Biopsychosocial Implications on Exercise and Sport Enjoyment

This discussion will focus on the implications of the biopsychosocial model as it relates to the enjoyment of exercise and sports. The various biological, psychological, and social factors that may correlate with an increase or presence of sport and exercise enjoyment will be discussed. Additionally, some behavioral change models that may be used to work towards greater sport enjoyment in athletes will be broken down. Trans-theoretical model and self-efficacy theory will be utilized to promote behavioral change through a fictional case-study example; focusing solely on an increase in sport enjoyment through minor behavioral changes.??

Biofeedback and Mental Practices Effect on Sport Enjoyment??

The biology aspect of the biopsychosocial model within this discussion focuses on the skills and resources that can improve sport enjoyment as a whole. Biofeedback and mindfulness meditation practice are just two of the many resources that may be related to an increase in sport enjoyment. Biofeedback is an ideal tool that requires the use of clinical, cost-effective behavioral health interventions (Austad & Gendron, 2018). With this, biofeedback can help people achieve optimal health through real-time information regarding one's biological state. Austad and Gendron (2018) add that this resource should be integrated into primary care as a means to help people and help themselves work through lifestyle changes more efficiently. This type of treatment approach is already being utilized within various helping relationships and showing to be effective.?

When discussing exercise and sport enjoyment, biofeedback may be used as an intervention to indirectly increase the enjoyment of exercise or sport. This is because of the instant reinforcement that is generated by biofeedback. Exercise holds its own perceived reinforcers or benefits, but they are delayed (Rosado et al., 2021). Rosado et al. (2021) conducted a study to determine whether or not the use of biofeedback, in this case, the use of heart rate monitors, would affect the perceived experience of exercise. Within the study, the feedback from the heart rate monitor is a form of reinforcement. Rosado et al. (2021) explained that their work yielded a sample of people who all reported they would use the biofeedback tool again in future exercises, along with answers that indicated a high level of enjoyment for the exercise with the use of biofeedback. So not only did the use of a biofeedback measurement positively impact the intensity of exercise, which can be argued as the main reason for sports participation to some degree, but it was able to create more positive reflections on how the workout went and create more enjoyment.?

Biofeedback is not the only resource or practice that may increase the enjoyment of sports and exercise for athletes/participants. Mindfulness is described to be the quality of consciousness in the present moment through the awareness of thoughts, feelings, and sensations (Brown & Ryan, 2003). Mindfulness seems to be a new resource for improving enjoyment in athletes and avid exercise partakers. Cox et al. (2020) focused on the effects that mindfulness and music would have on affective responses and enjoyment. Cox et al. (2020) concluded that music and mindfulness meditation showed the same effect. Both of the experimental groups, who experienced music and mediation practices in their regard, saw significantly higher enjoyment, remembered affect, and forecasted affect. This approach to generating higher sport or exercise enjoyment differs from biofeedback as it can be done free of tangible, and sometimes costly resources. The practice of mindfulness meditation can be carried out independently and will eliminate the need to rely on coaches and other outside sources to complete it. This will give athletes the ability to generate a sense of enjoyment for the sport or activity on their own. Though coaches can be effective in promoting an environment for athletes to enjoy the sport, it can be argued that athletes should take part in exercises, such as mindfulness, on their own to promote enjoyment.?

Intrapersonal-Perception Effects on Sport Enjoyment??

Enjoyment is defined as the feeling of pleasure from or within something (Merriam-Webster Webster, 2023). Feelings are self-contained phenomenal experiences that differ from emotions as they are purely mental (APA, 2023); bridging enjoyment to the psychological facet under the biopsychosocial model. With that, some psychological factors play into the enjoyment of sports and exercise. Dunker et al. (2020) researched to better understand how perceived stress relates to the enjoyment levels of the sport.?

