Richard J. Keegan

• PhD
• Professor at University of Canberra

Purpose: To assess the implementation of the digital version of the Physical Literacy in Children Questionnaire (PL-C Quest) in a primary school environment. Methods: A mixed-methods study with teachers (n = 13) and students (n = 20) about their respective reflections on administering and completing the PL-C Quest. Results: The PL-C Quest was p...

Objective The need for clear and actionable guidelines for the promotion and protection of mental health in organised community sport has previously been identified. This study aimed to provide guidelines to promote and protect mental health in organised community sport in Australia. Methods Guideline development was informed by (1) systematic rev...

Background Schools are a key setting for promoting children’s physical literacy development. This review aimed to identify school-based interventions that adopted a holistic conceptualisation of physical literacy and examine the effects on children’s physical literacy and any other outcomes, including physical activity (PA). Methods Searches were...

To investigate: (1) the injury epidemiology in an Australian academy; (2) how athletes transition through the high‐performance sport (HPS) pathway; and (3) why athletes leave this HPS program. This retrospective cohort study was conducted at an Australian HPS academy over a 4‐year period. Medical attention injuries were prospectively recorded. Inju...

Identifying determinants of leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) often relies on population-level (nomothetic) averages, potentially overlooking person-specific (idiographic) associations. This study uses an idiographic perspective to explore how subjective readiness and motives for LTPA relate to volitional effort (duration, intensity) and affect...

Background Athlete health is known to affect successful performance. It has also been identified as the most important and feasible athlete retention issue to address by Australian high-performance sport system (HPSS) stakeholders. However, previous research has shown that one in four developing athletes enter the HPSS with a current injury and mor...

Background Athlete attrition is poorly understood in high-performance pathway systems. Literature primarily focuses on understanding athlete attrition factors from intrapersonal (intrinsic) or interpersonal (extrinsic relationships) perspectives, and less on environmental, system or broader societal factors. Objective A complex systems approach wa...

Evidence suggests that success in sports, especially soccer and futsal are linked to higher levels of executive functioning. Still, the literature does not present a homogeneous set of instruments to measure executive functions, which leads to large variability in results. In this paper, we assembled four already recognised measures to propose a va...

Introduction Physical inactivity is a risk factor for repeat cardiac events and all-cause mortality in coronary heart disease (CHD). Cardiac rehabilitation, a secondary prevention programme, aims to increase physical activity levels in this population from a reported low baseline. This trial will investigate the effectiveness and implementation of...

Regular sport participation can lead to several known physical and psychological health benefits. However, some sport environments may be contributing to the development of mental health disorders in participants. Elite sporting organisations have introduced several guidelines and position statements to ensure psychologically safe sport environment...

Motivation states for physical activity and sedentarism potentially vary from moment to moment. The CRAVE scale (Cravings for Rest and Volitional Energy Expenditure) was developed to assess transient wants and desires to move. Three studies were conducted with the aims of: (1) translating and validating the scale in Brazilian Portuguese, (2) examin...

There is a growing focus on developing person-adaptive strategies to support sustained exercise behavior, necessitating conceptual models to guide future research and applications. This paper introduces Flexible nonlinear periodization (FNLP) - a proposed, but underdeveloped person-adaptive model originating in sport-specific conditioning - that, p...

Background While the burgeoning researcher and practitioner interest in physical literacy has stimulated new assessment approaches, the optimal tool for assessment among school-aged children remains unclear. Objective The purpose of this review was to: (i) identify assessment instruments designed to measure physical literacy in school-aged childre...

Background People with coronary heart disease are at an increased risk of morbidity and mortality even if they attend cardiac rehabilitation. High sedentary behavior levels potentially contribute to this morbidity. Smartphone apps may be feasible to facilitate sedentary behavior reductions and lead to reduced health care use. Objective We aimed to...

BACKGROUND People with coronary heart disease are at an increased risk of morbidity and mortality even if they attend cardiac rehabilitation. High sedentary behavior levels potentially contribute to this morbidity. Smartphone apps may be feasible to facilitate sedentary behavior reductions and lead to reduced health care use. OBJECTIVE We aimed to...

Wondering how to become a recognised and relevant sport psychologist in your environment? Having trouble navigating the accreditation requirements (or lack of) to practise in your chosen country of practice? The aims of this workshop are to (a) outline the different pathways to becoming a sport psychologist in places of practice with and without fo...

