Research & Innovation
Publications
Pain and mental-health scores significantly different in male and female football-players with traits of decision-reinvestment, but heart-rate-variability differences are unsupported
PMU Authors
W. Hitzl, B. Langenstein, F. Erbguth, K. Richter
All Authors
J. Pourhassan, W. Hitzl, B. Langenstein, F. Erbguth, K. Richter
Journal association
Scientific reports
Abstract
Decision-reinvestment is a tendency to consciously monitor and control performance, particularly under pressure, and associated with impaired motor-control, self-reported health concerns, and conflicting evidence with regard to cognitive performance decline. Reinvestment however has also been associated with decreased cardiac vagal activity, and alternations in heart-rate-variability (HRV) which is a reflective measure of autonomic modulations and overall athletic performance. This observational study examined the relationships among HRV, cognitive function, perceived health, and decision-reinvestment with respect to on-pitch performance. The null-hypothesis was that HRV and cognitive function do not differ between reinvestment groups, but high-reinvesters report increased health concerns. HRV of 88 football-players was recorded (5-min) using an HRV-analyser. Participants self-reported mental and physical-health (SF-36), decision-reinvestment strategy (DSRS), and were assessed for memory (Backwards Corsi), selective attention (STROOP), and cognitive flexibility (WCST). Spearman correlations and two-sample tests were used for analysis. Perceived health correlated significantly with HRV, reinvestment, and WCST perseveration errors. High-reinvesters reported more pain, diminished well-being, vitality, social functioning, and emotional capability (all p ≤ 0.05), but showed no group differences in HRV or cognitive function. Reinvestment is linked to poor mental-health-, and health perception is in turn associated with HRV, advocating performance-focused mental-health optimisation.
Keywords
Humans, Male, Female, ADULT, Young Adult, Heart Rate/physiology, Mental Health, Decision Making/physiology, Cognition/physiology, Pain/physiopathology, Soccer/psychology, Athletes/psychology, Athletic Performance/physiology