Two new studies examine the mental and physical resilience of female athletes

Two new studies examine the mental and physical resilience of female athletes

Two new studies will examine the mental and physical resilience of female athletes through two newly funded scholarships that will help improve performance and help people thrive throughout their lives.

Female athletes face a unique mix of demands on their mental, physical, hormonal and immunological health during training and competition. For too long, sports have focused solely on results – wins, losses, faster times and higher scores – while ignoring the mental health of athletes. But mental resilience and emotional well-being are just as important to succeed in sporting activities or in life as a whole.”

Tiffany Stewart, PhD, director of the Behavior Technology Laboratory at Pennington Biomedical Research Center

The projects are funded by the Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance. The alliance was founded by Clara Wu Tsai and Joe Tsai to support athlete research aimed at discovering the fundamental principles of optimal performance to translate them into health applications worldwide.

• Ein Projekt wird 500 Sportlerinnen rekrutieren, um die allgemeine psychische Gesundheit und Belastbarkeit zu bewerten, einschließlich, aber nicht beschränkt auf, Stimmung, Angst, Körperbild, soziale Unterstützung, übermäßiges Training, Schlaf, Verletzungen an vier Punkten während eines Zeitraums von 12 Monaten. Die bereits laufende Forschung wird an der Pennington Biomedical/LSU, der Trinity University und der Harvard University durchgeführt.
• Die zweite Studie, die sich auf 50 weibliche Athleten der LSU konzentrieren wird, wird mentale, physische, hormonelle und immunologische Resilienzfaktoren in Zeiten normaler, mäßiger und hoher Belastung messen.

"Little research has been done to identify the best resilience-based strategies for athletes, particularly female athletes. While these research projects focus on athletes, providing people with tools to better cope with stress, particularly chronic stress that leads to serious health problems, benefits everyone," said Pennington Biomedical Executive Director John Kirwan, Ph.D.

Dr. Stewart said the tide is slowly turning.

Seven years ago, she gave her first talk about how to help athletes mentally and physically in sports, but also in the transition from competition. Dr. Stewart described ways to help athletes deal with mental health issues, manage injuries and focus on living a life beyond sports.

The attitude of those present, be they donors, research sponsors or sports officials, can be summarized in three sentences: Athletes are privileged. They have all the resources they need to be successful. You have to assert yourself and persevere.

"It's time we look at our athletes from a person-centered focus, not just a performance-centered focus. We need a key paradigm shift that includes health and wellness over the long term. We need to equip our athletes with mental health and resilience skills, and we also need to address a shift in the culture and environment of athletics," says Steward.

The research is supported by two awards from the Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance, whose founding members include Stanford University, Boston Children's Hospital, UC San Diego, the University of Kansas, the University of Oregon and the Salk Institute. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance.

Source:

Pennington Biomedical Research Center