Group Process and Productivity

Elite athletes suffer many mental health symptoms and disorders at rates equivalent to or exceeding those of the general population. COVID-19 has created new strains on elite athletes, thus potentially increasing their vulnerability to mental health symptoms. This manuscript serves as a narrative review of the impact of the pandemic on management of those symptoms in elite athletes and ensuing recommendations to guide that management. It specifically addresses psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy and higher levels of care. Within the realm of psychotherapy, crisis counselling might be indicated. Individual, couple/family and group psychotherapy modalities all may be helpful during the pandemic, with novel content and means of delivery. Regarding pharmacotherapy for mental health symptoms and disorders, some important aspects of management have changed during the pandemic, particularly for certain classes of medication including stimulants, medications for bipolar and psychotic disorders, antidepressants and medications for substance use disorders. Providers must consider when in-person management (eg, for physical examination, laboratory testing) or higher levels of care (eg, for crisis stabilisation) is necessary, despite potential risk of viral exposure during the pandemic. Management ultimately should continue to follow general principles of quality health care with some flexibility. Finally, the current pandemic provides an important opportunity for research on new methods of providing mental health care for athletes, and consideration for whether these new methods should extend beyond the pandemic.

https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/bjsports/55/11/608.full.pdf

Mental health management of elite athletes during COVID-19: a narrative review and recommendations

In nomothetic research exercise addiction is studied on the basis of symptoms which are most often linked to exercise volume. However, other factors may also affect individuals’ susceptibility to the disorder.
The aim of this research was to examine the influence of gender, social context (team or individual sport), and level
of athletic training on symptoms of exercise addiction. Methods: Two groups of university athletes – sport- (n = 57)
and non-sport orientation (n = 90) – and a group of elite ultra-marathon runners (n = 95) completed the Exercise Addiction Inventory (EAI). The psychometric properties of the Spanish EAI were determined. Results: EAI scores were
higher in men than women (p = .018). Participants in team sports reported higher EAI scores than individual athletes
(p = .005). Elite runners scored higher on the EAI than university athletes (p = .005), but their scores were unrelated to the volume of training. The prevalence of “at risk” for exercise addiction was 7%–10% in university athletes and 17% among the ultra-marathon runners. The Spanish EAI showed good psychometric properties. Discussion: The results of the current inquiry show that several factors – including gender, level of athletic training, and social context of the training – affect exercise addiction and, in line with the literature, the volume of exercise did not emerge as an index of susceptibility to exercise addiction.

Exercise addiction in spanish athletes: investigation of the roles of gender, social context and level of involvelment

The aim of the present study was to explore changes in the autonomic stress response of Psychology students in a Psychology Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) and their relationship with OSCE performance. Variables of autonomic modulation by the analysis of heart rate variability in temporal, frequency and non-linear domains, subjective perception of distress strait and academic performance were measured before and after the two different evaluations that composed the OSCE. A psychology objective structured clinical examination composed by two different evaluation scenarios produced a large anxiety anticipatory response, a habituation response in the first of the evaluation scenarios and a in the entire evaluation, and a no habituation response in the second evaluation scenario. Autonomic modulation parameters do not correlate with academic performance of students.

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Use of Portable Digital Devices to Analyze Autonomic Stress Response in Psychology Objective Structured Clinical Examination

Due to the high risk of COVID-19 transmission, many sport events, including organised cycling competitions, have been cancelled. Nevertheless, staying active is important for individual well-being ...

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/0960085X.2020.1850186

The show must go on - virtualisation of sport events during the COVID-19 pandemic

/pdf/addressing-potential-impact-of-covid-19-pandemic-on-physical-4l3pqqbcxe.pdf

Addressing potential impact of COVID-19 pandemic on physical and mental health of elite athletes.

The effects of mindfulness training on competition-induced anxiety and salivary stress markers in elite Wushu athletes: A pilot study.

