Mark B. Andersen’s research while affiliated with Halmstad University and other places

The present study explored how three professional Australian football coaches learned and understood mental toughness. Participants shared stories regarding mental toughness through semistructured interviews. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to interpret the data. Creative nonfiction was employed to develop a composite story. All participants’ voices contributed equally to the narrative, which follows Sam (our composite coach) through three periods in his career: as a junior player, an elite footballer, and, finally, a coach in the professional football environment. Mental toughness was fundamentally determined by the sociocultural environment in which one was immersed. Athletes and coaches were expected to internalize dominant understandings of mental toughness and reinforce ideals and were punished if they deviated from mentally tough standards set up in their clubs. Mental toughness was defined by various values, beliefs, and norms that originated from the sociocultural environment, indicating the importance of context in understanding the roots of being mentally tough.

Background: The purpose was to investigate if participation in a three-month electronic tracking outdoor physical activity and a motivational interviewing (MI) intervention led to positive behavioural, psychological, and physiological outcomes. Methods: Based on a two-group pre-post design, 12 middle-aged women and 6 men were randomly assign to an experimental and a control group. Physical activity data were collected by wrist-worn activity sensors, and pre-post data were collected on the GHQ-12, the BREQ-2, body mass, body fat mass and total body muscle. Measures of cardiovascular fitness were taken pre to post. The experimental group was supported through individual MI coaching sessions and resistance-training for use in an outdoor gym. Magnitude based inferences (MBI) were calculated based on the disposition of the confidence limits for the mean differences to the smallest worthwhile changes. Results: The experimental group had a beneficial increase in its physical activity behaviour (steps). The control group had a medium decrease in identified regulation, the experimental group maintained the same level at the post-measure. Conclusion: Few studies have investigated how the combination of MI and the use of activity-tracking devices effect physical and mental health. This study investigates the use of both MI and activity-tracking devices on psychological well-being, motivation, and physical health in an outdoor context. Future research recommendations are given.

Ideas about self and identity being illusions have been around for a long time in both Eastern and Western philosophies and psychologies. In this article, I trace the concept of there being no independent self (separate from conscious experience) from its ancient roots in the philosophies of Heraclitus and the Buddha through the Age of Enlightenment (David Hume) to modern times (William James, the Dalai Lama). In sport and exercise psychology, substantial interest has grown in mindfulness practices with little attention paid to its original goal in Buddhism of the realization of no-self. The question is, however, what might be the usefulness of these concepts about the illusory nature of the self and identity in the world of sport and exercise psychology service?

Background The purpose of the study was to investigate if participation in a three-month electronic tracking outdoor physical activity and a motivational interviewing (MI) intervention led to positive behavioural, psychological, and physiological outcomes. Method Based on a two-group pre-post experimental design, 12 women and 6 men were randomly assign to an experimental (mean age = 51.9 years) and an control group (mean age = 48.9 years) based on the inclusion criteria: (a) having a primarily sedentary job, (b) limited exercise activity in the past year and (c) employed within the Halmstad Municipal Council. Physical activity data were collected continuously by wrist-worn activity sensors, and pre-post data were collected on the GHQ-12, the BREQ-2, body mass, body fat mass and total body muscle. Measures of cardiovascular fitness (time to exhaustion) were also taken pre to post. The experimental group was supported through individual MI coaching sessions and individual resistance-training programs specifically designed for use in an outdoor gym. Magnitude based inferences (MBI) were calculated based on the disposition of the confidence limits for the mean differences to the smallest worthwhile changes. Results MBI analysis of baseline measures showed differences in body fat between the groups. The experimental group had a small and beneficial increase in in physical activity behaviour (steps). Moreover, the control group had a medium decrease in identified regulation, but the experimental group maintained the same level at the post-measure. Conclusion Participation in the outdoor physical activity and MI intervention resulted in a small increase in in physical activity behaviour (steps) as well as a maintained level of identified regulation in the experimental group. The latter result may be related to a possible combined effect of MI and continuous feedback from the activity tracker. Although there are many questions that remain unanswered, the public health implications of using fitness technology to promote behaviour change seem worthwhile to study. Potential implications for future studies are provided.

