Efficacy of a Video Modeling and Imagery-Controlled Trial Intervention in a Non-Western Adolescent Population: A Case Study

Abstract

There is a dearth of evidence from non-Western populations and contexts in the sport psychology literature. With increasing attention given to the development of cultural sport psychology and decentralizing sport psychology evidence, this is the first study to document the effectiveness of applied interventions in non-Western populations (herein, India). With a rigorous methodological design, we randomly distributed a sample of 90 adolescents into three skill groups (discrete, serial, and continuous) and separated them across the team and individual sports. A random assignment of participants to two experimental groups, that is, imagery and video modeling interventions, and a control group was conducted for the duration of a 66-day intervention. Sport psychology imagery and video modeling interventions were provided in addition to skills training across all groups. Repeated-measures analyses of variance demonstrated that the intervention groups exhibited positive outcomes on skill execution (across discrete, serial, and continuous skills) and anxiety compared with the control group (p < .05). The findings of this study provide novel evidence that video modeling and imagery interventions are effective among a non-Western adolescent population. The context of this high-impact intervention case study, the intervention, and the challenges of developing and delivering the intervention are discussed along with their practical significance for future research and applied practice.