Smartphones: How can mental performance consultants help athletes and coaches leverage their use to generate more benefits than drawbacks?

Durand‐Bush, Natalie; DesClouds, Poppy

doi:10.1080/21520704.2018.1496211

Cited by 23 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…It is clear that varsity athletes use their smartphones to manage roles and demands across multiple contexts (e.g., sport, school, home), and so, simply focusing on the negative implications of usage does not acknowledge the full range of athletes' interactions with their phones. Building on this, and in line with Durand-Bush and DesClouds's ( 2018 ) suggestions for smartphone usage in the sport context, it is recommended that sport psychology practitioners, coaches, and athletes avoid a one-size-fits-all approach to smartphone rules and regulations. Instead, athlete autonomy and accountability for smartphone usage should be promoted through consistent, open dialogue about how smartphones can help and hinder sport performance and experiences.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

“…Not surprisingly, there is a great deal of health, psychology, communications, and education research related to the impact of smartphone usage. However, there is a deficit of literature in the sport psychology domain pertaining to the ways in which smartphones are changing and impacting the experiences of athletes (Durand-Bush and DesClouds, 2018 ). Athletes, like the rest of the population, face the task of negotiating their smartphone usage on a day-to-day basis.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Smartphones and Varsity Athletes: A Complicated Relationship

DesClouds

Durand‐Bush

2021

Front. Sports Act. Living

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Varsity athletes are a group of high performers situated within a demographic notable for smartphone usage and media-multitasking. Surprisingly, little research has examined the impact of smartphones in the lives of varsity athletes. The purpose of this exploratory, qualitative study was to begin addressing this gap by investigating varsity athletes' experiences with smartphones. Varsity athletes (n = 21) from nine different sports participated in one of five focus groups, and data emerging from these discussions were subjected to an inductive thematic analysis. Results indicate that smartphones are a mainstay of varsity athletes' experiences, as the athletes regularly use their smartphones to manage roles and demands across multiple contexts (e.g., sport, school, home). Themes pertained to concurrent negative (e.g., stress, distraction, disengagement) and positive (e.g., self-regulation, social connectedness) implications of smartphone usage, making it clear that athletes' relationship with their smartphone is a complicated one. Findings contribute to the limited studies of smartphone usage among athletes, and support the notion that implications of usage exist along a continuum, rather than in distinct categories of “good” and “bad”. Results can inform practical guidelines for optimising athletes' use of smartphones in and around the sport context.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Smartphones and Varsity Athletes: A Complicated Relationship

DesClouds

Durand‐Bush

2021

Front. Sports Act. Living

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“…Prolonged use of electronic devices has been proven to be a behavior that requires high cognitive inhibition and sustained attention. When athletes use electronic devices, the cognitive performance will be impaired, including disrupt attention, concentration, memory, and executive function ( Durand-Bush and DesClouds, 2018 ). It is well-documented that these cognitive deficits and increased cognitive demands for a prolonged period may impair decision-making performance and executive functions in athletes, which in turn may limit athletic performance ( Van Cutsem et al, 2017 ; Fortes et al, 2019 ; Gantois et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Relevant Research On the Effects Of Mpd On Athletic Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies have demonstrated that when frequently using mobile phones during training or competition, athletes will focus on irrelevant cues or outcomes (preparation phase), and such athletes cannot be able to fully engage in the execution of sports skills due to the adverse effects of this behavior such as distraction and a lack of self-preparation (execution phase), and the negative comments issued on social media will be checked by them (evaluation phase). Finally, it is easy for these athletes to make misattributions and non-adaptive judgments, leading to an imbalance in self-regulation ( Durand-Bush and DesClouds, 2018 ). In a controlled trial examining the relationship between self-regulation and athletic performance in a 10-kilometre cycling time trial, it was found that athletes with suppressed levels of self-regulation had lower maximum heart rate, mean power outputs, and greater physical exertion when completing the race compared with normal athletes ( Wagstaff, 2014 ).…”

Section: Relevant Theoretical Models Of Effects Of Mpd On Athletic Pe...mentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of mobile phone dependence on athletic performance and its mechanisms

Mei,

Zhang,

Fan

et al. 2024

Front. Psychol.

