Mood variations of athletes involved in cold weather expeditions: a case study / Sharifah Mazlina Syed A. Kadir and Rugayah Hashim

The aim of this research was to examine the influence of sleep efficiency on mood variations relative to performance. This is a case study where the researcher, who is also the endurance athlete, was involved in the Antarctic expedition of ski-sailing and trekking from the South Pole to the Hercules Inlet, covering a distance of 1,100 kilometers in 22 days. Three Actiwatches and Mood Scale forms were used daily to collect two sets of data on the researcher's sleep patterns and moods. The first set of data was tabulated during the athlete's training session in Finse, Norway in April 2004 and, the second set was gathered from the athlete's actual expedition in the Antarctic in December 2004. Results indicated that there were neither correlations nor statistically significant relationships between sleep efficiency versus mood variations, and mood variations versus performance. We suggest that future research should investigate efficacy of sleep as applied intervention designed to improve cohesion and mood, relative to an athlete's optimal performance.