21 research outputs found
Perseverative cognition and snack choice:an online pilot investigation
No full textPerseverative cognition (PC), consisting of worry and rumination, has been consistently linked to a variety of poorer health outcomes, namely via the worsening of stress-induced health risk behaviours. However, research into PC and unhealthy food choice, a key health behaviour, still remains relatively unexplored. In the current pilot investigation, 284 participants were recruited to take part in an online food choice paradigm before completing the Perseverative Thinking Questionnaire (PTQ) and the Brief State Rumination Inventory (BSRI). As a reduced availability of unhealthy snacks has been shown to improve snack choice, participants were randomly allocated to either an even condition (a 3:3 ratio of ≤99 kcal and ≥199 kcal snacks) or an uneven condition (a 4:2 ratio in favour of ≤99 kcal snacks). It was hypothesized that higher levels of PC may predict greater instances of poorer snack choices across, or even within, this paradigm. Despite an increase availability of lower calorie snacks leading to a healthier snack choice, both state and trait PC measures did not significantly influence snack choice irrespective of this varying availability. Although, marginal trends were found for higher state PC and higher calorie crisp selections. The current pilot therefore adds to the growing literature advocating for the use of behavioural economic tactics to engender healthier food choices, yet further work is needed to unpick the mediating role of PC (and its components) in snack consumption paradigms
The extended perseverative cognition hypothesis: Testing the effects of worry/rumination on physical and behavioural health outcomes
No full textPerseverative cognition (PC) is the repeated psychological activation of stress-related cognitions (including worry and rumination). The Perseverative Cognition Hypothesis (PCH) posits that, in the same way as stress, PC damages health via its ensuing physiological activation and, in recent years, PC has been shown to influence health via an indirect, behavioural pathway, termed the Extended PCH (EPCH). However, this evidence seldom considers experimental methodologies testing interventions, pathways, or how robust this is across health outcomes. The principal aim of this thesis was therefore to examine methods to reduce PC, its relationship with health behaviours/physical health outcomes, and moderating/mediating variables that may exacerbate and/or attenuate this relationship.
Both general and work-related worry and rumination predicted significantly higher scores in burnout and somatization, as well as lower scores in sleep quality while several mediation effects were found for the indirect pathway from job strain, through PC, to several health outcomes (Chapter 2; Study 1). Meta-analysis of 36 studies testing (non-pharmacological) interventions produced medium effect sizes for worry and rumination, corresponding to small, but positive, effect sizes for health behaviours (and small-medium positive effect sizes for sleep) (Chapter 3; Study 2). In a randomised controlled trial, participants in an augmented worry postponement intervention produced significantly lower worry duration (by ~15 minutes, on average, per day), relative to an active-control arm and those in the augmented worry postponement condition reported significantly shorter worry duration and lower worry frequency, relative to the standard arm. Neither of the interventions had any effect on sleep (Chapter 4; Study 3). In another study, worry and rumination (at baseline) predicted significantly poorer sleep quality (at 7 days follow-up). Worry, but not rumination, and PBC interacted to predict significantly lower physical activity frequency and consistent with mediation, the indirect paths from both worry and rumination, through PBC, to sleep quality and total sleep time were significant (Chapter 5; Study 4).
The findings of this thesis provide some support for the EPCH and varying degrees of support for the PCH. PC poses a serious, indirect, risk for disease processes via modifying health behaviours and influencing some physical health outcomes. Further work is needed to elucidate how PC interacts with other components known to predict (or influence) disease processes and to uncover new interventions that can attenuate the now axiomatic relationship between PC and ill-health
Personality characteristics of UK Association Football referees
No full textPersonality has often been associated with job performance and satisfaction, particularly with regard to resilience and coping with pressure. However, the links between personality type and sports officiating performance is sparsely researched. Sports officials, notably soccer referees, come under intense public and media scrutiny for their performance, and ‘burnout’ is at a high level. Therefore, understanding how personality may influence job performance in this high-pressure role could influence the support and training of referees. The aim of this study was to explore possible relationships between individual differences and performance level in English Association Football (soccer) referees. Using an independent groups design, 185 soccer referees currently performing at 3 levels (Professional, Intermediate, and Amateur) completed measures of mental toughness, locus of control, assertiveness, and social comparison. For every scale, Professional referees scored significantly higher than the other groups, while Intermediates did not differ from Amateurs. This suggests that referees at the highest level possess critical personality characteristics the others lack. The causal direction of this relationship is uncertain, but implications for training and support of officials with regard to increasing resilience and reducing burnout are noted
Personality characteristics of UK Association Football referees
No full textPersonality traits of UK-based football (soccer) referees. A cross-sectional overview of elite through to grassroot officials
Rumination and worry selectively modulate total calorie consumption within an online, nudge tactic paradigm
No full textRumination and worry, collectively referred to as perseverative cognition, have been implicated in the increased engagement of several health risk behaviours. The current study aimed to investigate the potential influencing role of these repetitive negative thought cognitions in an online snack paradigm. Participants were randomly assigned to either an even condition (a 3:3 ratio of ≤101 kcal and >201 kcal snacks) or an uneven condition (a 4:2 ratio in favour of ≤101 kcal snacks). Upon the presentation of six images of sweet treats, participants were asked to choose the snack they most wanted to consume “right now”, before completing the Ultra-Brief Penn State Worry Questionnaire (UB-PSWQ) and the brief (5-item) Ruminative Response Scale (RRS). The results showed that the reduced availability of higher calorie snacks significantly improved both snack choice and total calorie consumption. However, despite rumination and worry having no influence on the snack type chosen, higher levels of rumination still led to significantly higher overall calorie consumption. Although, contrary to predictions, higher levels of worry conversely led to significantly lower overall calorie consumption. This study adds to the growing work in the role of perseverative cognition and food consumption, which may aid in informing public health strategies. Further exploration is needed to assess whether rumination directly induces unhealthy eating behaviours or simply exacerbates them