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Mobile phone dependence (also known as internet dependence, MPD), defined as a problematic behavior characterized by excessive use or intermittent craving to use a mobile phone, results in various social, behavioral, and affective problems in daily life. In sports, MPD is directly related to the physical and mental health and sports performance of athletes. The individual and environmental factors, neurobiological mechanisms and theoretical models of MPD affecting athletic performance were analyzed by reviewing previous studies, aiming to construct effective training and development protocols to prevent and control the occurrence of MPD in athletes. At present, athletic performance can be affected by MPD through individual factors and environmental factors. The neurobiological mechanisms between the two are based on the brain reward system and microwave radiation from mobile phones, with athletic performance being restricted by alterations in the corresponding brain regions. Relevant theoretical models mainly include the social cognitive model of self-regulation and the integrative model of self-control, which explain the interrelationship between MPD and athletic performance from the perspectives of athletes’ self-regulation and self-control, respectively. As an emerging phenomenon, the influence pathways and mechanisms by which MPD affects athletic performance need to be further investigated. A longitudinal perspective should be adopted to trace the dynamic impact relationship between the two, and developing relevant theoretical frameworks from an interdisciplinary research perspective should be valuable for providing theoretical support for coaches and sports administrators to formulate scientific training protocols and thus improve the mental health of athletes.

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“…Given the different ways synchronous and asynchronous programs could be designed, Barak and Grohol (2011) categorized online programs into five distinct types. Although these types were derived from clinical psychology, they parallel sport psychology online programming: (a) online counseling and psychotherapy (e.g., videoconferencing; Price et al, 2022), (b) psychoeducational websites (e.g., Farhat et al, 2022), (c) interactive, self-guided interventions (e.g., learning modules; Weinberg et al, 2012), (d) online support groups or blogs (e.g., Villani et al, 2017), and (e) other (e.g., mobile applications; Durand-Bush & DesClouds, 2018). While each type is unique, multiple types may be offered or combined within a given program (e.g., Thrower et al, 2019).…”

Section: Modalities and Types Of Online Programsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Online Psychological Skills Training Programs: A Systematic Review of Program Websites

Ely,

Munroe-Chandler,

Flemington

2023

JASPR

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The purpose of this paper was to identify and describe sport-based psychological skills training (PST) programs available online. An eight-step systematic review methodology for identifying and describing websites was used to search for programs delivered asynchronously through online learning modules, designed for athletes, and presented in English. Information available through a program’s home page(s) (i.e., website) was used for analysis, as individual modules were not evaluated in this study. Information from these websites was assessed for readability and quality; the DISCERN instrument was used to assess the quality of information included to describe each program. Descriptive statistics and content analyses were employed to describe various program characteristics, categorized as access and audience, delivery, and content. Overall, 18 online module-based PST programs were identified. Most information on a program’s website was rated as fairly difficult to read, and DISCERN scores were often poor. Nevertheless, programs were generally framed for athletes of all competitive levels, varied considerably in how they were delivered (e.g., number of modules, time to complete), and offered content on a variety of topics in sport psychology (e.g., imagery, attentional control). This study identifies the current state of PST programs available online and provides a descriptive account of these programs. This research advances several implications for research and practice, including the need to investigate the effectiveness of online PST programs.

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Smartphones: How can mental performance consultants help athletes and coaches leverage their use to generate more benefits than drawbacks?

Cited by 23 publications

References 24 publications

Smartphones and Varsity Athletes: A Complicated Relationship

Smartphones and Varsity Athletes: A Complicated Relationship

The effects of mobile phone dependence on athletic performance and its mechanisms

Online Psychological Skills Training Programs: A Systematic Review of Program Websites

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