Quality of Life, Depression, Anxiety Symptoms and Mood State of Wheelchair Athletes and Non-athletes: A Preliminary Study

Abstract

The present study aims to compare quality of life, depression, anxiety symptoms, and profile of mood state of wheelchair athletes and non-athletes. Thirty-nine basketball and rugby wheelchair athletes ( n = 23, nine women, age 36.0 ± 10.0 years; body mass 66.2 ± 13.8 kg; height 170.0 ± 8.5 cm) and non-athletes ( n = 16, 4 women, 39.0 ± 14.2 years; body mass 79.6 ± 17.2 kg; height 170.0 ± 6.4 cm) were recruited. Quality of life, anxiety and depressive symptoms and mood disorders were evaluated by the Medical Outcomes Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory and Profile of Mood State questionnaire, respectively. Comparison between groups (non-athletes vs. athletes) was performed using Student’s t -test for independent samples. No differences ( p > 0.05) were found between non-athletes vs. athletes regards to quality of life, depressive and anxiety symptoms and profile of mood state. Overall, non-athletes and athletes presented medium anxiety symptoms and mild to moderate depressive symptoms. In conclusion, the wheelchair athletes and non-athletes presented similar quality of life, depressive and anxiety symptoms, and profile of mood state.

Executive Function and Mood: The Moderating Role of Athletic Expertise

“…In line with previous research, participants with more athletic expertise performed better on tasks of inhibition, shifting, and updating; and they reported higher positive affect. Also consistent with past findings, participants with less athletic expertise reported higher negative affect (Jacobson & Matthaeus, 2014;Lowther & Lane, 2002;Mellalieu et al, 2009;Swann et al, 2015;Vancini et al, 2019;Vaughan & Edwards, 2020;Verburgh et al, 2014). Our results also supported our predictions in that positive affect was related to greater accuracy and lower latencies but not errors, while negative affect was related to greater accuracy, higher latencies, and fewer errors on measures of inhibition, shifting and updating.…”

“…It is possible that those with more athletic expertise better regulate their affective states to maintain EF performance (e.g., as experience of elite level sports competition increases; Vaughan et al., 2019 ). While somewhat speculative, athletes with more expertise may be more experienced in dealing with intense affective states, regardless of valence ( Lowther & Lane, 2002 ; Mellalieu et al., 2009 ; Nicolas et al., 2014 ; Vancini et al., 2019 ). That is, maintaining EF performance while in a negative mood, such as those experienced when sport performance is below expectations may be essential to being successful, and may be akin to learning how to negotiate different intensities of neural activation, thus placing less demand on the prefrontal cortex and reducing demands on attentional capacities ( Johnson, 2001 ).…”

“…The sports domain may be particularly relevant for examining the link between mood and EF, since elite athletes use a combination of cognitive and affective self-control to make better decisions and perform better ( Vaughan et al., 2019 ). While much research to date has focused on differences in either mood or cognitive control across levels of athletic expertise ( Jacobson & Matthaeus, 2014 ; Lowther & Lane, 2002 ; Vancini et al., 2019 ), little prior research has focused on the implications of these findings for the relationship between mood and EF among athletes. Yet, understanding this association between thoughts and feelings is important in sports, given their significant separate contributions to sport performance ( Davis & Jowett, 2014 ; Verburgh et al., 2014 ).…”

“…Yet, positive and negative affect may have separate advantages and limitations for athletes ( Nicolas et al., 2014 ). For example, both positive and negative affect can be perceived as either facilitative or debilitative for performance, despite their pleasant or unpleasant valence, depending on the situational context and on individual differences (e.g., athletic expertise; Nicolas et al., 2014 ; Vancini et al., 2019 ). In sport, mood variability has a unique relationship with sport performance that may be dependent on the competitive experience ( Lowther & Lane, 2002 ).…”

“… Mitchell and Phillips (2007) recommended that future investigators should investigate potential moderators of the relationship between affect and EF. As both constructs vary across athletic expertise levels ( Jacobson & Matthaeus, 2014 ; Lowther & Lane, 2002 ; Mellalieu et al., 2009 ; Swann et al., 2015 ; Vancini et al., 2019 ; Vaughan & Edwards, 2020 ), the relationship between them likely changes as a function of athletic expertise.…”