The authors explained that sport enjoyment refers to the affective component of the sport experience. Dunker et al. (2020) also note that perceived stress, concerning their work, refers to an interpretation of a stressor regarding an evaluation of existing coping resources. Because everyone may hold a variety of resources to cope with specific stressors, perceived levels of stress fluctuate. Additionally, Dunker et al. (2020) look towards personality when examining the relationship between stress and enjoyment of sports. The study included surveys for 245 participants whose ages ranged from 16-61. Three separate scales were used to analyze the three aspects of this study including stress, sport enjoyment, and personality. Dunker et al. (2020) found that a high amount of perceived stress indicated less enjoyment of the sport played. They also found a negative relationship between neuroticism and sports enjoyment along with a significant positive relationship between extraversion and conscientiousness and sports enjoyment. Essentially, this helps articulate the understanding that stress can diminish the enjoyment of the sport. Furthermore, certain personality traits lead to stress which in turn may diminish the enjoyment of the sport. This amplifies the role that intrapersonal perception plays in sport enjoyment and where athletes and coaches should focus when enjoyment levels fall.?

Factors other than perceived stress have been seen to predict enjoyment levels. De Muynck et al (2012) conducted an experimental study that focused on the relationship between competence and enjoyment and self-critical perfectionism. The authors noted that feeling competent is a large part of an athlete's motivation and general performance. They hypothesized that the use of positive feedback will enhance the athlete's competence and enjoyment. They also hypothesized that an athlete's self-critical perfectionism would be negatively correlated with competence and enjoyment of the sport. Through an experiment involving 59 competitive tennis players, Muynck et al (2012) were able to confirm the first hypothesis to be true. The positive feedback from the experimenters increased the players’ competence, which lead to greater enjoyment of the sport. This is important to note because it supports the ideology that athletes need to be informed on what mental approaches aid their enjoyment. If an athlete can understand the importance of competence support, they will be able to seek it out from their coaches when they feel their enjoyment of the sport seems low.??

Social Effect on Sport and Exercise Enjoyment

The social facet of the biopsychosocial model is an abundant factor in sports and exercise. Sports and exercise promote relatedness for athletes through various social interactions such as the athlete-coach relationship. Though the idea that coaches should hold little responsibility in ensuring sport enjoyment is argued in this discussion, it is important to note the impact they may have on their athlete’s enjoyment of the sport. Malloy et al. (2023) conducted an experimental research study to determine if the manipulation of authentic leadership theory in coaches would show differences in players' trust, enjoyment, and commitment. Their research, using a sample of 129 sport science students, manipulated the actions of an imaginary coach and measured the participant's feedback concerning the effectiveness of authentic leadership, trust, and enjoyment. Malloy et al. (2023) found a positive relationship between authentic leadership and trust and enjoyment. This helps argue the importance of the coach or leader in a sports environment concerning the enjoyment of the participants. Though athletes should take control over their enjoyment of sport and exercise, a coach's ability to deliberately seek out certain leadership skills and styles to positively impact the enjoyment of sports for their players or participants is crucial.??

Other factors of leadership help support the social factors for exercise enjoyment besides leadership style. Stevens et al. (2022) noted that leaders are a prevailing feature of exercise settings and, with turnover rates showing to be high for exercise classes, can play a crucial role in retaining members. Stevens et al. (2022) researched to determine if there was any significant relationship between their instructor’s identity entrepreneurship and their general enjoyment of the class, as well as their willingness to return to the class. In this situation, identity entrepreneurship is essentially the instructor’s ability to support the relatedness of the group as well as their competence; supporting the participants enough to where they feel included in the group. Focusing on leaders’ ability to support identity entrepreneurship, Stevens et al. (2023) found this to positively relate to how much people exert effort, and how much they enjoy the class among other measures. Both leadership style and meaningful athlete support are both important ways that the social aspect of the biopsychosocial model can be supported.?

Theoretical Approaches for Behavioral Change to Increase Sport Enjoyment?

This portion of the discussion will focus on various theoretical approaches to generate behavioral changes within athletes. Through identifying biopsychosocial risk factors, utilizing the trans-theoretical model, and self-efficacy theory, an action plan will be generated for a fictional athlete and their situation. This will act as a reference to explain where, and how behavioral change could be implemented to increase sport enjoyment.?

?Case Study Fictional Example

An athlete comes in to talk to their coach about some problems they have been experiencing a month into their season. This player is in their 10th season of professional baseball in Florida, where he lives with his daughter and wife. The player discusses with his coach that he feels he is not enjoying the game as much as he used to and feels like he never will enjoy the game again like he did when he started pro baseball. When asked what has been going on, the player discusses some physical ailments that have been keeping him from being the best version of himself. He feels he has not been able to recover as well between games. They also note a feeling of frustration derived from this occurrence. When asked how life has been outside of baseball, the player notes that he has been having major issues with his wife at home, and feels some pressure because he is not home enough to watch his daughter grow. He noted freely, without being questioned, that he is nervous to step away from the game because he will miss out on the friendships that the locker room has to offer. He believes that the relationships with teammates are what keep him showing up daily.?

