Risk perception as a motivational resource during the COVID-19 pandemic: the role of vaccination status and emerging variants.

BACKGROUND: People's perceived risk of being infected and having severe illness was conceived as a motivational source of adherence to behavioral measures during the COVID-19 crisis. METHODS: We used online self-reported data, spanning 20 months of the COVID-19 crisis in Belgium (n = 221,791; 34.4% vaccinated; July 2020 - March 2022) to study the association between risk perception and motivation. RESULTS: Both perceived infection probability and severity fluctuated across time as a function of the characteristics of emerging variants, with unvaccinated persons perceiving decreasingly less risk compared to vaccinated ones. Perceived severity (and not perceived probability) was the most critical predictor of autonomous motivation for adherence to health-protective measures, a pattern observed at both the between-day and between-person level among both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals. An integrated process model further indicated that on days with higher hospitalization load, participants reported being more adherent because risk severity and autonomous motivation for adherence were more elevated on these days. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that risk severity served as a critical and dynamic resource for adherence to behavioral measures because it fostered greater autonomous regulation.

Does parents' perceived style of setting limits to gaming matter? The interplay between profiles of parental mediation and BIS/BAS sensitivity in problematic gaming and online gambling.

INTRODUCTION: Parents try to prevent possible negative outcomes associated with gaming by setting rules on their adolescent's gaming behavior (i.e., restrictive mediation). Parents can use either more autonomy-supportive or more controlling styles to communicate those rules. Using a person-centered approach, this study aims to, first, identify profiles of parents' perceived degree of restrictive mediation in gaming and styles of communicating these rules (i.e., autonomy-supportive and controlling); second, to examine how adolescents in different profiles differ in terms of maladaptive gaming outcomes (i.e., problematic gaming, simulated, and online gambling); third, to investigate the moderating role of gaming frequency and adolescents' personality (i.e., behavioral inhibition system [BIS] sensitivity and behavioral activation system [BAS] sensitivity) in the associations between the parental profiles and the outcomes. METHODS: The study used quantitative, cross-sectional survey data from Belgian adolescents (N = 1651, mean age = 14.00 years, 51.2% boys), collected between November 2021 and February 2022 in schools. RESULTS: Cluster analysis yielded four profiles of perceived restrictive mediation: an exclusively controlling one, an autonomy-supportive one, one where parents used a perceived mix of both communication styles, and one where there was an overall perceived lack of restrictive mediation. Adolescents in the controlling profile displayed the most maladaptive outcomes. Some of the associations between the parental profiles and the outcomes were stronger for more frequent gamers and for adolescents scoring higher on both BIS and BAS sensitivity. CONCLUSION: Associations between the parental profiles and gaming outcomes were theoretically meaningful, yet small in terms of effect size.

Adolescents' mental health in the social-media era: The role of offline and online need-based experiences.

INTRODUCTION: Debate about the precise role of social media use (SMU) in the mental health of today's adolescents is still ongoing. The present study adds to the literature by focusing on adolescents' experiences during SMU and in their offline activities through the lens of basic psychological needs, which are central to self-determination theory. METHODS: To examine the joint and supplementary effects of need-experiences in the offline and SMU domain (i.e., SMU satisfaction, offline satisfaction, SMU frustration, offline frustration) on several indicators of adolescents' mental health (i.e., vitality, life satisfaction, sleep quality, anxiety, and depression), polynomial regression analyses were used. Three cross-sectional samples were collected in Belgium, including early to mid-adolescents during the COVID-pandemic (Sample 1; N = 447; Mage = 14.26; 54.4% female) as well as postpandemic (Sample 2; N = 179, Mage = 15.25; 54.2% female), and among college students in postpandemic times (Sample 3; N = 4977; Mage = 20.72; 69.1% female). RESULTS: The results showed that need-experiences common to both domains were a robust factor associated with mental health. This finding was obtained across all samples and outcomes, with need satisfaction playing a beneficial and need frustration a harmful role. We further found that offline need-experiences serve as a more crucial predictor of adolescents' mental health than need experiences on social media. CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents' experiences of need satisfaction and need frustration on social media and in offline activities are central to their mental health. However, only relying on SMU as a single source of need satisfaction may not be recommended, given that offline experiences seem to be more decisive.

