Dr Christopher Fullerton

My primary research focuses on the effects of self-control exertion on subsequent performance in exercise and sports tasks. Recently, my interest in self-control has centred on the role of trait self-control and whether individual differences in self-regulatory skills play a crucial role in health behaviour. Additionally, I have explored the physiological and psychological mechanisms that may explain the impact of self-regulatory fatigue on endurance performance, with a particular emphasis on effort-based decision-making. I also investigate the use of self-regulatory strategies to reduce self-control demands (i.e., making self-control less effortful) and enhance endurance performance.

Current Research

Research Focus 1: Psychophysiological Self-Regulation of Endurance Performance

The primary goal of this research is to investigate the self-regulatory processes underpinning whole-body endurance performance through a psychophysiological approach. This work utilises mixed methods to explore the relationships between physiological responses (e.g., VO2, blood lactate, cerebral oxygenation) and subjective experiences (e.g., affective valence, self-efficacy) during exercise.

More recently, my interests have focused on how this understanding can be used to improve exercise training for promoting health. Highly-trained (i.e., ‘expert’) endurance athletes use a range of well-developed strategies to buffer reactivity to pain and unpleasant emotions. These feelings and sensations are inherent and largely unavoidable during the early stages of exercise interventions but are a mainstay of high-intensity interval training (performed frequently by athletes). It is reasonable to suggest that, through the process of training and competing, the effect of exercise-induced analgesia influences how athletes experience pain by providing an interoceptive challenge. I am particularly interested in understanding whether trained-untrained differences can reveal interoceptive deficits associated with idiosyncratic and dysfunctional psychological behaviour and self-regulatory capacity.

A second aspect of this research focus examines the efficacy of brief self-regulatory strategies (e.g., if-then planning, mindfulness) to reduce the perception of effort and modify the intensity and subjective experience of exercise induced pain during competitive endurance performance (e.g., time trial performance in cycling, running, and rowing).

Research Focus 2: Psychosocial Factors in Weight Regulation Among Combat Sport Athletes

In recent years, my interest has extended to other tasks requiring self-regulation (including self-control), such as weight regulation in combat sport athletes.

Many combat sport athletes actively manipulate their body mass through chronic strategies (gradual energy restriction and exercise training) and acute interventions before weigh-in (energy restriction and dehydration) to gain a competitive advantage against lighter, smaller, and weaker opponents. My research explores the personal, situational, and contextual factors driving these behaviours.

Research Focus 3: Psychosocial Effects of Exercise as a Disease-Modifying Therapeutic Intervention in Clinical Populations

I am also involved in research on the effects of multimodal exercise on people with Parkinson’s disease within community settings. We have conducted both quantitative and qualitative research with these populations, focusing on the biopsychosocial experiences of exercise participation.

If you’d like to enquire about PhD study at Stirling, please email: ias@stir.ac.uk