Protecting Sporting Integrity and Welfare (PROSPER)

Exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB), defined as the acute narrowing of the airway in association with exercise, is prevalent in endurance athletes due to the interaction between physiological demands and environmental irritants, and is concomitant with elevated inhaler therapy use. However, multiple high-profile athletes have been implicated in the misuse of asthma medication, that has led to anecdotal evidence of widespread negative stigma; increasing the risk for medication non-adherence with the potential to impair health and endurance performance. Principally this thesis aims to apply a behavioural model to explore athletes’ experience and perceptions of asthma medication use and anti-doping in sport and investigate the impact of EIB on severe intensity domain exercise tolerance and critical power.

PhD Publications

• Allen, H., Backhouse, S.H., Hull, J.H., & Price, O.J. (2019). Anti-doping policy, therapeutic use exemption and medication use in athletes with asthma: a narrative review and critical appraisal of evidence. Sports Medicine, 49, 659–668. doi:10.1007/s40279-019-01075-z/li>
• Jackson, A., Allen, H., Hull, J.H., Hopker, J., Backhouse, S.H., Price, O.J. and Dickinson, J. (2020), Diagnosing exercise‐induced bronchoconstriction: Over‐or under‐detection? Allergy, 75: 460-463. doi:10.1111/all.14005
• Allen, H., Hull, J.H., Backhouse, S.H., De Carné, T., Dimitriou, L., & Price OJ. (2019). The Allergy Questionnaire for Athletes provides value in ruling-out exercise-induced 2019 bronchoconstriction. Allergy, 74(9):1794-1796. doi:10.1111/all.13778

Athlete Support Personnel (ASP), such as coaches, are subject to anti-doping rule violations under the World Anti-Doping Code. ASP have a significant influence on athletes’ anti-doping attitudes and behaviours, however existing research suggests that ASP anti-doping behaviours are limited. Few research studies have explored the development, implementation and evaluation of anti-doping interventions within ASP development systems. The PhD aims to understand the wider social network surrounding ASP development within the context of English Football, using a contemporary behavioural science framework to understand and explain the disparity between anti-doping policy and practice. Utilising this framework and social network analyses will improve knowledge of doping as a complex, multi-stakeholder issue within a specific sport context, in turn aiding the future development of tailored, evidence-informed ASP anti-doping interventions.

An athlete’s daily dietary intake can have a prevailing impact on their health and performance. However, there is limited research on the dietary behaviours of elite athletes and sport nutritionists lack guideline on the design and implementation of behaviour change interventions. To advance understanding, this PhD utilised contemporary behavioural science to develop a Sports Nutrition Behavioural Assessment Tool that provides a robust, rigorous, and theory-informed approach to delivering a sports nutrition service. This framework has the potential to improve the design and content of future sports nutrition interventions, seeking to create supportive environments that enable athletes to thrive through adherence to sound nutritional practices that protect their health, performance, and wellbeing.

PhD Publications:

• Bentley, M. R. N., Mitchell, N. and Backhouse, S. H. (2020) Sports nutrition interventions: a systematic review of behavioural strategies used to promote dietary behaviour change in athletes. Appetite, 150, pp. 1-10. doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2020.104645
• Bentley, M. R. N., Mitchell, N., Sutton, L. and Backhouse, S. H. (2019) Sports nutritionists’ perspectives on enablers and barriers to nutritional adherence in high-performance sport: A qualitative analysis informed by the COM-B model and theoretical domains framework. Journal of Sports Sciences, 37 (18), pp. 2075-2085. doi:10.1080/02640414.2019.1620989

Rugby union and league cumulatively contribute to nearly half of all doping violations in the history of UKAD. Despite taking a central and influential role to athletes’ performance and wellbeing, there is a dearth of evidence around the psychology and behaviour of athlete support personnel (ASP) as well as the broader ‘Performance Team’ in rugby, typically consisting of S&C coaches, nutritionists, physiotherapists and sport scientists. Presently, this MRes aims to investigate the anti-doping influence of this population through semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis to potentially provide recommendations, based upon established theory, to national governing bodies and anti-doping authorities.

Sponsorship is an integral part of the sports industry. This thesis seeks to address the absence of evidence of multi-stakeholder perspectives in the sports sponsorship field regarding how to work with the sporting community to protect the integrity of sport, and the prevention of doping specifically. In order to develop a deeper understanding and appreciation of the view from all stakeholders, several qualitative studies will be undertaken alongside a process of co-production, to inform industry guidelines which support athletes, brands and anti-doping agencies in protecting the integrity of sport.

Sport has been widely recognised and promoted as a holistic development vehicle, particularly among young people. However, the findings presented to date are unequivocal and stem predominantly from non-sport specific participation domain settings. Likewise, football (soccer) coaches’ perceived role in the psychosocial and moral character development of young players across performance (e.g., academy) and participation (e.g., local level) domains has yet to be investigated. Accordingly, this research seeks to make an original and novel contribution to the literature by exploring the perceived role coaches of boys and girls play in the psychosocial and moral character development of young football players across performance and participation domains.

Richard’s work focuses on system-wide approaches to psychological well-being (PWB) in high-performance sport. By looking at individual and interpersonal aspects of PWB in a series of empirical studies, Richard’s research aims to explore PWB at various levels of sport organizations, including the front lines (e.g., coaches, athletes, support staff), administrative levels (e.g., human resources), and senior management (e.g., directors). The proposed outcome of this PhD is to develop a set of recommendations that showcase how sport organizations can build, monitor, and nourish performance environments where all levels of a high-performance system can effectively protect, maintain, and bolster PWB.

• Dr Arabella Ashfield. Thesis: Athlete flourishing and the affirmative narrative. Arabella is a Performance Athlete Advisor at the English Institute of Sport   
• Dr Lea Dohme. Thesis: Youth athletes’ positive psychological development. Lea is a Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology at Cardiff Metropolitan University
• Dr Kelsey Erickson. Thesis: Doping in sport: A cross-national qualitative analysis of track and field athletes. Kelsey is the Executive Director for Athlete Health and Wellness at USA Cycling. She is also a Visiting Research Fellow in the Carnegie School of Sport at Leeds Beckett University
• Dr Helen Heaviside. Thesis: Exploring Performance Expectations of Elite Athletes Conveyed Through the Media. Helen is a Lecturer in Football Business and Research at UCFB
• Dr Luke Norris. Thesis: A Qualitative Investigation of Social Support among Sports Coaches. Luke is an Associate Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology at the University of Exeter
• Dr Laurie Patterson. Thesis: Using a logic model approach to investigate anti-doping education for coaches. Laurie is a Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology in the Carnegie School of Sport at Leeds Beckett University
• Dr Alexandra Potts. Thesis: A Qualitative Exploration of Stressors, Primary Appraisals, Coping, and Psychological Well-being among Sports Coaches. Helen is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Carnegie School of Sport at Leeds Beckett University
• Dr Helen Staff. Thesis: Dyadic Coping in the coach-athlete relationship: A grounded theory. Helen is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Carnegie School of Sport at Leeds Beckett University
• Dr Lisa Whitaker. Thesis: Applying the prototype willingness model to doping in sport. Lisa is the Research Manager for UK Coaching
• Dr Pippa Wood. Thesis: Cognitive, Behavioural, and Genetic Manifestations of Mental Toughness in Sport & Exercise Contexts