Are All Negotiations Equally Favorable? The Role of Adolescents' Negotiation Style, Social Domain, and Mothers' Authoritarian Beliefs and Family History.

Although negotiation is generally considered an adaptive means for adolescents to express disagreement in the parent-child relationship, previous research on the correlates of adolescents' negotiation has reported rather mixed results. This may be because parents do not always positively appraise and respond to adolescents' negotiation. The key aim of the present study was to better understand variability in mothers' appraisals and responses to adolescents' negotiation attempts. This was done by examining whether their appraisals and responses vary as a function of adolescents' negotiation style, social domain, and mothers' personal characteristics (i.e., authoritarian beliefs and their own history of being parented). A total of 476 mothers of 9th and 10th grade adolescents in Belgium (Mage mothers = 44.93 years old, SD = 4.07; Mage adolescents = 14.88, SD = 0.75, 51.7% boys) participated in a vignette-based experimental study. Mothers completed questionnaires assessing authoritarian beliefs and their own history of being parented, and read a vignette-based scenario depicting an adolescent's negotiation attempt. Using a between-person 2 × 2 design, adolescents' negotiation style (autonomy-supportive versus controlling) and social domain (personal versus multifaceted) were experimentally manipulated. Mothers were more likely to positively appraise and respond in more constructive ways if adolescents adopted an autonomy-supportive instead of a controlling negotiation style, and when the situation involved a personal rather than a multifaceted issue. Mothers with high authoritarian beliefs and those with a history of being parented in a psychologically controlling way, had a more negative attitude towards adolescents' negotiation. Overall, the results suggest that the success of adolescents' negotiation depends on how, about what, and with whom they negotiate.

The Role of Communication Style and External Motivators in Predicting Vaccination Experiences and Intentions: An Experimental Vignette Study.

This vignette-based study examined in a sample of unvaccinated Belgian citizens (N = 1918; Mage = 45.99) how health care workers could foster reflection about and intentions to get vaccinated against COVID-19 by experimentally varying their communication style (i.e., autonomy-supportive vs. controlling) and the reference to external motivators (i.e., use of a monetary voucher or corona pass vs. the lack thereof). Each participant was randomly assigned to one of six conditions and rated a vignette in terms of anticipated autonomy satisfaction, perceived effectiveness, reflection, and vaccination intention. An autonomy-supportive, relative to a controlling, communication style predicted greater autonomy need satisfaction, which in turn related positively to perceived effectiveness, reflection, and vaccination intention. External motivators failed to generate positive effects compared to the control condition. The findings highlight the critical role of autonomy support in promoting a self-endorsed decision to get vaccinated.

When Insecure Self-Worth Drains Students' Energy: Academic Contingent Self-Esteem and Parents' and Teachers' Perceived Conditional Regard as Predictors of School Burnout.

Whereas both the family and school environment have been suggested to affect school burnout risks, the role of conditionally regarding parenting or teaching, in which affection is granted conditional on student achievement, in the development of school burnout has not yet been examined. This longitudinal study investigated students' academic contingent self-esteem and parental and teacher conditional regard as antecedents of school burnout. The study sample consisted of Flemish early adolescents (n = 3409; Mage = 12.4 years (SD = 0.49) at the first measurement occasion; 50.3% males), which were surveyed twice (start of Grade 7 and Grade 8). Using Latent Change Modeling, academic contingent self-esteem was found to predict school burnout. Parental and teacher conditional regard both contributed to school burnout, partly through academic contingent self-esteem. Whereas negative conditional regard had the strongest implications for school burnout, positive conditional regard contributed most strongly to contingent self-esteem. Associations were systematically found both at the between-student level (i.e., high levels of antecedents were related to high levels of school burnout) and at the within-student level (i.e., increases in antecedents over time were related to concomitant increases in school burnout). These findings emphasize that communicating conditional approval to adolescents may increase school burnout risks, thus jeopardizing their healthy academic development.

A Daily Examination of the Moderating Role of Adolescents' Coping in Associations between Psychologically Controlling Parenting and Adolescents' Maladjustment.

