“In simple terms, Control the Controllables”: Co-production and Piloting of a Novel Attribution Retraining in Sport (ARiS) Intervention

Abstract

Attributions help us understand, control, or predict motivation in future situations. They can be either adaptive (positive) or maladaptive (negative), depending on how we interpret events. Use of Attribution Retraining (AR) interventions can promote the development of adaptive explanations, leading towards healthier reflections on performance. Despite this, there has been a lack of research exploring attributions and AR in the domain of sport. This thesis presents findings from the co-production of a novel attribution retraining in sport intervention. After an introduction (Chapter 1), review of literature (Chapter 2), and exploration of methodology and philosophy (Chapter 3), this thesis details extensive work to co-produce an AR in sport (ARiS) specific intervention protocol. Following Hawkins et al.’s (2017) guidelines for intervention development via co-production, are structured into three stages, each corresponding to a dedicated chapter in the thesis (Chapter 4,5,6). Stage 1 provides a systematic scoping review of AR literature since the last review in this area (Robertson, 2000) along with primary stakeholder consultation (n = 11) to explore the presence of attributions in applied sport settings. Stage 2 recruited six new stakeholders to form an intervention development group for co-production of an ARiS intervention protocol. Stakeholders completed two cyclical iterations of data collection with qualitative feedback surveys and focus groups to suggest 27 revisions for the ARiS intervention protocol (v.1 and v.2) development. As an output of Stage 2, ARiS protocol v.3 was then assessed by six new expert stakeholders who recommended a further 11 revisions in Stage 3 of co-production. Concluding the intervention development phase, Chapter 7 presents the final primary findings of the thesis via an evaluative case study approach, piloting ARiS with university futsal players (n = 10). This study also explored the experiences and satisfaction with the ARiS intervention itself via assessment of acceptability and adherence. Quantitative and qualitative data relating to attributions were collected at pre, post, and follow-up time points using the Causal Dimensional Scale II (CDS-II) and Think Aloud method. Pre–post findings suggested that performance outcomes had a stronger influence on participants’ attributions than the intended effects of the intervention. Whether participants won or lost appeared to shape their attributions more significantly than the intervention itself. However, pre-follow-up findings revealed ARiS increased adaptive attributions across all four dimensions of the CDS-II and positively impacted mental well-being, subjective performance, and received social support using percentage of non-overlapping data and change of means analysis. Strengths, limitations and future directions are provided for the theoretical, applied, and methodological implications of attributions in the thesis conclusion (Chapter 8).