Invitation:
The aim of this study is to develop and validate a novel short form sport-specific questionnaire for measuring acute mental fatigue in a range of sports. Although mental fatigue assessment tools exist, none of these measures have been validated in a sport-specific context (Diaz-Garci et al, 2021), and as manifestations of mental fatigue depend upon the specific nature of the task presented to the athlete, there is a disparity of measures across the literature, both within and between sports. This poses the risk of oversimplifying mental fatigue and introduces the potential for error, particularly if bias can influence the measurement (Smith et al, 2019). To attempt to limit this, researchers have employed various subjective, physiological, and behavioural measures to better understand how mental fatigue manifests (Tanaka et al., 2014; Dallaway et al., 2022). Nevertheless, their utilisation of tasks like the AX-CPT is noteworthy, as these tasks were specifically designed to target certain cognitive processes, aiming for a deeper understanding of the cognitive process rather than inducing mental fatigue (Hassan et al, 2023). As the subjective experience of mental fatigue in day-to-day life develops from challenging work which switches between multiple cognitive processes, the current measures of MF in sport science may lack content and ecological validity.
There is a need for an ecologically valid and robust sport-specific scale that can be used to measure MF in sport settings and as a manipulation check in experimental studies. Using the guidance published in the primer by Boateng et al (2018), a scale will be developed and validated to measure MF in a sporting setting. Previously, we asked experts to review a potential list of items for the scale, through a detailed review this has been reduced to smaller list of items and identified that mental fatigue has acute and chronic qualities. Using one scale would not capture the complexity of mental fatigue, instead, a scale should be used to capture acute mental fatigue and a scale for chronic mental fatigue. There are 43 items for the acute domain, referring to the momentary state of mental fatigue caused by high mental effort or recent long periods of concentration, which can vary depending on the situation. Then there are 51 items for the chronic domain, referring to a more general feeling, representing an increase in the frequency and/or intensity of experiencing mental fatigue over time, regardless of immediate demands. The aim of this study is to follow the guidance for phase 3 in Boateng’s guidance and test the validity and reliability of the two mental fatigue scales.
Why have I been selected? Am I eligible to take part?
We are recruiting men and women over the age of 18, who participate in their chosen sport at least 3 times a week for a minimum of 1 hour a session.
Do I have to take part?
It is up to you as to whether you take part. If you decide to take part, then you will be asked to sign a consent form. However, you are still free to withdraw at any time during the study without giving reason up to two weeks after data collection. If you do withdraw then all your information and data will be discarded.
What will taking part in the study involve?
You will be invited to complete a survey, on Qualtrics, prior to starting a training session. Please make sure this is before a training session on a day that you have worked or studied on. Before completing the survey, you will be briefed and asked questions regarding consent and a series of demographic questions. You have the right to withdraw at any time whilst completing this survey. Roughly this survey takes 10-minutes to complete.
Is the testing dangerous?
As the research is using survey to collect the relevant data there is no risk to physical health.
What information will be recorded?
- Informed Consent
- Demographic information – age, gender, chosen individual sport, years of participation in the sport, level of participation in the sport, employment status and training history.
- The response from the completed survey.
How will the data be used and stored?
All information collected will be kept strictly confidential. Confidentiality, privacy, and anonymity will be ensured in the collection, storage, and publication of study material through anonymisation of everyone’s data. To enable us to do this, you will be asked to create a unique ID (The last two letters of your postcode + the last two digits of your phone number (e.g., TT78)). This will be done during completion of informed consent – you will be asked to create your own participant ID.
If you agree to take part in this research project, the information that you supply will be recorded and processed in line with the UK GDPR / Data Protection Act 2018 / EU GDPR. Data collected will be used by Cameron Hartley, to understand the perceptions of mental fatigue in individual sport and its implications on the performance of athletes. The University of Derby is the data controller. Anonymised data from this project may be used in future publications. We retain the data for a minimum period of 7 years after such time it will be securely destroyed. Data will not be retained for longer than is necessary.
Our lawful basis for processing this data is your explicit consent.
As a data subject you can request withdrawal of consent within two weeks of collection, by contacting Cameron Hartley. After this period data will have been anonymised and data analyses started. Therefore, we will be unable to extract your individual data.
Our Data Protection Officer (DPO) can be contacted at dpo@derby.ac.uk. Alternatively, you can email gdpr@derby.ac.uk. Further information on how we handle your information and details of our DPO can be found on our website: https://www.derby.ac.uk/its/datagov/privnotice
Additional Information
Ethics approval for this research has been granted by the University of Derby College of Science and Engineering Research Ethics Committee ETH2425-1310.
We are obliged to:
- Not seek more information from you than what is essential and necessary for this research.
- Make sure that you are not identified by using a unique identification code.
- Use your anonymized data for the purposes of this study and for any relevant publications that arise from it.
- Store data safely in password-protected databases to which only the named researchers have access.
Who is conducting and funding the research?
The study will be conducted by Cameron Hartley (PhD Student at the University of Derby), with support from a supervisory team (Dr Joel Chidley, Professor Frances Maratos, and Dr Callum Osler). The PhD has been sponsored by Lattice Training LTD.
What if I have any questions?
You are encouraged to get in contact with any questions regarding the study with the researcher’s contact details below. They will be happy to go through in detail the study and answer any questions you have regarding the study.
Contact details.
Cameron Hartley Email Address: c.hartley5@unimail.derby.ac.uk
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