To explain why there is substantial heterogeneity in the degree to which adolescents suffer from psychologically controlling parenting, it is important to take into account adolescents' active contribution to the socialization processes and to their coping with controlling parenting in particular. This study aimed to examine whether adolescents' coping with controlling parenting (i.e., oppositional defiance, compulsive compliance, negotiation, and accommodation) moderated associations between psychologically controlling parenting, adolescents' experiences of psychological need frustration, and their internalizing and externalizing problems. A total of 161 adolescents (M age = 15.56 years; SD age = 1.14; 61.5% female) and either their mother or their father participated in 7-day diary study. As expected, accommodation played an adaptive role, thereby buffering within-person (daily) associations between psychologically controlling parenting, adolescents' need frustration, and subsequent problems. Unexpectedly, compulsive compliance played a similar adaptive role. Overall, the moderating effects of coping were rather limited, suggesting that adolescents' coping can alter the daily negative consequences associated with psychologically controlling parenting only to a certain extent.

How Do Late Adults Experience Meaning During the COVID-19 Lockdown? The Role of Intrinsic Goals.

Late adults differ in the degree to which their mental health is impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, with interindividual differences in their capacity to mobilize coping resources playing an important role. Therefore, the search for inner sources of resilience is important to understand late adults' adaptation to this crisis. Based on Goal Content Theory, a mini-theory within the broader Self-Determination Theory, this study aimed to examine whether older adults' valuation and attainment of intrinsic goals represent such a source of resilience. Intrinsic goals would form a solid foundation to experience a sense of meaning during this crisis, which, in turn, relates to higher well-being (i.e., life satisfaction and vitality) and lower ill-being (i.e., symptoms of depression, anxiety, and loneliness). During the second month of the lockdown period in Belgium, 693 older adults (Mage = 70.06, SD = 4.48, range: 65-89 years, 62.1% female) filled out online questionnaires concerning the study variables. Structural equation modeling showed that intrinsic goal attainment and goal importance related positively to experiences of meaning in life which, in turn, were related to higher levels of well-being and lower levels of ill-being. No evidence was found for an interaction effect between intrinsic goal attainment and goal importance. Supporting late adults' pursuit and attainment of meaningful intrinsic goals relates to their well-being and may potentially strengthen their resilience in times of crisis.

Mental Health Outcomes Among Parents of Children With a Chronic Disease During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Parental Burn-Out.

OBJECTIVE: The COVID-19 pandemic and associated quarantine measures highly impacted parental psychological well-being. Parents of children with chronic diseases might be specifically vulnerable as they already face multiple challenges to provide adequate care for their child. The research questions of the current study were twofold: (a) to examine whether parents of children with a chronic disease experienced more anxiety and depression compared to parents of healthy children and (b) to examine a series of risk factors for worsened well-being (i.e., depression, anxiety, and sleep problems), such as sociodemographic variables, COVID-19-specific variables (i.e., financial worries, living space, and perceived quality of health care), and parental psychological experiences (i.e., parental burn-out and less positive parenting experiences). METHODS: Parents of children with a chronic disease (i.e., the clinical sample; N = 599 and 507 for Research Questions 1 and 2, respectively) and parents of healthy children (i.e., the reference sample: N = 417) filled out an online survey. RESULTS: Findings demonstrated that the parents in the clinical sample reported higher levels of anxiety than parents in the reference sample. Analyses within the clinical sample indicated that COVID-19-specific stressors and parental psychological experiences were associated with higher levels of anxiety, depression, and sleep problems. Mediation analyses furthermore indicated that the association of COVID-19-specific stressors with all outcome measures was mediated by parental burn-out. CONCLUSIONS: Parents of children with a chronic disease constitute a vulnerable group for worse well-being during the current pandemic. Findings suggest interventions directly targeting parental burn-out are warranted.

Emotion Regulation as a Transdiagnostic Risk Factor for (Non)Clinical Adolescents' Internalizing and Externalizing Psychopathology: Investigating the Intervening Role of Psychological Need Experiences.

This study investigated emotion regulation (i.e., emotional integration, suppression and dysregulation) as a transdiagnostic process underlying adolescents' internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Basic psychological need experiences were investigated as a possible underlying mechanism explaining this association. A heterogeneous sample of non-clinical and clinically-referred adolescents reported upon emotion regulation, basic psychological needs (i.e., need satisfaction and frustration), and both internalizing and externalizing problems. Results indicated that dysfunctional emotion regulation was positively linked to internalizing as well as externalizing problems. Need frustration was a partial mediator in this relation between emotion regulation and psychopathology. The findings suggest that both emotion regulation and basic psychological needs may play a transdiagnostic role in adolescents' internalizing and externalizing symptoms.