Objective: State-of-the-art technologies, for instance, smartwatches and smartphones, have the potential to positively influence physical activity and exercise in sedentary populations. Psychological factors, such as self-determined (SD) motivation, might influence the impact state-of-the-art technologies to have on the level of physical activity and exercise. The aim of this study was to investigate if self-determined motivation influences an intervention on both physical activity (PA) and exercise in a sedentary population. Methods: 16 participants (men = 5, women = 11) with a self-reported low level of PA over the last year and predominantly sedentary jobs volunteered to participate in the study. PA data (steps and exercise time) were collected over an 80-day period using a wrist-worn accelerometer (Apple-watch and iPhone). Motivation was measured with the Behavioral Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire-2. At the start of the study, each participant completed the questionnaire and received their Apple-watches. Data analysis: All PA and exercise data were recorded through the Apple-watch and via Health App. Data for PA (steps) and exercise time were then extracted and aggregated to daily totals. Statistical analysis: Group means and standard deviations were calculated. A linear regression analysis was used to analyze the relationship between exercise time, PA, and SD, the R 2 value effect size (ES) was used to estimate the magnitude of the differences. All data analyses were performed in MatLab (software, R2016b). Results/findings: SD motivation (3.9±0.9) had a medium (R 2 = 0.09) but not statistically significant (p = .26) effect on the amount of moderate to high-intensity exercise time (33.3±39.6 minutes) during the 80-day period. There was no statistically significant effect (R 2 = 0.003, p = .84) of SD on PA (12953±7717 steps). Conclusions: Given the small sample size, achieving a medium effect size has meaningful significance despite not achieving statistical significance. This result suggests that self-determined motivation effects the amount of daily exercise but not PA in a sedentary population. Combining technology and other strategies (e.g., motivational interviewing, coaching) to promote behavior change is promising, and these interventions should include theoretically derived behavior change techniques and take the level of SD motivation into account.

Th is study aimed to explore whether a six-week intervention, based on participation in outdoor exercise, including activity-tracking devices and combined with individual consulting sessions, can both increase physical activity and yield positive changes in physiological and psychological health measures. A total of six participants, with a mean age of 41.2 (range 33-50 years), completed the ten-week study and the six-week intervention. Th e full study consisted of a four-week control/baseline and a six-week intervention period in which each participant acted as their own controls. Continuous measures of physical activity data were collected using a wrist-worn activity sensor during the ten-week study, along with pre- and post-measures of cardiovascular fi tness, upper-body strength, BMI, general health, and motivation to exercise. Th e intervention consisted of a resistance-training programme for an outdoor gym and three motivational interviewing sessions. Eff ect sizes (percentage) for changes pre- to post-training were calculated. Th e results, because of the small sample size, are presented as individual cases, but the group, as a whole, showed average increases from baseline (pre-) to post-measures in strength (maximum row; 15.33%), time to exhaustion (3.58%), number of steps per day (4%), and autonomous motivation (12%) and average decreases in body weight (-1.08%), fat percentage (-7.58%), strength (chest; -2.5%), and stress symptoms (-2.17%). Th e six-week intervention programme showed promising results regarding physical activity changes. Th is study contributes to the limited evidence of the impact of resistance training programmes using outdoor gyms, electronic tracker, and motivational interviewing on physical activity outcomes.

The field of sport and exercise psychology (SEP) has experienced a steady growth, and the professional practice and training of students has evolved over that time. Based on 2 past studies, the purpose was to describe a 2015 cohort of SEP students' hopes, dreams, and worries about the future. The authors performed a thematic content analysis of essays from undergraduate students based on cohorts from 1995, 2005, and 2015. The results showed that the most recent students expressed more worries about the current situation in relation to perceptions about the future of their potential professional practice than the past groups. Four tendencies for the future emerged: continued development of applied sport psychology, increased interdisciplinary exchange and integration, inclusion of exercise and health as a vital part of the field, and increased acceptance of cultural variations. Implications for future professional practice and training in SEP are discussed.

The aim of the study was to examine how players’ perceptions of sociocultural factors and intra- and interpersonal aspects of sporting experiences may have influenced the emotions, cognitions, and behaviours of elite female soccer players prior to the occurrence of ACL injuries. The research questions guiding the study were: (a) how did female elite soccer players perceive that their psychosocial experiences were related to their cognitive, physiological, and emotional states prior to their ACL injuries, and (b) how did the players feel their perceived states influenced their behaviours prior to injury occurrence. The participants consisted of the total population of female players (N = 18) competing in the Swedish women’s elite league, who incurred a total ACL tear during the 2012 season. Using a semi-structured interview guide, all players were interviewed post-season. We represented the data using a storytelling approach of aggregated creative nonfiction. The aggregated stories showed sociocultural rules and expectations of overtraining and placing pressure on athletes to play even if they were not physically or psychologically fit. Responding to pressures with potentially risk-increasing behaviours might raise the probability of becoming injured through a number of pathways. Team managers, coaches, and members of the medical team are recommended to develop environments that stimulate the players to engage in adaptive stress-recovery and risk-decreasing behaviours.