VISUAL ATTENTION AND SELF-EFFICACY IN COED CHEERLEADING

Abstract

Approximately 35,000 cheerleading injuries were reported annually for participants between the ages of 5-25 years old (Amy et al., 2021). Self-efficacy, role, and attention provide predictive information and contribution to the quality of motor execution, including group settings. However, there remains a gap in knowledge about the activity of cheerleading and the growing rate of injuries PURPOSE: Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which self-efficacy relates to visual fixation duration and frequency in co-ed cheerleading, and if visual fixation and duration differ between base and flyer across self-identifying role, skill level, and roles observed (flyer and base). METHODS: Members of the same university’s coed cheerleading team consisting of male and female participants between the ages of 18-25 participated in the study. Inclusion criteria were as follows: 1) current member of a collegiate coed cheerleading team 2) normal or corrected to normal vision 3) no current self-reported neurological illness/injury. Eligible subjects were recruited through email. The sample consisted of (n = 3) males and (n = 2). participants completed a self-efficacy questionnaire and watched a series of progressively difficult stunts, categorized into 3 levels of difficulty. Visual attention was measured using eye tracking to determine fixation count and duration. RESULTS: Multiple t-tests were used to test the relationships between each variable. Across each skill level self-efficacy decreased for easy M = 9.63, SD = 0.42. Flyers fixated in the flyer AOI (Mfreq = 134.75) less compared to how much the bases fixated in the flyer AOI (Mfreq = 148.69). The shortest fixation occurred during the hard skill level in the flyer AOI for bases (1316.611 ms) and flyers (1377.263 ms). The correlation between self-efficacy and fixation count of the base was negative and medium to large but not significant for easy, medium, and hard tasks (r = -.78, -.81, -.41; p = .12, .09, .49). The correlation between self-efficacy and fixation duration of the base was negative and small to medium but not significant easy, medium, and hard tasks (r = -.31, -.58, -.19; p = .61, .31, .76)There were no significant differences observed across bases and flyers for fixation count and duration (t = .34 - 1.92; p = .15 - .75). Significant differences were observed across skill level for fixation count (Mfreq = 13.80; p = < .001, η²ₚ = .70) and duration on the flyer AOI (Mfreq = 19.54; p = < .001, η²ₚ = .77). No significant differences were observed across base and flyer AOIs except in the instance of fixation count during the medium skill difficulty (t = 2.73, p < .05, d = 1.22). Regardless of role, participants looked at the flyer more often (M = 60.87) than the bases (M = 43.67) during the medium tasks. CONCLUSION: According to the present study, confidence is associated with changes in visual attention. Additionally, visual attention differs by role, and skill difficulty. From this data we have seen influences on teamwork, specifically in coed cheerleading while highlighting the high risks in stunting.