Pain and mental-health scores significantly different in male and female football-players with traits of decision-reinvestment, but heart-rate-variability differences are unsupported

Abstract

Abstract Decision-reinvestment is a tendency to consciously monitor and control performance, particularly under pressure, and associated with impaired motor-control, self-reported health concerns, and conflicting evidence with regard to cognitive performance decline. Reinvestment however has also been associated with decreased cardiac vagal activity, and alternations in heart-rate-variability (HRV) which is a reflective measure of autonomic modulations and overall athletic performance. This observational study examined the relationships among HRV, cognitive function, perceived health, and decision-reinvestment with respect to on-pitch performance. The null-hypothesis was that HRV and cognitive function do not differ between reinvestment groups, but high-reinvesters report increased health concerns. HRV of 88 football-players was recorded (5-min) using an HRV-analyser. Participants self-reported mental and physical-health (SF-36), decision-reinvestment strategy (DSRS), and were assessed for memory (Backwards Corsi), selective attention (STROOP), and cognitive flexibility (WCST). Spearman correlations and two-sample tests were used for analysis. Perceived health correlated significantly with HRV, reinvestment, and WCST perseveration errors. High-reinvesters reported more pain, diminished well-being, vitality, social functioning, and emotional capability (all p ≤ 0.05), but showed no group differences in HRV or cognitive function. Reinvestment is linked to poor mental-health-, and health perception is in turn associated with HRV, advocating performance-focused mental-health optimisation.