Do Psychological Needs Play a Role in Times of Uncertainty? Associations with Well-Being During the COVID-19 Crisis.

Across the world, measures were taken to contain the spreading of the COVID-19 virus. Many of these measures caused a sudden rupture in people's daily routines, thereby eliciting considerable uncertainty and potentially also hampering the satisfaction of individuals' psychological needs for autonomy, relatedness, and competence. Drawing upon Maslow's Hierarchical Need Theory and Self-Determination Theory, this study examined the unique role of felt insecurity and the psychological needs, as well as their dynamic interplay, in the prediction of mental health. A large and heterogeneous sample of adults (N = 5118; Mage = 43.45 years) was collected during the first ten days of the lockdown period in Flanders, Belgium. A subsample (N = 835, Mage = 41.39) participated during a second wave one week later. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that felt insecurity, need satisfaction and need frustration all independently predicted various positive (life satisfaction, sleep quality) and negative indicators depressive symptoms, anxiety) of mental health, with little systematic evidence for interactions between the predictors. The pattern of findings obtained concurrently largely held in the longitudinal analyses. Finally, results showed that associations between felt insecurity and lower concurrent and prospective mental health were partially mediated by need satisfaction and frustration, with especially psychological need frustration predicting changes in mental health over time. Overall, the findings suggest that satisfaction of the psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness is not just a 'luxury good'. Satisfaction of these needs is important also in times of insecurity, while need frustration represents a risk factor for maladjustment during such times.

Testing an Online Program to Foster Need Crafting During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic represents a threat not only to individuals' physical health but also to their mental health. Self-Determination Theory assumes that the satisfaction of basic psychological needs for autonomy, relatedness and competence promotes psychological well-being during destabilizing times. Yet, the pandemic seriously hampered individuals' opportunities to satisfy their needs. The current study provides a preliminary test of the effectiveness of a 7-session online program, LifeCraft, that promotes individuals' proactive attempts to uplift their need-based experiences (i.e., need crafting). Next to the effects on individuals' need crafting skills, we examined program-effects on adults' need-based experiences and mental health and we explored the role of participants' program engagement. An experimental study among 725 Belgian adults [M age = 51.67 (range = 26 - 85); 68.55% female] was conducted, with an experimental condition of 252 and a control condition of 473 participants. At the level of the entire sample, there was limited evidence for the effectiveness of the program. There were only small immediate program-effects on need crafting and well-being. After taking into account the role of program engagement, findings showed that the program was more beneficial for participants who actively participated, with these participants reporting immediate and stable increases in need crafting, need satisfaction and well-being and decreases in need frustration. Further, changes in need crafting fully mediated changes in need-based experiences and well-being. To conclude, the findings provide initial evidence for the effectiveness of LifeCraft during the COVID-19 pandemic, with active participation being a prerequisite for the program to be effective.

Correction to: Testing an Online Program to Foster Need Crafting During the COVID­19 Pandemic.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1007/s12144-022-03012-2.].

Emotion regulation in times of COVID-19: A person-centered approach based on self-determination theory.

Although the COVID-19 crisis is a worldwide threat to individuals' physical health and psychological well-being, not all people are equally susceptible to increased ill-being. One potentially important factor in individuals' vulnerability (versus resilience) to ill-being in the face of stress is emotion regulation. On the basis of Self-Determination Theory, this study examined the role of three emotion regulation styles in individuals' mental health during the COVID-19 crisis, that is, integration, suppression, and dysregulation. Participants were 6584 adults (77% female, M age = 45.16 years) who filled out well-validated measures of emotion regulation, depression, anxiety, life satisfaction, and sleep quality. To examine naturally occurring combinations of emotion regulation strategies, hierarchical k-means clustering was performed, yielding 3 profiles: (a) low scores on all strategies (indicating rather low overall levels of worry; 27%), (b) high scores on integration only (41%), and (c) high scores on suppression and dysregulation (32%). Participants in the profiles scoring high on suppression and dysregulation displayed a less favorable pattern of outcomes (high ill-being, low life satisfaction, and poorer sleep quality) compared to the other two groups. Between-cluster differences remained significant even when taking into account the corona-related worries experienced by people. Overall, the findings underscore the important role of emotion regulation in individuals' mental health during mentally challenging periods such as the COVID-19 crisis. Practical implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Is intelligence related to perfectionism? Multidimensional perfectionism and parental antecedents among adolescents across varying levels of cognitive ability.

