Bian Chao, Russell Suzanna, Mali Ana, Lathouwers Elke, De Pauw Kevin, Habay Jelle, Bogataj Špela, Roelands Bart
Faculty of Physical Education and Physiotherapy, Human Physiology and Sports Physiotherapy Research Group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, Brussels, 1050, Belgium.
Sports Performance, Recovery, Injury and New Technologies Research Centre (SPRINT), Faculty of Health Sciences, Australian Catholic University, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
Sports Med Open. 2025 Jul 1;11(1):82. doi: 10.1186/s40798-025-00891-0.
Mental fatigue (MF) in sports has developed from well-controlled laboratory-based studies to applied studies with greater ecological validity. Ongoing developments in the representativeness of MF inducement approaches, including the broad range of sport-specific motor tasks to simulated real-life scenarios, have shown methodological variability and inconsistent outcomes of effectiveness. Evaluating and comparing these approaches is essential to provide recommendations for designing inducement tasks in future research and considerations for practitioners. Therefore, the systematic review aimed to summarize more ecologically valid MF-inducing tasks in representative sports contexts and to evaluate the MF inducement effectiveness via manipulation check outcomes and potential after effects on subsequent sport-specific performance.
The review was registered on the PROSPERO database (CRD42024577183). PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and SPORTDiscus were searched until 21 August 2024 for studies that applied acute, more ecologically valid MF-inducing tasks within sports-specific contexts. The MF inducement task design and effectiveness across representative sports and participants were investigated.
Twelve papers were included. Only a quarter of studies presented an overall low risk of bias. The 20-minute sports-specific motor tasks with cognitive demands and most 30-minute simulated real-life scenarios (i.e., social media use on smartphones, watching tactical videos, sports-themed videogame play) successfully induced MF in differing athlete samples. Ineffective MF inducement was attributed to shorter task duration, passive engagement with sparse cognitive demands, or the involvement of less susceptible participants.
This systematic review evaluated MF inducement methodologies with greater ecological validity to sporting contexts. The inducement effectiveness varied within four task types. Athletes and sports practitioners should carefully manage the modality and content of pre-competition activities to minimize MF. Future research should refine and co-design the MF-inducing task with practitioners based on multifaceted MF evidence from laboratory and real-life settings, create immersive scenarios that can better replicate the inducement process in specific contexts, and improve measurement tools, which will provide comprehensive evaluation and verification of the MF inducement.
运动中的精神疲劳（MF）研究已从严格控制的基于实验室的研究发展到具有更高生态效度的应用研究。MF诱导方法的代表性不断发展，包括从广泛的特定运动的运动任务到模拟现实生活场景，已显示出方法上的变异性和有效性结果的不一致。评估和比较这些方法对于为未来研究中的诱导任务设计提供建议以及为从业者提供参考至关重要。因此，本系统评价旨在总结在具有代表性的运动情境中更具生态效度的MF诱导任务，并通过操纵性检查结果以及对后续特定运动表现的潜在后效应来评估MF诱导效果。
该评价在PROSPERO数据库（CRD42024577183）上进行了注册。检索了PubMed、Web of Science、PsycINFO和SPORTDiscus，直至2024年8月21日，以查找在特定运动背景下应用急性、更具生态效度的MF诱导任务的研究。研究了代表性运动和参与者中的MF诱导任务设计和有效性。
纳入了12篇论文。只有四分之一的研究总体偏倚风险较低。具有认知需求的20分钟特定运动的运动任务以及大多数30分钟的模拟现实生活场景（即使用智能手机上的社交媒体、观看战术视频、进行体育主题电子游戏）在不同的运动员样本中成功诱导了MF。无效的MF诱导归因于任务持续时间较短、认知需求较少的被动参与或较不易受影响的参与者的参与。
本系统评价评估了在运动情境中具有更高生态效度的MF诱导方法。诱导效果在四种任务类型中有所不同。运动员和体育从业者应仔细管理赛前活动的方式和内容，以尽量减少MF。未来的研究应根据来自实验室和现实生活环境的多方面MF证据，与从业者共同完善和设计MF诱导任务，创建能够更好地在特定情境中复制诱导过程的沉浸式场景，并改进测量工具，这将为MF诱导提供全面的评估和验证。
