This study explores elite athletes' experiences of psychotherapy administered by Swedish licensed psychologists or psychotherapists with and without specialisation in elite sports, addressing the research question: What do elite athletes experience as important for psychotherapy effectiveness when seeking treatment from a licensed clinical psychologist or psychotherapist? Five elite athletes (self-assigned women=4, self-assigned men=1; age range: 20-34 years) from three sports (fencing: n=2, handball: n=2, triathlon: n=1) volunteered to participate in interviews. All athletes had worked with more than one licensed psychologists/psychotherapist, either through a regional healthcare or an elite sports specialised clinic while being national or international elite sports level athletes. Data were inductively analysed by the use of reflexive thematic analysis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEpidemiological studies suggest that psychiatric disorders are as prevalent amongst high-performance athletes as in general populations, challenging the myth of invulnerability. Despite efforts of sport organisations to highlight the significance of athletes' mental health, it is still many times tough to combine the sport performance ethos with a discourse on mental health. This narrative cornerstone review examines challenges related to definitions and classifications of athlete mental health in high-performance sports and how these influence assessments and the implementation of interventions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis pilot study aimed to explore the intersection of mindfulness, physical activity, and mental well-being within higher education populations during the COVID-19 pandemic. College students, faculty, and staff ( = 34) from a public university participated in the study during spring, summer, and fall 2021. All participants wore a Fitbit for two weeks and were assigned to a treatment group ( = 17), who completed a daily five-minute breathing meditation during the second week, and a control group ( = 17), who did not complete breathing meditation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe combined demands on an adolescence in an elite sports high school can negatively affect mental health (eg, stress, burnout, depression, anxiety). Late adolescence is also when elite-striving athletes typically transition from junior-to-senior level programs. In addition, adolescent elite lean sports athletes have an increased risk of suffering from abnormal eating pathology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe primary purpose of the present study was to examine adherence to current active play and electronic media use guidelines in a sample of US preschool-aged children and to examine whether differences occurred across gender and parental education. 164 parents completed an on-line survey to estimate preschool children's active play and sedentary behaviors. For weekdays, 50% of the sample met the active play guideline with this increasing to 65% during the weekend.
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