Background: Smartphone apps used in research offer a variety of capabilities to track and influence behavior; however, they often do not translate well into real-world use. Implementation strategies for using apps to reduce sedentary behavior in cardiac rehabilitation are currently unknown. Objective: The aim of this study was to explore (1) bar...

The present video reports the most recent findings of the development of a physical literacy interventions reporting template (PLIRT) Carl, J., Barratt, J., Arbour-Nicitopoulos, K., Barnett, L.M., Dudley, D.A., Holler, P.,... Cairney, J. (2023). Development, explanation, and presentation of the Physical Literacy Interventions Reporting Template (P...

Background The physical literacy (PL) concept integrates different personal (e.g., physical, cognitive, psychological/affective, social) determinants of physical activity and has received growing attention recently. Although practical efforts increasingly adopt PL as a guiding concept, latest evidence has shown that PL interventions often lack spec...

Purpose: Following increased interest in physical literacy (PL), development of appropriate tools for assessment has become an important next step for its operationalization. To forward the development of such tools, the objective of this study was to build the foundations of the Évaluation de la Littératie Physique (ELIP), designed to help reduce...

ABSTRACTPurpose: Following increased interest in physical literacy (PL), development of appropriate tools forassessment has become an important next step for its operationalization. To forward the development ofsuch tools, the objective of this study was to build the foundations of the Évaluation de la LittératiePhysique (ELIP), designed to help re...

The purpose of this chapter is to outline the different pathways to becoming a Sport and Exercise Psychologist in places of practice with and without formal accreditation frameworks. Accreditation is a voluntary – yet strongly encouraged – step that aspiring practitioners should take to establish their competence to practice in an ethical manner, a...

Organised sports are the most common settings for sports participation. Despite a range of documented benefits from participation, these positive outcomes are not always guaranteed. Emotional distress from pressure and injuries can mean some participants experience negative outcomes. To ensure organised sports are well equipped to promote the menta...

This manuscript includes analyses for the single-item subscales of the CRAVE scale (Cravings for Rest and Volitional Energy Expenditure) and the new adaptation in Brazilian Portuguese - the ARGE. The translation and validation of this new scale is described. Lastly, we gave the scale to 9 women with depression, who completed the regular, 13-item sc...

When you practice and compete in sport, there are other people involved who support you in some way: coaches, parents, friends, and opponents. These people can influence how you feel about playing sport, through their actions, reactions, emotional expressions, and language. Our motivation in sport is not as simple as “more-v-less,” but rather we ex...

Emergency services personnel are a high stress occupation, being frequently confronted with highly consequential stressors and expected to perform: without fault; under high pressure; and in unpredictable circumstances. Research often invokes similarities between the experiences of emergency services personnel and elite athletes, opening up the pos...

In the athletic population, sports injuries are often associated with mental health decline. Despite the availability of services, athletes frequently do not seek help for mental health problems. A range of barriers to help-seeking in athletes have been proposed, including poor mental health literacy and limited help-seeking knowledge. To address t...

Background Smartphone apps are increasingly used to deliver physical activity and sedentary behaviour interventions for people with cardiovascular disease. However, the active components of these interventions which aim to change behaviours are unclear. Aims To identify behaviour change techniques used in smartphone app interventions for improving...

Objectives Primary: To gain a system-wide perspective on factors leading to athlete attrition from a high-performance sport system (HPSS). Secondary: To identify what a sample of system-wide stakeholders and past athletes value as the most important and feasible attrition factors to address to retain talented athletes. Design Mixed-methods. Metho...

This position paper examines decision-making in sport psychology practitioners from a dual processing perspective. Based on the work of Kahneman and Tversky, we draw upon cognitive and social psychology research to explore key decision-making vulnerabilities in the context of the sport psychology practitioner. We examine the influence of classic he...

Military personnel often perform complex cognitive operations under unique conditions of intense stress. This requirement to perform diverse physical and mental tasks under stress, often with high stakes, has led to recognition of the term ‘tactical athlete’ for these performers. Impaired cognitive performance as a result of this stress may have se...

Objective To quantify the impact of performing challenging cognitive, physical and psychological tasks on subsequent cognitive performance, and whether differences in performance are predicted by psychological variables. Background Successful performance in many occupations depends on resilient cognition: the degree to which cognitive functions ca...

