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Cognitive fitness modulates gender differences in sleep and mental health among competitive athletes under chronic stress

Objectives: Mental fitness is increasingly considered a key component of an athlete’s competitive arsenal. Active domains of mental fitness include cognitive fitness, sleep, and mental health; and these domains can differ between men and women athletes. Our study investigated the associations of cog...

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Autores principales: Mascaro, Luis, Drummond, Sean P. A., Leota, Josh, Boardman, Johanna M., Hoffman, Daniel, Rajaratnam, Shantha M. W., Aidman, Eugene, Facer-Childs, Elise R.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10031072/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36969596
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2023.1118822
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author Mascaro, Luis
Drummond, Sean P. A.
Leota, Josh
Boardman, Johanna M.
Hoffman, Daniel
Rajaratnam, Shantha M. W.
Aidman, Eugene
Facer-Childs, Elise R.
author_facet Mascaro, Luis
Drummond, Sean P. A.
Leota, Josh
Boardman, Johanna M.
Hoffman, Daniel
Rajaratnam, Shantha M. W.
Aidman, Eugene
Facer-Childs, Elise R.
author_sort Mascaro, Luis
collection PubMed
description Objectives: Mental fitness is increasingly considered a key component of an athlete’s competitive arsenal. Active domains of mental fitness include cognitive fitness, sleep, and mental health; and these domains can differ between men and women athletes. Our study investigated the associations of cognitive fitness and gender to sleep and mental health, and the interaction between cognitive fitness and gender on sleep and mental health, in competitive athletes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: 82 athletes competing at levels from regional/state to international (49% women, M-age = 23.3 years) completed measures of self-control, intolerance of uncertainty, and impulsivity (together representing constructs of cognitive fitness), items about sleep (total sleep time, sleep latency, and mid-sleep time on free days) and a measure of mental health (depression, anxiety, and stress). Results: Women athletes reported lower self-control, higher intolerance of uncertainty, and higher positive urgency impulsivity compared with men athletes. Women reported sleeping later, but this gender difference disappeared after controlling for cognitive fitness. Women athletes—after controlling for cognitive fitness—reported higher depression, anxiety, and stress. Across genders, higher self-control was associated with lower depression, and lower intolerance of uncertainty was associated with lower anxiety. Higher sensation seeking was associated with lower depression and stress, and higher premeditation was associated with greater total sleep time and anxiety. Higher perseverance was associated with higher depression for men—but not women—athletes. Conclusion: Women athletes in our sample reported poorer cognitive fitness and mental health compared to men athletes. Most cognitive fitness factors protected competitive athletes under chronic stress, but some exposed them to poorer mental health. Future work should examine the sources of gender differences. Our findings suggest a need to develop tailored interventions aimed at improving athlete wellbeing, with a particular focus on women athletes.
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spelling pubmed-100310722023-03-23 Cognitive fitness modulates gender differences in sleep and mental health among competitive athletes under chronic stress Mascaro, Luis Drummond, Sean P. A. Leota, Josh Boardman, Johanna M. Hoffman, Daniel Rajaratnam, Shantha M. W. Aidman, Eugene Facer-Childs, Elise R. Front Physiol Physiology Objectives: Mental fitness is increasingly considered a key component of an athlete’s competitive arsenal. Active domains of mental fitness include cognitive fitness, sleep, and mental health; and these domains can differ between men and women athletes. Our study investigated the associations of cognitive fitness and gender to sleep and mental health, and the interaction between cognitive fitness and gender on sleep and mental health, in competitive athletes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: 82 athletes competing at levels from regional/state to international (49% women, M-age = 23.3 years) completed measures of self-control, intolerance of uncertainty, and impulsivity (together representing constructs of cognitive fitness), items about sleep (total sleep time, sleep latency, and mid-sleep time on free days) and a measure of mental health (depression, anxiety, and stress). Results: Women athletes reported lower self-control, higher intolerance of uncertainty, and higher positive urgency impulsivity compared with men athletes. Women reported sleeping later, but this gender difference disappeared after controlling for cognitive fitness. Women athletes—after controlling for cognitive fitness—reported higher depression, anxiety, and stress. Across genders, higher self-control was associated with lower depression, and lower intolerance of uncertainty was associated with lower anxiety. Higher sensation seeking was associated with lower depression and stress, and higher premeditation was associated with greater total sleep time and anxiety. Higher perseverance was associated with higher depression for men—but not women—athletes. Conclusion: Women athletes in our sample reported poorer cognitive fitness and mental health compared to men athletes. Most cognitive fitness factors protected competitive athletes under chronic stress, but some exposed them to poorer mental health. Future work should examine the sources of gender differences. Our findings suggest a need to develop tailored interventions aimed at improving athlete wellbeing, with a particular focus on women athletes. Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-03-08 /pmc/articles/PMC10031072/ /pubmed/36969596 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2023.1118822 Text en Copyright © 2023 Mascaro, Drummond, Leota, Boardman, Hoffman, Rajaratnam, Aidman and Facer-Childs. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Physiology
Mascaro, Luis
Drummond, Sean P. A.
Leota, Josh
Boardman, Johanna M.
Hoffman, Daniel
Rajaratnam, Shantha M. W.
Aidman, Eugene
Facer-Childs, Elise R.
Cognitive fitness modulates gender differences in sleep and mental health among competitive athletes under chronic stress
title Cognitive fitness modulates gender differences in sleep and mental health among competitive athletes under chronic stress
title_full Cognitive fitness modulates gender differences in sleep and mental health among competitive athletes under chronic stress
title_fullStr Cognitive fitness modulates gender differences in sleep and mental health among competitive athletes under chronic stress
title_full_unstemmed Cognitive fitness modulates gender differences in sleep and mental health among competitive athletes under chronic stress
title_short Cognitive fitness modulates gender differences in sleep and mental health among competitive athletes under chronic stress
title_sort cognitive fitness modulates gender differences in sleep and mental health among competitive athletes under chronic stress
topic Physiology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10031072/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36969596
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2023.1118822
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