during the process of conducting member reflections, and on the lessons learned from these. Recent discussions on enhancing the rigor of qualitative research conducted from an interpretivist stance encourage the use of member reflections, rather than the previously widely adop...

Scholars within the field of psychology have increasingly reflected on the cost of caring and the quality of life of people in helping professionals. Indeed, the balance between the positive and the challenging aspects of this helping profession has become central in this discourse. In line with these developments, researchers have attempted to bet...

This article proposes a strength-based approach to vulnerability. Moreover, a mindfulness-based self-reflection intervention designed to enhance well-being and sustainability in high-performance coaches is described. The intervention organically uncovered the potential value and upside of vulnerability. Furthermore, in this article we highlight som...

The aim of this article was to investigate the emotional educational–training–practice gap in the professional formation of sport and exercise psychologists in the United Kingdom through the theoretical lens of emotional labor. Twenty semistructured interviews were conducted with 4 participant groups: master’s students (n = 5), trainees (n = 5), ne...

Considering the detrimental impact of emotional suffering on patient recovery (e.g. increased mortality rates), a key component in rehabilitation settings should be the promotion of psychosocial health. Research has shown cardiac rehabilitation (CR) to decrease anxiety and depression, enhance emotional well-being and reduce the deleterious effects...

Welcome to this special issue of Journal of Applied Sport Psychology dedicated to organizational sport psychology. In this introduction, my goal is to provide some background to organizational sport psychology to “take stock” of the emergence and key lines of inquiry of this domain, before outlining the contributions contained within the issue. Fur...

In this epilogue to the special issue of Journal of Applied Sport Psychology on organizational sport psychology, I provide a brief commentary on each of the articles contained within the issue and offer some reflections on the field. In drawing together my reflections on the current state of the field of organizational sport psychology, I offer thr...

In this article we present a review of organisational culture relevant to sport psychology. In doing so, we outline the various ways scholars have conceptualised organisational culture, definitions of organisational culture and methods used to study this concept. In an attempt to stimulate reflection, discourse and action the review concludes with...

Background It has been suggested that pacing is a thermoregulatory behaviour. We investigated the effect of competition on pacing, performance and thermophysiological strain during exercise in the heat and the psychological factors mediating competition effects. Method Eighteen males (maximum oxygen uptake [VO2max] 3.69 [0.44] L min−1) undertook a...

Introduction. Drowning is a leading cause of accidental death. In cold-water, sudden skin cooling triggers the life-threatening cold shock response (CSR). The CSR comprises tachycardia, peripheral vasoconstriction, hypertension, inspiratory gasp, and hyperventilation with the hyperventilatory component inducing hypocapnia and increasing risk of as...

This paper presents 2 studies examining the extent to which the frequency of encountered organizational stressors relates to burnout and whether qualities of psychological resilience moderate any such relationship. The studies were conducted with independent samples of athletes and coaches using a questionnaire design. In Study 1, 372 athletes comp...

In this manuscript we outline a model of coaching that is conceptually grounded in workplace and sport coaching literature and present two studies conducted to test this model, the extent coaching behaviors are present in a military training setting, and their association with performance-related outcomes. Following an extensive review of literatur...

Objectives Our aim was to provide an insight into professional challenges encountered by sports medics and scientists (SMSs) in elite sport organizations and illuminate the emotional labor required to navigate such challenges. Design A semi-structured interview research design was used, and data informed the development of composite vignettes, a f...

This article gives a rare account of the working life of a sports psychologist in the English Premier League, the elite division in English professional football. It shows how members of emerging professions such as sports psychology are a new precariat. John is more successful than many sports psychologists, but his job security is dependent on hi...

The aim of the present study was to explore how sport medicine and science practitioners manage their emotions through emotional labor when engaging in professional practice in elite sport. To address the research aim a semi-structured interview design was adopted. Specifically, eighteen professional sport medicine and science staff provided interv...

This study used narrative inquiry to understand the retirement experiences of rhythmic gymnasts. Eight female former competitive gymnasts (M age = 24.5, SD = 8.33) each participated in four life-history interviews. Following dialogical narrative analysis, three narrative typologies were outlined: Entangled Narrative, Going Forward Narrative and Mak...

While a growing body of research has examined the types of organizational stressors encountered by individuals and their allied responses, little is known about how such individuals manage their emotional responses to these stressors or the consequences of such behaviors. This article presents novel findings from two studies examining the moderatin...

Although subgroups and cliques are anecdotally referenced as salient factors in sport organizations, they have only recently received attention within sport psychology literature. This is surprising given the potential influence of subgroup behavior on group-related processes and team functioning. The present study employed a longitudinal, repeated...

This study examined the development of methodologies and measures used in sport and exercise psychology (SEP) publications between 1979 and 2013. A systematic coding process was conducted on a total of 1377 manuscripts sampled from four long-standing SEP publications, namely Journal of Applied Sports Psychology, Journal of Sport and Exercise Psycho...

Introduction: Accidental cold-water immersion (CWI) triggers the life-threatening cold shock response (CSR) which is a precursor to sudden death on immersion. One practical means of reducing the CSR is to induce an habituation by undergoing repeated short CWIs. Habituation of the CSR is known to be partially reversed by the concomitant experience...

This study extends recent coach stress research by evaluating how coaches perceive their stress experiences to affect athletes, and the broader coach–athlete relationship. A total of 12 coaches working across a range of team sports at the elite level took part in semi-structured interviews to investigate the 3 study aims: how they perceive athletes...