OBJECTIVE: Although intellectually gifted individuals are often portrayed as perfectionists, evidence for an association between cognitive ability and perfectionism is inconclusive. This study investigates the relations between cognitive ability and two distinct dimensions of perfectionism and addresses the role of parental antecedents of perfectionism in adolescents at different levels of cognitive ability. METHOD: In a community sample of 3,168 adolescents and their parents, cognitive ability was assessed and perfectionism levels and parenting practices were surveyed. RESULTS: Adolescents higher in cognitive ability reported higher levels of Personal Standards (i.e., setting ambitious objectives) but lower levels of Concern over Mistakes (i.e., worrying excessively about mistakes). Parental criticism, high parental expectations, and conditionally regarding parenting were associated positively with Concern over Mistakes, and high parental expectations were related positively to Personal Standards. These associations were generally independent of adolescents' cognitive ability. Parents of adolescents higher in cognitive ability relied less on parenting practices associated with the development of perfectionism. CONCLUSION: Cognitive ability is related to a higher pursuit of personal standards, yet does not constitute a risk factor for excessive concerns about mistakes. Parental antecedents were related similarly and in theoretically meaningful ways to adolescent perfectionism across different levels of cognitive ability.

Adolescents as active managers of their own psychological needs: The role of psychological need crafting in adolescents' mental health.

INTRODUCTION: Satisfaction of adolescents' basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness contributes to their well-being. Socialization figures (e.g., parents) can assist adolescents in getting these needs met. In addition, adolescents can engage in need crafting, thereby proactively managing their behavior towards improved need satisfaction. This research aimed to develop a need crafting measure and to examine the role of need crafting in adolescents' need-based experiences and mental health. METHOD: A cross-sectional study in 233 Flemish students (Study 1; Mage = 16.6, 58.4% female) addressed the psychometric properties of a need crafting measure and its associations with relevant constructs. Using a three-wave longitudinal study in 436 Flemish students (Study 2; Mage = 16.33, 66,0% female), we investigated the role of need crafting in adolescents' mental health and the intervening role of need-based experiences. RESULTS: In Study 1, a CFA yielded evidence for the psychometric quality of the need crafting measure. Need crafting was related in meaningful ways with different validation constructs and with adolescents' need-based experiences. Study 2 showed that need crafting was related to adolescents' mental health, both at the level of inter-individual differences and at the level of intra-individual change. Need-based experiences accounted partly for the mental health benefits associated with need crafting, with the effects remaining significant after controlling for perceived maternal need-support. CONCLUSION: The findings provide initial evidence for the importance of adolescents' need crafting in mental health. Future research needs to further examine factors that determine adolescents' ability to manage their own psychological needs.

Daily ups and downs in adolescents' depressive symptoms: The role of daily self-criticism, dependency and basic psychological needs.

INTRODUCTION: Although associations between Blatt's personality dimensions of self-criticism and dependency and adolescents' depressive symptoms are well-established, only few studies have examined associations between these variables at the level of daily, within-person fluctuations. Moreover, our understanding of the mechanisms underlying this personality vulnerability to depressive symptoms is limited. Therefore, we studied (a) daily fluctuations in both personality and depressive symptoms over a 7-day period and (b) the possible interplay between daily variations in personality vulnerability, need-based experiences (as conceptualized in Self-Determination Theory), and depressive symptoms. This interplay was examined in terms of both a mediational and a moderating role of the need-based experiences. METHODS: Participants were 121 Belgian adolescents (Mage = 15.81; SDage = 1.50; 52 % male) who completed questionnaires tapping into daily self-criticism, dependency, need-based experiences, and depressive symptoms every evening during seven consecutive days. RESULTS & CONCLUSIONS: Multilevel analysis revealed that self-criticism and dependency fluctuated substantially on a daily basis. These daily fluctuations in personality were related to daily fluctuations in depressive symptoms, with daily variation in need-based experiences mediating these associations. We found no evidence for interactions between personality and the need-based experiences. The findings underscore the importance of considering daily fluctuations in individuals' personality vulnerability and point to the explanatory role of need-based experiences in the relation between personality and depressive symptoms on a daily basis.

