Current understanding in climbing psychophysiology research

Abstract

The sport of rock climbing places a significant physiological and psychological load on participants. Psychophysiological analysis provides a unique insight into affective states arising from the demands of climbing, and the impact that they have on performance. This review provides an overview of climbing psychophysiology research completed to date. To summarise, an on-sight lead ascent of a route elicits the greatest psychophysiological response in climbers, whilst a red-point top-rope ascent produces the least. The effects of climbing stimuli on an individual's performance appear to be conditional on their experience. In general, experienced climbers show superior performance and are less anxious than their less practiced counterparts, with significantly lower cognitive and somatic anxiety, increased self-confidence and lower values of the steroid stress hormone cortisol. It is likely that the experience-stressor-performance relationship is due to advanced climbers' greater understanding of the risks associated with the sport, their habituation to the stressors gained through practice and their ability to perform well with higher levels of anxiety. This review outlines pertinent psychological climbing stimuli, summarises current methodologies and presents a detailed review of climbing psychophysiology research. It also concludes with suggestions for improving the depth and breadth of future research, including the need for the refinement of existing measures.

Heidelberg Risk Sport-Specific Stress Test: A Paradigm to Investigate the Risk Sport-Specific Psycho-Physiological Arousal

“…Subsequently, this finding might suggest that cognitive anxiety might be perceived as greater than somatic anxiety during the HRSST. In conclusion, the finding of increasing anxiety in response to the HRSST fits into the literature of risk sport/fear of falling (Draper et al, 2008, 2010; Nieuwenhuys et al, 2008; Giles et al, 2014; Baláš et al, 2017) and other physically threatening situations, e.g., in the context of the police (Landman et al, 2016; Giessing et al, 2019). In several studies, anxiety was increased in the experimental condition inducing a stronger psychological response compared to control conditions (Draper et al, 2008; Giles et al, 2014; Landman et al, 2016).…”

“…However, since the samples in the experiments consisted of experienced and fit athletes, it was assumed that the climbing task would only elicit low levels of physical demand. Certainly, leaving solid ground and climbing into a height of 12 m elicit stress in climbing novices (Draper et al, 2008, 2010; Giles et al, 2014). In experiments 3 and 4, participants were required to spend extra time in this height while filling out a questionnaire.…”

Coping with Stress and Pain in Hard and Soft Adventure Mountain Athletes

“…Low anxiety is correlated with self--confidence, positive affects, and feelings of control (Jones et al, 2009). Furthermore, low anxiety is likely related to facilitating success in climbing (Giles et al, 2014).…”

Future-Oriented Coping with Weather Stress among Mountain Hikers: Temperamental Personality Predictors and Profiles

“…In turn, physiological changes can affect blood pressure, body temperature and the hormonal system or cause headaches and breathing problems [20][21][22]. The consequences of terrible weather can be frostbite and hypothermia [23][24][25].…”