Pain and athletes: Contact sport participation and performance in pain

Sheffield, D., Thornton, Claire and Jones, M.V. (2020) Pain and athletes: Contact sport participation and performance in pain. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 49. p. 101700. ISSN 1469-0292

[img]
Preview
Text
Manuscript PSE 10-3-20.pdf - Accepted Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives 4.0.

Download (289kB) | Preview
Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2020.101700

Abstract

Objectives
This study examined the effect of cold pressor pain on performance in high-contact athletes, low-contact athletes and non-athletes.

Design
A three-group between-subjects experimental design was used.

Method
Seventy-one participants completed a motor task and a cognitive task of different complexity (easy or hard) both in pain and not in pain. The motor task involved participants throwing a tennis ball at numbered targets in the correct order. In the cognitive task, participants were required to check off the numbers one to twenty-five in the correct order from a grid of randomly ordered numbers. Task difficulty was increased by adding dummy targets (motor task) or extra numbers (cognitive task).

Results
Cold pressor pain was rated as less intense by high-contact athletes during both tasks compared to low-contact athletes and non-athletes. High-contact athletes’ performance was not hampered by pain on the motor task, whereas it was in low-contact athletes and non-athletes. However, pain did not hamper performance for any group during the cognitive task. Low-contact and non-athletes did not differ from each other in their pain reports or the degree to which their performance was hampered by pain in either task.

Conclusions
This study provides evidence that adaptation to pain through participation in high-contact sports can enhance both pain tolerance generally and motor performance specifically under increases in pain. The mechanisms behind these differences warrant further exploration.

Item Type: Article
Subjects: C600 Sports Science
Department: Faculties > Health and Life Sciences > Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation
Depositing User: Elena Carlaw
Date Deposited: 30 Mar 2020 13:30
Last Modified: 29 Sep 2021 03:31
URI: http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/42609

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics