Experiencing In Climbing And Psychological Effects Of Sport Climbing

Abstract

A contemporary demands in adrenaline sport activities emphasize risk, danger and adrenaline on one hand, and desire for individual feelings of happiness on the other hand. The study analysed if sport climbing can influence common feelings and psychological states, in terms of proportional representation of the selected positive and negative indicators. The purpose of the study was to characterize experiencing in climbing and to find out psychological effects of a 3-month sport climbing course on individualized experiences and feelings. Qualitative changes were evaluated on a standardized scale SUPSO, in 46 respondents (aged 23.5±1.8 years). The method is based on verbalization of inner feelings, states and their expressions. The results were converted and calculated in proportions of the given positive and negative indicators. The significance of change was evaluated in quantitative analysis (Wilcoxon pair test, α0.05) by IBM SPSS Statistics 24. The results verified positive psychological effects of sport climbing. The change was manifested by significant difference between common and actualized psychological states and feelings. There was a statistically significant difference in all positive (wellbeing and activeness) and majority (80 %) of negative indicators (impulsiveness, discomfort and restlessness, anxious expectations, and sadness). Significant difference in depression and exhaustion was not confirmed. Climbing was described as a demanding adventure sport activity that combines physical and psychological features. Way and authenticity of experiencing can differ among individual climbing disciplines. The research showed that even sport climbing, which is considered to be performance-oriented, can positively influence psychological states and feelings.

The Associations between Climbing and Mental Health and Wellbeing: A Mixed-Methods Scoping Review (Preprint)

“…In a large (but representativeness unknown) sample of Chinese climbers, Ding and Schuett's (2013) medium quality study reported that their main motivations for climbing included 'resting the mind', 'tranquillity' and 'releasing tension', whereas the social aspect of the sport was less important in this population. In two low quality surveys of non-climbers who participated in climbing courses, some improvements were reported on participants' psychological wellbeing, including improvements in feelings of discomfort and self-esteem (Hrušová & Chaloupská, 2019;Kessell, 1994). Four medium to high quality studies assessed associations between anxiety and climbing performance, with mixed findings (Bailey et al, 2019;Bazancir et al, 2018;Feher et al, 1998;Sanchez et al, 2010).…”

“…Two additional studies compared climbers to nonclimbers to investigate differences in life satisfaction and stress resistance (Ardahan & Mert, 2013;Tukaiev et al, 2020, respectively). One study surveyed university students who had attended a 3-month indoor climbing course for beginners, to assess impact of climbing on psychological wellbeing (Hrušová & Chaloupská, 2019). One study surveyed gynaecological cancer survivors to assess participation and interest in rock-climbing and possible associations with posttraumatic growth (Crawford et al, 2015).…”

Outdoor River Activities: Relations with Geological Background and Extreme Events in the Perspective of Geoeducation

“…According to some authors [18,19], outdoor activities, being very involving, may have a high geoeducation potential for communicating and explaining geodiversity and Earth's history [16,19] and to induce forms of place-based learning, as suggested for young generations by Gordon et al [6]. Moreover, they could be a potential tool to achieve social and health goals (i.e., SDGs n. 3) (e.g., [21][22][23]). All outdoor activities, despite providing all these benefits, may be affected by different types of natural hazards (e.g., rock falls; [24]).…”

Is bouldering-psychotherapy a cost-effective way to treat depression when compared to group cognitive behavioral therapy – results from a randomized controlled trial

“…Since the antidepressant effect of physical exercise has been shown to be comparable to psychotherapy and antidepressant psychotropic drugs [ 9 – 11 ], current guidelines additionally recommend physical activity [ 2 , 8 ]. As bouldering/climbing has proven its positive impact on psychological wellbeing [ 12 , 13 ], concepts of “therapeutic climbing” are gaining interest in depression treatment. Recent systematic reviews suggest that it might be the most important step to get patients involved into a therapeutic program as differences between the different approaches are small [ 14 ].…”