Experimental studies on the influence of functional and dysfunctional cognitions on performance.

• Applicant: Dr. Alena Michel-Kröhler
• Subject Area: Personality Psychology, Clinical and Medical Psychology, Methodology
• Term: from 2021 to 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 454608048

• Final Report Year: 2025

Final Report Abstract

Rumination is a common phenomenon that describes a predominantly maladaptive thinking style in which people repeatedly experience negative thoughts that revolve around past events, their own feelings or negative personal experiences and are difficult to suppress. Consequently, ruminative thinking can impair various cognitive processes and potentially affect performance, psychological well-being and mental health. Rumination is often studied in the context of mental health and well-being, not least because of its close relationship with depression. Rumination is therefore a widely studied phenomenon, particularly in the clinicalpsychological context. The aim of the project was to make the concept of rumination applicable to non-clinical areas. The extent to which performance (ability) was influenced by rumination in non-clinical samples was examined. As performance is very difficult to define and assess in everyday life, the focus should be on objective performance. As this can be recorded particularly well in the context of competitive sport, this was used as the model context for this research project. To achieve the research aims, an experimental paradigm for the induction of state rumination in athletes was developed and subjected to a systematic investigation. The results from five experiments show that the newly developed paradigm can significantly induce state rumination. Furthermore, a successful transfer of the experimental setting from the laboratory to the field was confirmed in a sample of soccer players, but only in the sense of a proof-of-concept study. The expected effects of rumination on athletic performance have so far only been indicated by indirect measurements and must be verified in future studies. In a further step, the experimental paradigm will be applied to an individual sport, golf. In summary, despite the use of an adequate methodological research design, the research project was not yet able to find any direct evidence of the influence of rumination on objectively measurable performance. In general, however, it was shown that it is possible to reduce the gap between the observation of athletic performance and laboratory research by transferring the experimental setting to sports practice. This is a promising approach that should be further developed as it complements correlative studies. A combined research strategy could therefore enable a deeper understanding of the psychological and mental factors that promote or limit athletic performance in the future and thus further contribute to making the concept of rumination applicable to non-clinical areas.

Publications

• Ruminative Thoughts in Competitive Sports Context: An Initial Validation of the Sports Competition Rumination Scale (SCRS). Poster präsentiert auf dem 16. European Congress of Sport & Exercise Psychology, Padova, Italien
  Michel-Kröhler, A., Krys, S. & Berti, S.
  
• Aktuelle und neue Messinstrumente in der Sportpsychologie. Forschungssymposium am 20.05.2023, 55. ASP-Tagung, Stuttgart, Deutschland
  Michel-Kröhler, A.
  
• Development and initial validation of the Adverse Competition-related Cognition Questionnaire (ACCQ). Präsentation am 21.04.2023, ENYSSP-Tagung, Limerick, Irland
  Michel-Kröhler, A., Wessa, M. & Berti, S.
  
• Experimental induction of state rumination: A study evaluating the efficacy of goal-cueing task in a sample of athletes. Cogent Psychology, 10(1).
  Michel-Kröhler, Alena & Berti, Stefan
  
• Experimental induction of state rumination: A study evaluating the efficacy of goal-cueing task in different experimental settings. PLOS ONE, 18(11), e0288450.
  Michel-Kröhler, Alena; Wessa, Michèle & Berti, Stefan
  
• Wettkampfbezogene negative Kognitionen: Entwicklung und Validierung des Adverse Competion-related Cognitions Quesionnaire. Präsentation am 20.05.2023, 55. ASP-Tagung, Stuttgart, Deutschland
  Michel-Kröhler, A., Wessa, M. & Berti, S.
  
• Adverse competition-related cognitions questionnaire (ACCQ): Development and preliminary validation of a measure identifying different factors of athletes’ cognitions related to competitions. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 71, 102582.
  Michel-Kröhler, Alena; Wessa, Michèle & Berti, Stefan
  
• Experimental induction of state rumination in youth soccer players on the pitch. Poster präsentiert auf der 56. ASP-Tagung, Berlin, Deutschland
  Michel-Kröhler, A. & Berti, S.
  
• Experimental sport psychology: Development of an experimental paradigm to induce rumination in athletes in the laboratory and the field. Präsentation am 16.07.2024, European Congress of Sport & Exercise Psychology, Innsbruck, Österreich
  Michel-Kröhler, A.
  
• Experimental sport psychology: Development of an experimental paradigm to induce rumination in athletes in the laboratory and the field. Präsentation am 18.09.2024, DGPs- Kongress, Wien, Österreich
  Michel-Kröhler, A.
  
• Rumination in the Context of Individual Goal Achievement. Journal of Applied Sport and Exercise Psychology, 31(2), 49-57.
  Michel-Kröhler, Alena; Krys, Sabrina & Berti, Stefan
  
• The short form of the Sports Competition Rumination Scale (SCRS-SF) for applied sports psychology and research. Poster präsentiert auf dem 17. European Congress of Sport & Exercise Psychology, Innsbruck, Österreich
  Michel-Kröhler, A., Krys, S. & Berti, S.
  
• The Short Form of the Sports Competition Rumination Scale (SCRS-SF) for Applied Sport Psychology and Research. Journal of Applied Sport and Exercise Psychology, 32(2), 58-63.
  Michel-Kröhler, Alena; Krys, Sabrina & Berti, Stefan