Sports and exercise psychology
Overview
Our focus within the Sport and Exercise Psychology Research Group is on the psychological factors underpinning the sport and health performance of a range of population groups eg athletes, coaches, mental health staff, and mental health service users.
The main strands of research involve:
- Anxiety and coping strategies in athletes and coaches
- Psychology of sport-related injury
- Professional practice in sport psychology
- Mental toughness and resilience in extreme environments
- Physical activity and well-being
Recent and current projects
- Exploration of stressors and coping strategies in elite athletic coaches ‘Do we practice what we preach?'
- The self-practice of UK-based sport psychologists
- Synchronicity within sport psychology research
- The prevalence and impact of compassion fatigue amongst physical therapists working in sport
- ‘Positive wallowing’: The reflections of a solo Trans-Antarctic explorer on overcoming adversity
- Goal commitment within individual and team sport
- Physical activity as a personal medicine for recovery from mental illness
- The psychological benefits of dog-walking for an older-age group
- Sport and subjective well-being
Collaborations
- University of Northampton: Social support in during injury rehabilitation (chapter in forthcoming Routledge title: The Psychology of Sport Injury and Rehabilitation)
- Hertfordshire Sports Partnership: Does participation in sport and physical activity have a positive effect on quality of life, subjective well-being and life satisfaction?
- School of Health and Emergency Professions, University of Hertfordshire: Perspectives of athletic rehabilitation therapists and sports rehabilitators on fear of re-injury and return to play following ACL reconstruction
- School of Psychology, University of Hertfordshire: Informing and enhancing professional mental health social work practice: The potential role of service users with a diagnosis of personality disorder
- School of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Hertfordshire: Exploring the Experience and Meaning of Family Countryside Walking