Profiles of maladaptive school motivation among high-ability adolescents: A person-centered exploration of the motivational Pathways to Underachievement model.

INTRODUCTION: The Pathways to Underachievement model (PUM; Snyder & Linnenbrink-Garcia, 2013) is a person-oriented framework identifying two distinct patterns of self- and value beliefs that help explain underachievement among cognitively highly able students. This framework was developed to clear up inconclusive findings from variable-centered underachievement research, but has not been previously empirically tested. METHODS: The present study aimed to test the PUM by investigating (a) whether the predicted motivational profiles are evident among a sample of high-ability students (IQ ≥ 120) beginning secondary school in Flanders, Belgium (N = 403, Mage = 12.2 years, 60.5% males) and (b) whether these profiles relate to students' (dis)engagement from and (under)achievement in school, as assessed by the students, their parents and teachers, and school grades. Latent profile analysis was performed on five motivational dimensions: academic self-concept, self-worth contingency, task value beliefs, entity beliefs, and attainment/utility value, and outcomes were compared across profiles using the BCH method. RESULTS: Latent profile analysis identified four profiles, each involving a distinct patterns of motivational variables. Two of the profiles exhibited maladaptive variable patterns consistent with the distinct profiles theorized by the PUM. Furthermore, profile differences in (dis)engagement and (under)achievement outcomes generally corresponded with the predictions of the PUM across multiple perspectives. CONCLUSION: This study found distinct maladaptive motivational profiles that were each linked to the outcomes hypothesized by the PUM. These findings establish empirically that there are qualitatively different types of high-ability underachievers, which supports the Pathways to Underachievement model and gives momentum to person-oriented analysis within underachievement research.

"How to unlock myself from boredom?" The role of mindfulness and a dual awareness- and action-oriented pathway during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Although the COVID-19 crisis is a distressing situation entailing greater boredom and lower life satisfaction, there is considerably heterogeneity in people's reaction patterns. In a sample of 1455 participants (M age  = 50.70, 70% female), collected during the second lockdown in Belgium, we sought to examine an integrative process model, thereby distinguishing between an awareness- (i.e., decentering vs. ruminating) and an action-oriented (i.e., self-motivating strategies vs. lack of strategies) pathway to account for the association between dispositional mindfulness and participants' psychological functioning. In conjunction, both pathways were found to, respectively, partial and full account for the association between mindfulness and boredom and life satisfaction. The findings highlight, first, the importance of taking an observing stance towards negative experiences instead of being directly immersed in them. Second, congruent with the Self-Determination Theory, they suggest that not all self-motivating action strategies can be considered equal, as autonomy- and control-oriented self-motivating strategies to handle boredom episodes were differentiated related to boredom and life satisfaction.

Strengthening the assessment of self-talk in sports through a multi-method approach.

Although self-talk during competitive sports is common and predictive of athletes' motivation, experiences, and performance, it is difficult to accurately assess self-talk. An important, yet underexplored, next step in the assessment of self-talk is to rely on a multi-method approach. The present study sought to examine whether tennis players' self-talk assessed either via self-reports or via a live-recorded procedure would relate to each other. Competitive tennis players (N = 120; Mage  = 25.22; SDage  = 9.82) were asked to perform multiple tennis exercises while verbalizing their thoughts, which were audio-recorded and subsequently coded. Prior to exercise engagement, they indicated their fear of failure, while, after exercise engagement, they reported on their experienced pressure and self-talk using questionnaires. There was substantial correspondence between the coded and self-reported measure, allowing the estimation of a latent factor representing a multi-method assessment of self-talk. Moreover, in a theory-consistent way, both latent factors representing negative and positive self-talk were related to a hypothesized antecedent (ie, fear of failure), with negative self-talk also relating to a hypothesized consequence (ie, perceived pressure). Overall, the present study shows that athletes' self-talk can be measured reliably through different methods. Guidelines for the assessment of self-talk in future research are provided.