Health Effects of Psychological Interventions for Worry and Rumination: A Meta-analysis
No full textObjective: Evidence suggests that perseverative cognition (PC), the cognitive representation of past stressful events (rumination) or feared future events (worry), mediates the relationship between stress and physical disease. However, the experimental evidence testing methods to influence PC and the subsequent relationship with health outcomes has not been synthesized. Therefore, the current review addressed these gaps. Method: Studies randomly assigning participants to treatment and control groups, measuring PC and a physical and/or behavioral health outcome after exposure to a nonpharmacological intervention, were included in a systematic review. Key terms were searched in Medline, APA PsycInfo and CINAHL databases. Of the screened studies (k = 10,703), 36 met the eligibility criteria. Results: Random-effects meta-analyses revealed the interventions, relative to comparison groups, on average produced medium-sized effects on rumination (g = −.58), small-to-medium sized effects on worry (g = −.41) and health behaviors (g = .31), and small-sized effects on physical health outcomes (g = .23). Effect sizes for PC were negatively associated with effect sizes for health behaviors. (following outlier removal). Effect sizes for PC were significantly larger when interventions were delivered by health care professionals than when delivered via all other methods. No specific intervention type (when directly compared against other types) was associated with larger effect sizes for PC. Conclusions: Psychological interventions can influence PC. Medium-sized (negative) effect sizes for PC correspond with small (but positive) health behavior effect sizes
Home advantage during the COVID-19 pandemic: Analyses of European football leagues
No full textThe home advantage (HA) is a robust phenomenon in football whereby the home team wins more games and scores more goals than the away team. One explanation is that the home crowd spurs on home team performance and causes the referee to unconsciously favour the home team. The Covid-19 (COVID) pandemic provided a unique opportunity to assess this explanation for HA, as European football leagues played part of the 2019/2020 season with crowds present and concluded with crowds absent. Using multi-level modelling we compared team performance and referee decisions pre-COVID (crowd present) and during-COVID (crowd absent) across 4844 games from 15 leagues in 11 countries. HA (goals scored and points gained) was significantly reduced during-COVID, which reflected the inferior performance of the home team. In games without fans, home teams created significantly fewer attacking opportunities and referee-bias was diluted when controlling for the attacking dominance of teams; such that the number of fouls and yellow cards ruled against away sides, while still significant, was reduced and no effects were observed for red cards. Implications for sporting practice and directions for future research are discussed
Home Advantage during the COVID-19 Pandemic in European football
No full textDoes 'home advantage' in football persist despite the non-presence of an audience due to the COVID-19 pandemic across major European football leagues
Home Advantage during the COVID-19 Pandemic in European football
No full textThe home advantage (HA) is a robust phenomenon in soccer whereby the home team wins more games and scores more goals than the away team. One explanation is that the home crowd spurs on home team performance and causes the referee to unconsciously favour the home team. The Covid-19 pandemic provided a unique opportunity to assess this explanation for HA, as European soccer leagues played part of the 2019/2020 season with crowds present and concluded with crowds absent. Using multi-level modelling we compared team performance and referee decisions pre-Covid (crowd present) and post-Covid (crowd absent) across 9,528 games from 15 leagues in 11 countries. HA (goals scored and points gained) was significantly reduced post pandemic, which reflected the inferior performance of the home team. In addition, referees awarded significantly fewer sanctions against the away teams, and home teams created significantly fewer attacking opportunities when they played without fans
A Systematic Review of the Effects of Second-Eye Cataract Surgery on Motor Function
No full textCataract removal surgery is one of the most commonly performed surgical procedure in developed countries. The financial and staff resource cost that first-eye cataract surgery incurs, leads to restricted access to second-eye cataract surgery (SES) in some areas, including the United Kingdom. These restrictions have been imposed despite a lack of knowledge about the impact of not performing SES on visuo-motor function. To this end, a systematic literature review was carried out, with the aim of synthesising our present understanding of the effects of SES on motor function. Key terms were searched across four databases, PsycINFO, Medline, Web of Science, and CINAHL. Of the screened studies (K = 499) 13 met the eligibility criteria. The homogeneity between participants, study-design and outcome measures across these studies was not sufficient for meta-analyses and a narrative synthesis was carried out. The evidence from objective sources indicates a positive effect of SES on both mobility and fall rates, however, when considering self-report measures, the reduction in falls associated with SES becomes negligible. The evidence for any positive effect of SES on driving is also mixed, whereby SES was associated with improvements in simulated driving performance but was not associated with changes in driving behaviours measured through in vehicle monitoring. Self-report measures of driving performance also returned inconsistent results. Whilst SES appears to be associated with a general trend towards improved motor function, more evidence is needed to reach any firm conclusions and to best advise policy regarding access to SES in an ageing population. Systematic Review Registration: https://osf.io/7hne6/, identifier INPLASY2020100042
