Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore whether a personalized self-talk intervention influenced mental toughness, rating of perceived exertion, sense of the urge to slow down, perceived performance and finish times in a series of 800-meter run time trials. While mental toughness has been associated with improved endurance performance, the effect of changing an individual’s momentary self-talk on mental toughness and finish time has not yet been examined. This single-subject, multiple baseline design case study incorporated three participants who each ran a series of 11 − 13 maximum effort 800-meter time trials on the track, separated by a minimum of two days, across ten weeks. Following an initial series of four to six baseline sessions, they were each then provided a personalized self-talk intervention before running the seven additional sessions. Visual analysis (including review of non-overlapping data points between baseline, intervention, and follow-up sessions) demonstrated the personalized self-talk intervention positively influenced mental toughness and finish times across all three participants but did not consistently affect the rating of perceived exertion, urge to slow down or perceived performance. Additional insights were identified through the integration of social validation interviews informally after each run session and then formally after the intervention. These insights included identifying a new baseline of effort accompanied by different levels of mental toughness and an intrigue on the part of participants about the notable improvement in outcomes in spite of previously perceived “all-out” effort.

Lay Summary: Mental toughness variability and 800 meter finish times were both positively influenced by a personalized self-talk intervention in runners. In addition, as mental toughness increased, 800 meter finish times improved.

摘要

本研究的目的是探索个性化的自我对话干预是否影响心理韧性、感知劳累的评级、减速的冲动感、感知表现和一系列 800 米跑步计时试验中的完成时间。虽然心理韧性与耐力表现的提高有关，但尚未研究改变个人瞬间自我对话对心理韧性和完成时间的影响。这个单受试者、多基线设计案例研究包括三名参与者，他们每人在赛道上进行了一系列 11 - 13 次最大努力的 800 米计时赛，间隔至少两天，跨越十周。在最初的四到六次基线会议之后，然后，在进行另外七个会话之前，他们每个人都接受了个性化的自我对话干预。视觉分析（包括审查基线、干预和后续会话之间的非重叠数据点）表明，个性化的自我对话干预对所有三名参与者的心理韧性和完成时间产生了积极影响，但并未持续影响感知劳累的评级，敦促放慢或感知性能。通过在每次运行会议之后非正式地整合社会验证访谈，然后在干预之后正式进行，确定了其他见解。

总结：心理韧性的可变性和 800 米的完成时间都受到跑步者个性化自我对话干预的积极影响。此外，随着心理韧性的增加，800 米的完成时间也得到了改善。