Health TrialsbyHealthPanel

Mental Fatigue, Attentional Focus, and Countermovement Jump Performance

ConditionsMental FatigueAthletic Performance
Trial statusNot yet recruiting
Trial phaseNot applicable
Trial typeInterventional
Biological sexAll
Age18-30
SponsorInonu University

About this trial

This study examines whether short-term mental fatigue and different jump instructions affect how high people can jump. Thirty-two physically active university students will complete two testing sessions in random order: one after a 30-minute mentally tiring computer task and one after a 30-minute relaxing video. In both sessions, participants will perform vertical jumps while receiving one of three types of instructions: no special instruction, focusing on their own body movements, or focusing on pushing the ground away. The study will compare jump height across these conditions to better understand how mental tiredness and coaching cues affect jumping performance, which may help coaches and athletes design better training and competition preparation.

Eligibility criteria

This trial accepts healthy volunteers

Qualifiers

Age 18-30 years

Third- or fourth-year undergraduate student in the Faculty of Sport Sciences, İnönü University

Engaged in structured physical activity on at least 2 days per week

Normal or corrected-to-normal vision and normal color vision

Disqualifiers

Major lower-extremity surgery or injury

Musculoskeletal injury during the preceding 6 months that could affect jumping

Diagnosed neurological, psychiatric, or cardiovascular disorder

Regular use of medication that could influence alertness, fatigue, cardiovascular responses, or neuromuscular performance

Trial design

Design model

Crossover

Treatments tested in this trial

  • Mental-Fatigue Protocol (Stroop Task)

    Behavioral

    A 30-minute computerized color-word Stroop interference task delivered as one uninterrupted block on a custom program, in which participants identify the font color of color-word stimuli while ignoring word meaning, inducing acute mental fatigue prior to countermovement jump testing.

  • Control Protocol (Nature Video)

    Behavioral

    Approximately 30 minutes of passive viewing of a narration-free nature video under standardized lighting, seating, and sound conditions, serving as the non-fatiguing control condition matched in duration to the mental-fatigue protocol.

  • No Prescribed Focus Instruction

    Behavioral

    A verbal cue delivered before each jump attempt with no directional attentional instruction: "When you are ready, jump as high as possible."

  • Internal Focus Instruction

    Behavioral

    A verbal cue delivered before each jump attempt directing attention to the participant's own body movements: "When you are ready, focus on extending your knees and hips as quickly and explosively as possible while jumping as high as possible."

  • External Focus Instruction

    Behavioral

    A verbal cue delivered before each jump attempt directing attention to the effect of movement on the environment: "When you are ready, focus on pushing the ground away from you as quickly and explosively as possible while jumping as high as possible."

Treatment groups

32 Participants
are divided into 2 treatment groups
Group A: Control-First SequenceExperimental treatment 4 interventions
Group B: Mental-Fatigue-First SequenceExperimental treatment 4 interventions

Trial outcomes

Primary outcomes

1

Countermovement Jump Height

Vertical jump height, measured in centimeters, recorded using a validated video-based jump-analysis application (My Jump Lab) at 240 frames per second. The higher of two valid trials in each protocol-by-attentional-focus condition (control vs. mental fatigue x no prescribed focus, internal focus, external focus) will be retained as the outcome value for that condition.

Time frame
Assessed once per attentional-focus condition (higher of two valid trials) approximately 30 seconds after completion of each 30-minute protocol (control or mental fatigue), across two sessions separated by at least 72 hours.

Secondary outcomes

1

Subjective Mental Fatigue Rating

Self-reported mental fatigue rated on a 0-10 visual analogue scale, in response to "How mentally fatigued do you feel right now?" (0 = not mentally fatigued at all, 10 = the highest possible level of mental fatigue).

Time frame
Immediately before and immediately after each 30-minute protocol (control and mental fatigue), across two experimental sessions separated by at least 72 hours.
2

Stroop Task Performance

Total trials completed, number of correct and incorrect responses, and accuracy (%), recorded automatically by the Stroop task software during the mental-fatigue protocol.

Time frame
Continuously recorded throughout the 30-minute mental-fatigue protocol, administered in one of the two experimental sessions per participant (protocol order randomized).
3

Focus-Instruction Adherence

Self-reported adherence to the assigned attentional-focus instructions, rated on a 0-10 visual analogue scale.

Time frame
Assessed once per attentional-focus condition, immediately after completion of each 30-minute protocol (control or mental fatigue), across two experimental sessions separated by at least 72 hours.

Other outcomes

Sponsors and contacts

Click on the lead sponsor to view all of their trials.

Inonu University

Lead sponsor

Source ClinicalTrials.gov

This trial is not recruiting at the moment. You can still explore other options: