Why Should Diabetic Women Be Active?-The Role of Personality, Self-Esteem, Body-Esteem, and Imagery.

Diabetes is one of the fastest spreading diseases in the 21st century. The aim of the study is twofold: (1) to find differences in personality traits, self-esteem, body-esteem, and imagery between healthy women and women with diabetes; (2) to verify whether there are differences in the analyzed factors among women with diabetes who engage in sports compared to those who do not. We used 3 questionnaires: Imagination in Sport-short form, Self-Esteem Scale (SES), and BFIS Personality, which were tested online. We found that women with diabetes were characterized by significantly higher neuroticism, lower extraversion, and higher conscientiousness (marginally significant). We also found that women with diabetes who practice sport rated their bodies more highly in terms of sexual attractiveness and made better use of imagined affirmations than women without diabetes who were not active. Our study provides new insights into diabetics in terms of women navigating the disease.

Psychophysiological strategies for enhancing performance through imagery-skin conductance level analysis in guided vs. self-produced imagery.

Athletes need to achieve their optimal level of arousal for peak performance. Visualization or mental rehearsal (i.e., Imagery) often helps to obtain an appropriate level of activation, which can be detected by monitoring Skin Conductance Level (SCL). However, different types of imagery could elicit different amount of physiological arousal. Therefore, this study aims: (1) to investigate differences in SCL associated with two instructional modalities of imagery (guided vs. self-produced) and six different scripts; (2) to check if SCL could differentiate respondents according to their sport expertise. Thirty participants, aged between 14 and 42 years (M = 22.93; SD = 5.24), with different sport levels took part in the study. Participants listened to each previously recorded script and then were asked to imagine the scene for a minute. During the task, SCL was monitored. We analysed the mean value, variance, slope and number of fluctuations per minute of the electrodermal signal. Unsupervised machine learning models were used for measuring the resemblance of the signal. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used for distinguishing guided and self-produced imagery, and The Mann-Whitney U test was used for distinguishing results of different level athletes. We discovered that among others, self-produced imagery generates lower SCL, higher variance, and a higher number of fluctuations compared to guided imagery. Moreover, we found similarities of the SCL signal among the groups of athletes (i.e. expertise level). From a practical point of view, our findings suggest that different imagery instructional modalities can be implemented for specific purposes of mental preparation.

Special Issue: Sport Psychology Interventions for Athletes' Performance and Well-Being.

Scientific evidence highlights that sport psychology interventions adopted by professionals are crucial for making a difference in athlete performance [...].

Exploring the influence of personal factors on physiological responses to mental imagery in sport.

Imagery is a well-known technique in mental training which improves performance efficiency and influences physiological arousal. One of the biomarkers indicating the amount of physiological arousal is skin conductance level (SCL). The aim of our study is to understand how individual differences in personality (e.g. neuroticism), general imagery and situational sport anxiety are linked to arousal measuring with SCL in situational imagery. Thirty participants aged between 14 and 42 years (M = 22.93; SD = 5.24), with sport experience ranging between 2 and 20 years (M = 10.15; SD = 4.75), took part in our study. Participants listened to each previously recorded script and then were asked to imagine the scene for a minute. During the task SCL was monitored using the Biofeedback Expert 2000. Machine learning predictive models based on artificial neural networks have been trained for prediction of physiological response, as a function of selected psychological tests. We found an association among neuroticism, prestart anxiety, and general tendency to use imagery with SCL. From a practical point of view our results may help athletes, coaches, and psychologists to be more aware of the role of individual differences in sport.

Does Imagery Ability Matter for the Relationship Between Temperament and Self-Confidence in Team and Individual Sport Disciplines?

The main purpose of our study was to investigate the relationship among temperamental traits, a general tendency to use imagery, and self-confidence in sport. The specific aim was to verify if general imagery mediates the relationship between temperament and self-confidence in sport, but also with respect to individual and team sport disciplines. The study involved 144 athletes aged 19-25 years (75 men and 69 women) with different lengths of training (from 1 month to 18 years) and presented different sports levels: international (n = 12), national (n = 46), and recreational (n = 86). They also represented individual (n = 73) and team (n = 68) sports. The Imagination in Sport Questionnaire (ISQ), Trait Sports Confidence Inventory (TSCI-PL), and Temperament Questionnaire (EAS) were all completed by the participants. Results indicate that self-confidence is explained in about 13% by temperament and general imagery, but only general imagery (b = 0.22; p < 0.05) and negative axes of the temperament-emotionality (b = -0.26; p < 0.05). The test of the indirect effect of the negative axes of the temperament on self-confidence through general imagery, conducted by Preacher and Hayes bootstrapping procedure, revealed significant mediation [b = 0.37; 95% CI = (0.09; 0.68); R 2 Med = 0.46] suggesting that about 46% of variance explained in self-confidence by emotionality is related to general imagery. The other 3% of variance explained in self-confidence by the positive temperament axes is related to general imagery, however, it was insignificant. The general imagery explains the relationship between emotionality and self-confidence only in individual sports athletes.

Neural Oscillation During Mental Imagery in Sport: An Olympic Sailor Case Study.

The purpose of the current study was to examine the cortical correlates of imagery depending on instructional modality (guided vs. self-produced) using various sports-related scripts. According to the expert-performance approach, we took an idiosyncratic perspective analyzing the mental imagery of an experienced two-time Olympic athlete to verify whether different instructional modalities of imagery (i.e., guided vs. self-produced) and different scripts (e.g., training or competition environment) could differently involve brain activity. The subject listened to each previously recorded script taken from two existing questionnaires concerning imagery ability in sport and then was asked to imagine the scene for a minute. During the task, brain waves were monitored using EEG (32-channel g. Nautilus). Our findings indicate that guided imagery might induce higher high alpha and SMR (usually associated with selective attention), whereas self-produced imagery might facilitate higher low alpha (associated with global resting state and relaxation). Results are discussed in light of the neural efficiency hypothesis as a marker of optimal performance and transient hypofrontality as a marker of flow state. Practical mental training recommendations are presented.

Do Physical Activity and Personality Matter for Hair Cortisol Concentration and Self-Reported Stress in Pregnancy? A Pilot Cross-Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: Physical activity reduces psychosocial stress in pregnant women. Stress levels might be self-reported (psychosocial) or measured with biomarkers, one of which is hair cortisol concentration (HCC). Additionally, personality has been associated with stress and physical activity. METHODS: The first aim of our study was to explore the differences in self-reported stress assessed by the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and in HCC with regard to physical activity level in pregnant (N = 29) and non-pregnant (N = 21) women. The second aim was to analyze the correlations among perceived stress, HCC, frequency of exercise and personality in the two groups separately. RESULTS: There was a significant difference in frequency of exercise and self-reported stress between the two groups, with a lower level in pregnant women, but no differences in HCC and in personality were found. In the group of pregnant women, there was a significant negative correlation between HCC and frequency of exercise sessions, with the latter correlating positively with openness to experience. In the group of non-pregnant women, perceived stress negatively correlated with extraversion, agreeableness and emotional stability. HCC correlated negatively with conscientiousness. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate the importance of physical activity programs dedicated to pregnant women for their life quality.

Can Personality Factors and Body Esteem Predict Imagery Ability in Dancers?

Dancing is mainly regarded as a form of art, which has been linked to the expression of emotions. Imagery is a well-known technique for enhancing performance. Additionally, specific personality traits are likely to facilitate performance. In the dancer's performance, regarding the body as a tool is crucial. The following study examines personality and perceived body esteem as predictors of imagery ability in professional dancers. We analyzed two experimental groups, namely ballet dancers and professional dancers of other styles, and a control group. A sample of 249 people took part in the study: 155 women and 94 men aged 18-56 years. Participants filled in The Imagination in Sport Questionnaire and Polish adaptations of the Big Five Inventory-Short and the Body Esteem Scale. Results indicated that while each experimental group differed significantly from the control group in terms of their imagery ability, there were no differences between the two experimental groups. Findings revealed that personality traits, mainly higher openness to experience, and body esteem, mainly related to physical condition, were significant predictors of higher imagery ability in all groups.