A systematic review of flow interventions in sport and exercise

ABSTRACT

Flow is an optimal psychological state associated with exceptional performances and positive subjective experiences in sport and exercise. Considering these reported benefits, there have been many attempts to promote flow experiences through interventions. However, there is little evidence to demonstrate the effectiveness of flow interventions in sport and exercise. This study aimed to systematically review, synthesise, and evaluate the efficacy of flow interventions in sport and exercise to date. Twenty-nine empirical studies, published before August 2020 were identified, primarily comprising single-case designs (41.38%) and quasi-experimental designs (34.48%). Strategies most commonly reported in flow interventions to date included: mindfulness (30.03%); hypnosis (17.24%); and imagery (13.79%). While there is evidence that interventions increased certain dimensions of flow, no studies to date have reported conclusive evidence that flow was induced through an intervention. None of the included studies were developed through an intervention development framework, and the strategies employed were generally only partially related to a conceptual framework of flow. Collectively, these findings suggest interventions reported to date have largely been unsuccessful at producing flow experiences. The conceptual, developmental, and methodological issues impacting the quality of flow interventions are discussed, and recommendations are made to improve the efficacy of flow interventions in future.

KEYWORDS:

• Athlete
• exerciser
• performance
• positive psychology
• optimal experience

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 ‘An activity involving physical exertion, skill and/or hand-eye coordination as the primary focus of the activity, with elements of competition where rules and patterns of behaviour governing the activity exist formally through organizations; and may be participated in either individually or as a team’ (WHO, 2018, p. 101).

2 ‘A subcategory of physical activity that is planned, structured, repetitive, and purposive, in the sense that the improvement or maintenance of one or more components of physical fitness is the objective’ (WHO, 2018, p. 98).

3 According to Hrycaiko and Martin (1996), intervention effectiveness can be determined by: (a) baseline performance that is stable or in a direction opposite to that predicted for the effects of treatment; (b) the greater the number of times that an effect is replicated within the subject’s data; (c) the fewer the number of overlapping data points between baseline and treatment phase; (d) the sooner the effect occurs following the introduction of treatment; and (e) the larger the size of the effect in comparison to baseline.

4 Some papers included a qualitative component; however, these data were not included in the review because they did not explicitly analyse flow outcomes (e.g., Briegel-Jones et al., 2013).

5 Scott-Hamilton et al. used a modified version of the DFS (Jackson & Eklund, 2002, 2004) which removed the transformation of time subscale.

6 The Köhler effect occurs when a less capable member of a group displays greater motivation and effort, relative to their performance as an individual (Kerr & Hertel, 2011).

7 Hill et al. (2020) alluded to a pilot study that helped determine the length of their intervention, but no other developmental procedures were discussed.