???????Identifying Biopsychosocial Risk Factors.?The first part of this discussion identified biological, psychological, and social instances that support or diminish sport enjoyment. Using the same approach for this fictional example, it is apparent that some biopsychosocial factors may be hindering or working to increase the athlete's enjoyment. Identifying which factors are hindering or assisting in sport enjoyment will aid in generating ideas for behavioral change. For starters, the athlete is experiencing some biological obstacles regarding his physical ailments. These physical factors are generating some psychological responses including frustration. The athlete is also feeling added pressure due to being away from his daughter. Additionally, we see some factors both taking away and adding to the social aspect of his enjoyment. The recent problems with his wife are one social obstacle that may be limiting his enjoyment of sports due to the lack of social support. However, the social relatedness he feels with teammates is what keeps him showing up to work; this is important to retain.

???????With each of these biological, psychological, and social issues comes a behavioral change that would help eliminate the problem, or at least limit its effect on sport enjoyment. With the many issues that may be seen in this fictional case study, come many possible/separate solutions. The next portion of this discussion will focus on two separate theories for generating a behavioral change in this athlete. Of the many that may be useful to improve enjoyment, the theoretical frameworks will be focused on changing the social, and psychological factors in the next few examples.?

Utilizing the Trans-Theoretical Model.?Franklin (2023) discussed the trans-theoretical model as a method to promote behavioral changes. They add that this theory is often used within health intervention, but can be used in any type of behavioral change intervention. Franklin (2023) explained the 5 stages of behavioral change that must be worked through to be effective. The first of the 5 stages is pre-contemplation. This stage represents the time when an individual is in no position to, or has no interest in, making a change (Franklin, 2023). Franklin (2023) explained the second stage, contemplation, to represent the genuine want to make a change in the individual. These first two stages should mainly be autonomous, meaning they are worked through by the individual and their aspirations to make a change. Preparation represents the stage at which an individual starts to generate plans, find resources, or seek out assistance to begin the change (Franklin, 2023). This third stage in the trans-theoretical model relates closely to buying the materials before building a birdhouse. The fourth stage of this model, the stage most people jump to without working through the first three, is action. This is when the behavioral change is begun and the individual is actively working towards the change using the resources they collected within the preparation stage (Franklin, 2023). The last, and crucial stage is maintenance. This focuses solely on continuing the new behavior that was created in the action stage (Franklin, 2023).?

To better understand how this approach would look when helping increase sport enjoyment, it would be helpful to apply it to the example discussed above. For this example, the trans-theoretical approach will be used to increase the amount of time he is home to be with his daughter. This change suggestion would be given in hopes to assist in diminishing some of the negative social factors, such as the relationship with his wife and added pressure from not seeing his daughter, that may be limiting his sport enjoyment. Here is how the stages may look:?

Pre-contemplation.?The athlete may be skeptical that the suggestion of spending more time with her daughter will help their sports enjoyment. Because the suggestion asks for the athlete to spend less time on the field, they may show to be not willing to hear the advice. This would be a normal response within the pre-contemplation stage and is an important part of the trans-theoretical model concerning its effectiveness.?

???????Contemplation.?In this stage, the athlete may come back to their coaching staff after putting through their behavioral change suggestion. Here they would voice their willingness to give the suggestion a chance and explain specific reasons as to why they want to make the change. Once the athlete makes an autonomous decision to make the change, the resource can be gathered in the preparation stage.

???????Preparation.?This stage would follow the athlete showing their willingness to make a change with their reason for the change to be important. The preparation stage may include generating a plan for the athlete to be home more, an accountability system that helps him spend less time in the locker room when not needed, and possibly a plan to include his daughter more at the field/ his teammates more at home.?

???????Action.?This stage of the trans-theoretical within this example would represent when the athlete starts to follow the plan set forth by himself and his team. The athlete would be in the action stage when they are actively spending more time with their daughter because of the steps taken in the preparation stage of this model.?