Personnel in many professions must remain “ready” to perform diverse activities. Managing individual and collective capability is a common concern for leadership and decision makers. Typical existing approaches for monitoring readiness involve keeping detailed records of training, health and equipment maintenance, or – less commonly – data from wea...

Background Smartphone applications provide new opportunities for secondary prevention healthcare. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to determine if smartphone applications are effective at changing physical activity and sedentary behaviour in people with cardiovascular disease. Methods Six electronic databases (Medline, CINAHL Plus, C...

To complement and enhance readiness-monitoring capability, the Acute Readiness Monitoring Scale (ARMS) was developed: a widely applicable, simple psychometric measure of perceived readiness. While this tool may have widespread utility in sport and military settings, it remains unknown if the ARMS demonstrates predictive and concurrent validity. Her...

This study retrospectively explored perceptions of coach, parent and peer motivational influences across athlete development. Four investment stage football players (M age = 18.5 years, SD = 0.6) with an average of 13 (SD = 1.4) years footballing experience, and four of their parents, were interviewed to investigate their perceptions of coach, pare...

Recent research in exercise prescription and periodization has emphasized the importance of subjective experience, both in medium- and long-term monitoring, but also in the acute experience. Emerging evidence also highlights an important role of subjective readiness (pre-exercise mental and physical states) in determining how exercise is experience...

Motivational climate can be defined as the environmental status of sport that influences motivation levels. The present study aimed to systematically identify the most widely used measures examining motivational climate. The databases for searching were PsycNET, PubMed and ScienceDirect. The search returned a total of 378 studies of which 8 met the...

Background: The construct of physical literacy is gaining traction internationally and yet measurement of physical literacy is in its infancy. This paper describes the development of a pictorial child report scale of perceived physical literacy based on the comprehensive Australian Physical Literacy Framework, which includes 30 elements within four...

Introduction. The Defence Human Sciences Symposium (DHSS) is the principal Australian forum held each year for those interested in the application of human sciences to enhance defence capability. During DHSS 2019 a facilitated Panel Discussion was convened with invited delegates from Army, Navy, Air Force, academia and DST. The discussion focused o...

Introduction Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is recommended for secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease and reducing the risk of repeat cardiac events. Physical activity is a core component of CR; however, studies show that participants remain largely sedentary. Sedentary behaviour is an independent risk factor for all-cause mortality. Strategie...

Sport psychologists provide their services in complex settings, with numerous competing demands, resource constraints, and aims/goals for the psychology support service. Research in sport psychology often struggles to characterize the unique challenges of applied practice as it occurs in context. This research examined the delivery of a year-round...

Background Healthcare professionals’ (Oncologists, doctors, and nurses) physical activity (PA) recommendations impact patients living with cancer PA levels. General practitioners (GPs) monitor the overall health of patients living with cancer throughout their treatment journey. This is the first study to explore GP’s knowledge, attitudes and practi...

Objective: This research aimed to explore the quality-of-life and experiences of people with Achilles tendinopathy. Design: This mixed-methods research used the 8-dimension Assessment of Quality-of-Life (AQoL-8D), focus groups and grounded theory analysis. AQoL-8D scores were compared with population normative scores. In focus groups, participan...

Background: Health organisations such as the United Nations continue to place an expectation on school physical education (PE) programmes and wider school strategies to ensure students develop physical literacy and receive the well-established benefits of meeting physical activity guidelines. Barriers to meet this expectation such as lack of traine...

Background: Physical education (PE) can be considered the centrepiece of school physical literacy (PL) programs, but ineffective lessons or an absence of PE across the public primary school system has raised concern. This study aimed to evaluate the implementation, acceptability and impact of teacher delivery of PE as part of a multicomponent Physi...

The International Society of Sport Psychology (ISSP) aims to be the leading international and inclusive organisation focused on the development of sport psychology in all regions and cultural areas of the world. In 2019 with the advent of the ISSP – Registry, a renewed need for an up-to-date code of ethics for practitioners that reflected the missi...

The aim of this communication is to highlight synergies and opportunities between the fields of education, sport and health and the performing arts for the promotion of physical literacy. First, physical literacy is introduced and then defined according to the definition used in this communication. Secondly, we highlight the gap in physical literac...

