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Abbott et al. mental fatigue.pdf (302.09 kB)

Changes in perceptions of mental fatigue during a season in professional under-23 English Premier League soccer players

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posted on 2020-07-01, 08:51 authored by William Abbott, Thomas E Brownlee, Robert J Naughton, Tom CliffordTom Clifford, Richard Page, Liam D Harper
The present study assessed changes in academy soccer players’ perception of mental fatigue (MF) across a competitive season, investigating the relationship between MF and other subjective measures of wellness. Ten players completed a modified Brief Assessment of Mood (BAM+) questionnaire that included the question: “How mentally fatigued do you feel”? on match-day (MD) and one (MD+1), two (MD+2) and three (MD+3) days post-match (35 matches). Players reported their MF, along with other subjective measures (sleep, muscle soreness, fatigue and motivation). Results found MF was elevated on MD+1 (43±1 mm) compared to all other days (all P≤0.001). Players reported lower MF on MD+1 in the late-season phase (34±2 mm) compared to both early- (50±2 mm, P≤0.001) and mid-season (46±2 mm, P≤0.001). This coincided with an 80%-win rate in the late-season phase versus the early- (33%) and mid-season (50%). There were very strong repeated-measures correlations between changes in MF and sleep (r=−0.77), muscle soreness (r=0.94), fatigue (r=0.92) and motivation (r=−0.89; all P ≤ 0.0005). In conclusion, MF was closely aligned to match success and other wellness variables. This data suggests a potential lack of sensitivity for identifying MF using a subjective questionnaire. Therefore, researchers and practitioners could work together to identify other ways of practically assessing MF.

History

School

  • Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences

Published in

Research in Sports Medicine

Volume

28

Issue

4

Pages

529 - 539

Publisher

Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

Version

  • AM (Accepted Manuscript)

Rights holder

© Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

Publisher statement

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Research in Sports Medicine on 30 June 2020, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/15438627.2020.1784176.

Acceptance date

2020-06-14

Publication date

2020-06-30

Copyright date

2020

ISSN

1543-8627

eISSN

1543-8635

Language

  • en

Depositor

Dr Tom Clifford. Deposit date: 1 July 2020

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