???????Maintenance.?Within a baseball athlete’s life specifically, maintenance is crucial. The maintenance would be important week-to-week, month-to-month, and most importantly season-to-season. The athlete in this stage would be represented by them sticking with their activities throughout a season, off-season, and then into the following season.?

???????This approach to can be applied to improve any type of behavioral change within athletes. Whether to aid in their sports enjoyment, or something involved in their on-field play, following this theory for change should be effective. There is one major factor of behavioral change that must be discussed; this would be the perception the athlete has towards the change. This can be worked through using the self-efficacy theory.?

Understanding and Using Self-Efficacy Theory.?Franklin (2023) also explained the self-efficacy theory. They stated that self-efficacy is the extent to which a person thinks they can make changes or reach a goal. This theory has four elements that must be worked through to include successful performance, vicarious performance, positive self-talk, and emotional arousal (Franklin, 2023). This theory would be used to help an individual reach a psychological place where they are confident in the change they must make to reach their goals. The successful performance element first focuses on identifying areas in the individual's life where they have experienced success (Franklin, 2023). This is important to locate factors that may have helped the individual succeed and hopefully apply/strive for those same factors for the desired behavior.?

???????Franklin (2023) adds that vicarious experience is characterized by an individual's perception of meeting a goal when surrounded by other individuals who are meeting the same goals they strive for. People seeing other people as successful may produce a perception that their chance of doing well increases. Essentially, placing the individual in an environment where people are actively working towards and reaching goals similar to theirs will correlate to their perception of success positively. Positive self-talk is the third element that must be worked through within self-efficacy (Franklin, 2023). They mentioned that positive self-talk includes four components to practice effectively. An individual must understand where they want to be in terms of their goals when they want to reach their goals, why they want to, and what it will take to. Within this, the individual's when and why is crucial because they must understand that the present is all they can control and the deep reasoning for their action and plans (Franklin, 2023).?

???????The final task is emotional arousal which pertains to connecting the current emotion with the right action. Franklin (2023) also adds that emotional arousal focuses on increasing the positive emotions towards the task at hand specifically. All of these tasks within the self-efficacy model play well alongside any type of behavioral change action plan. Similar to the discussion of the trans-theoretical involving the case-study example, the following portion will show ways to incorporate the self-efficacy theory into the athlete's situation above.?

???????Successful Performance.?During a conversation with the athlete, it may be useful to inquire about the early years of his professional career to find out what he was doing well to be prepared for the game. Noting this will help in generating conversations about what type of preparation tactics he was successful in completing at the time. This may help generate ideas for plans, and more importantly, reinstate into his mind that he can reach a high level of performance because he has done it before already.?

???????Vicarious Performance.?It may be helpful to have him reach out to other players who have children and are succeeding at a high level. This would help establish a perception for the athlete that people who live with similar circumstances are reaching the same goals that he is striving for. The athlete's perception will change from not believing the goal to be feasible, to the athlete believing he has a good chance to succeed because others like him have already reached the same goal.?

???????Positive Self-Talk.?While discussing the new goals and plan of action with the athlete, it will be crucial to ask the four questions discussed above to generate positive self-talk within him. Supporting the athlete hereby motivating him to think positively about the situation and leading him to sufficient answers will be important. If the athlete can effectively and positively answer the where, when, why, and what questions (concerning his desired behavioral change), he will be set up well for success according to the self-efficacy theory.?

???????Emotional Arousal.?The support from the coach and support staff does not stop once the action plan is in place. The coaches must ensure that the athlete continues a positive emotion toward the changes to which they have made and ensure that the athlete is happy about the success they find. It will be helpful to acknowledge the smaller victories along the way to help the athlete understand the growth they have made.?

????????????This discussion worked through various examples of the biopsychosocial theory as it has been shown to relate to sport enjoyment. Multiple empirical studies have been conducted directly and indirectly focusing on the topic of enjoyment. Along with the explanation for a small sample of this research, this discussion worked through two theoretical approaches to behavioral change. Using the example, this portion of the discussion directly focused on changing behavior to aid in an athlete's enjoyment. This type of helping relationship is crucial in the sports world and needs to be focused on more by the coaching staff, support staff, and owners of professional and amateur sports teams. Being a resource for individuals who plan to and eventually make behavioral changes is a major responsibility and should not be done without the use of scientifically-proven theoretical approaches.

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