A literature review commissioned by Play Australia

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate whether 4 weeks of endurance training could improve tolerance to mental exertion in untrained participants. Design: Longitudinal training study. Method: Twenty untrained young adults (14 F, 6 M; 27.6 ± 6.2 years) completed a 4-week training protocol in a randomised and counterbalanced order. Base...

The green tea amino acid, L-theanine (L-THE) is associated with several health benefits, including improvements in mood, cognition and a reduction of stress and anxiety-like symptoms. This systematic review evaluated the effect of pure L-THE intake, in the form of orally administered nutritional supplements, on stress responses and anxiety levels i...

The aim of this study was to investigate whether individuals who engage in more frequent self-regulation are less susceptible to mental fatigue. Occupational cognitive demand and participation in sports or exercise were quantified as activities requiring self-regulation. Cardiorespiratory fitness was also assessed. On separate occasions, participan...

Purpose: The development of a physical literacy definition and standards framework suitable for implementation in Australia. Method:Modified Delphi methodology. Results: Consensus was established on four defining statements: Core-Physical literacy is lifelong holistic learning acquired and applied in movement and physical activity contexts; Composi...

Objective: In this review we detail the impact of environmental stress on cognitive and military task performance and highlight any individual characteristics or interventions which may mitigate any negative effect. Background: Military personnel are often deployed in regions markedly different from their own, experiencing hot days, cold nights an...

Assessment of physical literacy poses a dilemma of what instrument to use. There is currently no guide regarding the suitability of common assessment approaches. The purpose of this brief communication is to provide a user's guide for selecting physical literacy assessment instruments appropriate for use in school physical education and sport setti...

Purpose: To operationally conceptualize physical literacy (PL) for application in the United States, using a modified Delphi approach, with PL academics. Methods: A sequential, mixed methods, modified Delphi research design was employed, consisting of three phases: (a) literature analysis, (b) Delphi Survey I (22 participants), and (c) Delphi Surve...

Introduction: Despite increases in research and implementation, physical literacy continues to be largely misinterpreted by practitioners. The purpose of this study was to devise, implement, and evaluate a professional development programme that works in a primary school environment to enhance their knowledge and operationalisation of physical lite...

The purpose of this three‐study paper was to develop and validate the Perceived Social Influence in Sport Scale‐2 (PSISS‐2) that aimed to resolve the limitations of PSISS‐1 in assessing the relative social influence of significant others in youth sport. In Study 1, a pool of 60 items generated from revisiting a qualitative dataset about significant...

Mental fatigue reflects a change in psychobiological state, caused by prolonged periods of demanding cognitive activity. It has been well documented that mental fatigue impairs cognitive performance; however, more recently, it has been demonstrated that endurance performance is also impaired by mental fatigue. The mechanism behind the detrimental e...

Physical literacy continues to gain global momentum, yet the definition and underlying concept of physical literacy remain contested in both research and practice. This lack of clarity has the potential to undermine the operationalization of physical literacy. This paper considers the various definitions of physical literacy that are currently adop...

The following report provides a summary of the process and impact evaluation of the Bluearth’s Mighty Movers program in the ACT. Mighty Movers was designed to provide parents and families of young children (0-5 years old) with guidance and ideas for how to (a) increase active play, preferably for the whole family; (b) reduce sedentariness and scree...

Physical literacy is creating significant interest worldwide due to its holistic nature and the potential it has to impact on people’s lives. It is underpinning many physical education programs, coaching strategies, health initiatives, and policymakers’ decisions. However, the complex philosophical and holistic nature of the concept has meant that...

Sports performance at the highest level requires a wealth of cognitive functions such as attention, decision making, and working memory to be functioning at optimal levels in stressful and demanding environments. Whilst a substantial research base exists focusing on psychological skills for performance (e.g., imagery) or therapeutic techniques for...

Background: The concept of physical literacy has received increased research and international attention recently. Where intervention programs and empirical research are gaining momentum, their operationalizations differ significantly. Objective: The objective of this study was to inform practice in the measure/assessment of physical literacy vi...

Money has frequently been used as an extrinsic motivator since it is assumed that humans are willing to invest more effort for financial reward. However, the influence of a monetary reward on pacing and performance in trained athletes is not well-understood. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyse the influence of a monetary reward in well-...

This report summarises a literature review conducted in establishing an academically sound research base for the establishment of a physical literacy definition and standard within Australia. In conjunction with this summary report there are accompanying online resources, including: (a) online citation resource including details of all papers sampl...