Scientific reports notified that the pandemic caused by the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has raised an unprecedented mental health emergency worldwide. Abrupt changes in daily routine, environmental constraints, adopted home confinement measures, and uncertainty about a date for returning to usual activities can potentially affect mental health and sports activities in athletes. Hence, we designed a cross-sectional study with a within-subjects design to investigate the impact of the pandemic on mental health, mood states, and life satisfaction of elite athletes. During the three phases of home confinement (April 14-24, n = 525), reopening (May 9-19, n = 464), and current semi-lockdown (July 20-31, n = 428), elite athletes voluntarily responded to an online survey. The self-report questionnaire was prepared to collect demographic and epidemiological variables of interest and the COVID-19-related information. All participants also completed the Profile of Mood State (POMS), General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28), and Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). The main result is that the training rate, mental health, life satisfaction, and positive mood have decreased during the home confinement period as compared with the reopening and semi-lockdown phases. However, the need for psychosocial services has increased during the pandemic period. The present study provides the first preliminary evidence that home confinement conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic might have negatively influenced elite athlete's mood state, mental health, and life satisfaction, as well as training rates. Monitoring the psychological parameters of elite athletes and developing strategies to improve their mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic should be on the agenda. Next studies, therefore, seem reasonable to focus on active interventions for athletes during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

/pdf/mental-health-status-life-satisfaction-and-mood-state-of-33mj9od2db.pdf

Mental Health Status, Life Satisfaction, and Mood State of Elite Athletes During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Follow-Up Study in the Phases of Home Confinement, Reopening, and Semi-Lockdown Condition

Este trabajo trata de estudiar el estado precompetitivo en triatletas en
una competicion, estudiando la ansiedad cognitiva, somatica y la autoconfianza. Metodologia:
Se utilizo una metodologia cuasiexperimental, de campo y se realizo en la
fase previa a la competicion; el instrumento que se utilizo, fue la version validada en
castellano del Competitive State Anxiety Inventory (CSAI-2). Participaron 156 triatletas.
Resultados: La mayor parte de los sujetos presentan niveles de Ansiedad Cognitiva
muy bajos (42.9%), bajos en el 28.9 % y el 19.2% media baja, el 7.7% tiene porcentajes
medio altos, y el 1,3% presento niveles altos. El 40.4% presenta niveles muy
bajos en Ansiedad Somatica, bajo en el 34.0%, medio bajo el 21.8% y medio alto en
el 2.5%. Ningun competidor presento niveles de ansiedad somatica muy alta. Con
respecto a la Autoconfianza, encontramos niveles medio altos en el 33.4%, altos
(23.7%), media baja (22.4%), muy alta (12.8%), y solo el (5.1%) presentaba una autoconfianza
baja, siendo la autoconfianza muy baja en el (2.6%) de los sujetos.

https://dialnet.unirioja.es/descarga/articulo/3967899.pdf

Ansiedad y autoconfianza precompetitiva en triatletas

The hardy personality refers to a constellation of personality characteristics related to personal perceptions of control, commitment and challenges. This construct has been widely studied in relation to stress and its impact on health and work settings amongst others, but almost ignored in sport contexts. Nonetheless, the characteristics included in this construct are of great interest to playing sports and performance. The main aim of this study is to establish the hardy

/pdf/personalidad-resistente-en-maratonianos-un-estudio-sobre-el-1t5h7r3v6q.pdf

José Carlos Jaenes Sánchez

Papers

Addressing potential impact of COVID-19 pandemic on physical and mental health of elite athletes.

The effects of mindfulness training on competition-induced anxiety and salivary stress markers in elite Wushu athletes: A pilot study.

Mental Health Status, Life Satisfaction, and Mood State of Elite Athletes During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Follow-Up Study in the Phases of Home Confinement, Reopening, and Semi-Lockdown Condition

Ansiedad y autoconfianza precompetitiva en triatletas

Personalidad resistente en maratonianos: un estudio sobre el control, compromiso y desafío de corredoras y corredores de maratón