Objective: The purposes of this paper were to (a) develop a new short, theory-driven, version of the physical activity enjoyment scale (PACES-S) using content analysis; and (b) subsequently to measure the psychometric properties (construct validity, internal consistency, test–retest reliability, and concurrent validity) of the PACES-S for adolescents. Methods: Six experts used a four-point Likert scale to assess the content validity of each of the 16 items of the physical activity enjoyment scale according to a provided definition of physical activity enjoyment. Based on the results, exploratory factor analysis was used to analyze survey data from a longitudinal study of 182 individuals (Measure 1 of Study 1: 15.75 ± 3.39 yrs; 56.6% boys, 43.4% girls), and confirmatory factor analysis (Measure 2 of Study 1: 15.69 ± 3.44 yrs; 56.3% boys, 43.7% girls) was used to analyze the survey data from a cross-sectional study of 3219 individuals (Study 2; 15.99 ± 3.10 yrs; 47.8% boys, 52.2% girls) to assess the construct validity of the new measure. To assess the reliability, test–retest reliability was assessed in Study 1 and internal consistency in Study 1 and 2. For the concurrent validity, correlations with self-reported and device-based physical activity behavior were assessed in both studies. Results: Four out of sixteen items were selected for PACES-S. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analyses identified and supported its factorial validity (χ² = 53.62, df = 2, p < 0.001; RMSEA = 0.073; CFI = 0.99; RFI = 0.96; NFI = 0.99; TLI = 0.96; IFI = 0.99). Results showed good test–retest reliability (r = 0.76) and internal consistency (a = 0.82 to 0.88). Regarding concurrent validity, the results showed positive correlations with a physical activity questionnaire (Study 1: r = 0.36), with a physical activity diary (Study 1: r = 0.44), and with accelerometer-recorded data (Study 1: r = 0.32; Study 2: r = 0.21). Conclusions: The results indicate that PACES-S is a reliable and valid instrument that may be particularly useful to measure physical activity enjoyment in large-scale studies. It shows comparable measurement properties as the long version of PACES.

A theory-driven classification recently introduced to sport psychology distinguishes between goal-directed self-talk as a controlled type of self-talk, and spontaneous self-talk as an uncontrolled type of self-talk. Based on this classification, the aim of this study was to explore the relationship between self-talk and emotions. To this end, twenty competitive tennis matches were video-recorded. Shortly after the match, the players were confronted with situations from the match and asked to rate the intensity of their emotions experienced, the intensity of their outward emotional reactions, and to report on their self-talk. Multilevel fixed and random effect models showed that the intensity of emotions experienced (fixed model: β = -1.40; p < .01; random model: β = -1.40; p < .01) and outward emotional reactions (fixed model: β = -0.79; p < .01; random model: β = -0.76; p < .05) were lower in instances where players reported solely goal-directed self-talk than in instances where players reported solely spontaneous self-talk. Moreover, in the fixed model, the intensity of emotions experienced was also lower in instances where players reported goal-directed self-talk in conjunction with spontaneous self-talk, compared to instances where players reported solely spontaneous self-talk (β = -0.46; p < .01). Finally, exploratory analyses suggest that these effects are mostly true for negative emotions rather than positive ones. Overall, the findings support the relevance of dual-process self-talk approaches. These findings encourage players to gain awareness about their emotions through spontaneous self-talk, while they can use goal-directed self-talk for emotion regulation. Lay summary: During a match, most tennis players talk a lot to themselves. This study shows that their self-talk is related to (a) the emotions they experience and (b) the emotions they show to the outside. Specifically, a goal-oriented type of self-talk is related to less intense emotions.

A perspective on self-talk introduced in the literature distinguishes between organic self-talk and strategic self-talk. Based on this perspective, the purpose of the present scoping review was to (a) give a comprehensive overview of studies investigating the relationship between organic self-talk and affective processes and (b) review the effectiveness of strategic self-talk to regulate affective processes. A systematic search was conducted with the databases PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and SPORTDiscus. As a result, 44 articles with 46 relevant studies were included for an in-depth analysis. Thirty studies focused on organic self-talk and 15 on strategic self-talk, while one study focused on both. With regard to organic self-talk, the results indicate a relatively consistent concurrence of the valence of self-talk and affective processes. In addition, various functions of self-talk relate to emotion regulation. For strategic self-talk, intervention studies, which were limited to the regulation of anxiety, revealed mixed effects. Based on the results, we discuss how the integration of various established theories in sport psychology in the new self-talk perspective might facilitate a more systematic approach when studying the relationship between self-talk and affective processes.

A new measure of the short form of the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale (PACES-S), including four items, has been developed that focuses on the subjective experience of enjoyment. As validation has so far only been conducted in a youth population, the purpose of the present article was to test the psychometric properties of the measure in an adult population in three studies. In the first study (n = 1017) the results supported the unidimensional structure of the instrument (χ² = 10.0; df = 2; p < 0.01; CFI = 0.992; RMSEA = 0.063), revealed a satisfactory level of internal consistency (ω = 0.79), and showed that the measure is invariant across gender. The results on factorial validity and internal consistency were generally supported by the second study (n = 482), which additionally showed satisfactory test–retest reliability (r = 0.73). Finally, the third study (n = 1336) also supported the factorial validity and internal consistency of the measure and additionally showed a positive correlation with physical activity (r = 0.40), thus supporting the criterion-related validity of the measure. This more economical version of PACES seems to be particularly useful for large-scale studies.

The emotional reactions of athletes in sports competitions are not only fascinating to the spectators, but also illustrate that emotions are transmitted to the outside world, thus suggesting that they are not just intrapersonal processes. From a metacognitive perspective it is important to understand why these reactions occur and how they affect sports performance. In this study the antecedents and consequences of outward emotional reactions were explored using a naturalistic qualitative video-assisted procedure. Twelve German table tennis players were video-recorded during competitive matches in their regular season. Subsequently, based on the footage, self-confrontational interviews were conducted focusing on the antecedents and consequences of outward emotional reactions. The analysis revealed several factors related to whether or not outward emotional reactions were displayed, ranging from more malleable (e.g., state-like psychological states) to less malleable (e.g., trait-like factors). In addition, the analysis revealed how outward emotional reactions have performance-related effects on one's own mental state (e.g., one's concentration) and on the psychological state of the opponent (e.g., the opponent's confidence). The present findings suggest that it is important to create an awareness of antecedents of outward emotional reactions in athletes in order to improve the use of psychological skills by athletes to control their emotional responses. In addition, the results point to the importance of the behavioural component of emotions in the emotion-performance relationship, as various intra- and interpersonal consequences that interact with the consequences of the purely subjective emotion experience were identified.