Organisational stressors have been found to be prevalent and problematic for sport performers, with research identifying demographic differences in the stressors encountered. Nevertheless, extant sport psychology research on the topic of stress has generally focused on able-bodied athletes; whilst that which has been conducted on performers with a...

This study examines the organization of elite Association Football referees in the domestic, European and international game. Specifically, the cross-cultural working practices, training, preparation and performance of these elite referees are explored. A total of 42 semi-structured interviews were conducted with elite referees and ex-referees as w...

The present study aimed to extend research that has focused on the identification of stressors associated with coaching practice by systematically evaluating how such stressors effect athletes, and more broadly, the coach–athlete relationship. A total of 13 professional- and national-level athletes were interviewed to address the three study aims:...

This paper presents three studies exploring the relationship between performance psychology variables and performance within a UK Government Executive Agency during substantial organizational change. Study 1 examined relationships between transformational leadership behaviours, emotional intelligence (EI), cohesion, and team performance. Task cohes...

This study aimed to gain an insight into the general coping strategies used by sport psychology consultants (SPCs) based in the UK, and an in-depth understanding of their development and impact. To achieve these aims a mixed-method approach was adopted by means of two linked studies. In study one, BASES accredited and/or BPS chartered SPCs (n = 29)...

This study responded to recent calls for the investigation of employees’ responses to repeated organizational change events. Data were gathered via 20 semi-structured interviews with 10 employees from 2 organizations competing in English football's Barclays Premier League. The results indicated that employees responded to recurring organizational c...

Although the high prevalence of overuse injuries in sport, until recently there has been a dearth of research exploring the prediction of and responses to this type of injury from a psychosocial perspective (for recent examples, see Traneus, Johnson, Engstrom, Skillgate & Werner, 2014; Van Wilgen & Verhagen, 2012). The aim of the present study was...

There has been an increase in the amount of overuse injuries reported in sport, at every age and competitive level (1, 2). Researchers from other fields of the sport sciences have focused on this issue, but in the sport psychology literature there is an overall dearth of research concerning these injuries (3, 4). Therefore, the aim of this study wa...

During the past 2 decades, the psychosocial landscapes of the military and elite sport have drastically changed, with the presence of stress an increasing health and safety concern. For example, in modern warfare, fighters must have the psychological capabilities to counter terrorism and undertake extended deployments in extreme environments agains...

Despite the emergence of and widespread uptake of a growing range of medical and scientific professions in elite sport, such environs present a volatile professional domain characterized by change and unprecedentedly high turnover of personnel. This study explored sport medicine and science practitioners' experiences of organizational change using...

The ageing process has both psychological and physiological effects on women, and tactical choices are often made regarding beauty interventions to mask the outward signs of increasing age. The bra is believed to counteract the negative effects of ageing on the breast and alter the perceptions of one’s body. Due to the profound anatomical changes t...

The objective of this randomized controlled trial was to investigate the effect of adding either aerobic training (AT) or resistance training (RT) to a multidisciplinary teamed (MDT) educational weight management programme on the health-related fitness of morbidly obese individuals. Males (n = 9) and females (n = 24) aged between 24 and 68 years wi...

Purpose: Unpleasant physical sensations during maximal exercise may manifest themselves as negative cognitions that impair performance, alter pacing, and are linked to increased rating of perceived exertion (RPE). This study examined whether motivational self-talk (M-ST) could reduce RPE and change pacing strategy, thereby enhancing 10-km time-tri...

Accidental immersion in cold water is a risk factor for many occupations. Habituation to cold-water immersion (CWI) is one practical means of reducing the cold shock response (CSR) on immersion. We investigated whether repeated thermoneutral water immersion (TWI) induced a perceptual habituation (i.e., could lessen perceived threat and anxiety) and...

Objectives: This study aimed to improve the practice of individuals operating in a sport organization by providing an intervention to develop emotion abilities and strategies. Design: A two-phase action research approach was adopted to facilitate the objective and to assess the intervention's effectiveness. Method: In the first phase of the interve...

This study investigated athletes' appraisals of organizational stressors. Four elite sport performers (two males and two females) completed Stress Appraisal Logs over a six-week competition period regarding the stressors they encountered within their sport organization. The participants predominantly appraised sources of organizational strain (i.e....

The purpose of this paper is to review the literature relating to the positive aspects of organizational psychology research in sport. To this end, the narrative is divided into three main sections. The first section defines and delimits relevant concepts, including organizational psychology, positive psychology and positive organizing. The second...

Purpose In addition to the psychological differentiation of older women, ageing has numerous effects on the breast, influencing the volume, density and constitution of the tissue. It is currently unknown how these changes may affect bra requirements and bra consumer behaviour. The purpose of this paper is to explore factors of importance in bras in...

We investigated athletes' responses to organisational stressors. Ten sport performers (five males and five females) were interviewed with regard to the organisational-related demands they had encountered and their responses to these stressors. The main emotional responses that were revealed were anger, anxiety, disappointment, distress, happiness,...

The 9-month ethnography reported here investigated the critical factors underpinning organizational functioning in a national sport organization. The findings illustrate the pivotal importance of interpersonal relationships and highlight the emergence of emotion-related abilities as highly influential in successful person-organization dynamics. Spe...