Tim Rees

Professor Tim Rees

  • Professor in Sport
  • D203 Dorset House
UN SDGs:
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Biography

I am a Professor in the Department of Rehabilitation and Sport Sciences, with a number of strategic University roles, including REF2021 Lead and Impact Champion for UoA 24c. I am a Higher Education Academy Fellow, as well as a British Psychological Society Chartered Psychologist and Associate Fellow, and a BASES Accredited Sport & Exercise Scientist.

My research centres on (a) the development of talent, and (b) social psychological influences on performance and physical activity. In total, I have been involved in successfully capturing over £1.6m of funding from a range of sources, including the Economic and Social Research Council, the National Institute for Health Research, the British Council, the International Olympic Committee, UK Sport, the England and Wales Cricket Board, and England Rugby.

My research has been featured in all major UK broadsheets, BBC R4’s flagship programme “All in the Mind”, US National Public Radio’s “Only a Game”, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, plus Psychology Today and Huffington Post, and has informed and changed practice across all UK Olympic Sports, England Rugby, and the England and Wales Cricket Board...

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Favourites

  • Stevens, M., Rees, T., Cruwys, T. and Olive, L., 2022. Equipping Physical Activity Leaders to Facilitate Behaviour Change: An Overview, Call to Action, and Roadmap for Future Research. Sports Medicine - Open, 8 (1).
  • Rees, T., Green, J., Peters, K., Stevens, M., Haslam, S.A., James, W. and Timson, S., 2022. Multiple group memberships promote health and performance following pathway transitions in junior elite cricket. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 60.
  • Rees, T. and Salvatore, J., 2021. Questioning stereotypes disrupts the effects of stereotype threat. Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology, 10 (2), 191-204.
  • Güllich, A., Rees, T. et al., 2019. Developmental biographies of Olympic super-elite and elite athletes – a multidisciplinary pattern recognition analysis. Journal of Expertise, 2 (1).
  • Stevens, M., Rees, T., Coffee, P., Haslam, S.A., Steffens, N.K. and Polman, R., 2018. Leaders promote attendance in sport and exercise sessions by fostering social identity. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports, 28 (9), 2100-2108.
  • Rees, T., Hardy, L., Güllich, A., Abernethy, B., Côté, J., Woodman, T., Montgomery, H., Laing, S. and Warr, C., 2016. The Great British Medalists Project: A Review of Current Knowledge on the Development of the World’s Best Sporting Talent. Sports Medicine, 46 (8), 1041-1058.

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person's work contributes towards the following SDG:

Good health and well-being

"Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages"

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Journal Articles

  • Valeeva, E.V., Sabirov, I.S., Safiullina, L.R., Nikitin, D.O., Semina, I.I., Rees, T., Fesenko, D.O. and Ahmetov, I.I., 2024. The role of the CNTNAP2 gene in the development of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders.
  • Majumdar, A., Bakirov, R., Hodges, D., McCullough, S. and Rees, T., 2024. The relationship between training load and injury in Premier League Football: A machine learning study with 6 seasons’ data. Journal of Sports Analytics, 10, 47-65.
  • Wainwright, T.W., Immins, T., Docherty, S., Rees, T., Middleton, R.G. et al., 2023. CycLing and EducATion (CLEAT): protocol for a single centre randomised controlled trial of a cycling and education intervention versus standard physiotherapy care for the treatment of hip osteoarthritis. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, 24 (1).
  • Ahmetov, I.I., Rees, T. et al., 2023. KIBRA Gene Variant Is Associated with Ability in Chess and Science. Genes, 14 (1).
  • Stevens, M., Rees, T., Cruwys, T. and Olive, L., 2022. Equipping Physical Activity Leaders to Facilitate Behaviour Change: An Overview, Call to Action, and Roadmap for Future Research. Sports Medicine - Open, 8 (1).
  • Majumdar, A., Bakirov, R., Hodges, D., Scott, S. and Rees, T., 2022. Machine Learning for Understanding and Predicting Injuries in Football. Sports Medicine - Open, 8 (1).
  • Rees, T., Green, J., Peters, K., Stevens, M., Haslam, S.A., James, W. and Timson, S., 2022. Multiple group memberships promote health and performance following pathway transitions in junior elite cricket. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 60.
  • Dean, F., Kavanagh, E., Wilding, A. and Rees, T., 2022. An Examination of the Experiences of Practitioners Delivering Sport Psychology Services within English Premier League Soccer Academies. Sports, 10 (4).
  • Stevens, M., Rees, T. and Cruwys, T., 2021. Social identity leadership in sport and exercise: Current status and future directions. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 55.
  • Rees, T. and Salvatore, J., 2021. Questioning stereotypes disrupts the effects of stereotype threat. Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology, 10 (2), 191-204.
  • Stevens, M., Rees, T., Coffee, P., Steffens, N.K., Alexander Haslam, S. and Polman, R., 2020. Leading us to be active: A two-wave test of relationships between identity leadership, group identification, and attendance. Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology, 9 (1), 128-142.
  • Steffens, N.K., Slade, E.L., Stevens, M., Haslam, S.A. and Rees, T., 2019. Putting the ‘we’ into workout: The association of identity leadership with exercise class attendance and effort, and the mediating role of group identification and comfort. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 45.
  • Stevens, M., Rees, T., Steffens, N.K., Haslam, S.A., Coffee, P. and Polman, R., 2019. Leaders' creation of shared identity impacts group members' effort and performance: Evidence from an exercise task. PLoS ONE, 14 (7).
  • Güllich, A., Rees, T. et al., 2019. Developmental biographies of Olympic super-elite and elite athletes – a multidisciplinary pattern recognition analysis. Journal of Expertise, 2 (1).
  • Rascle, O., Charrier, M., Higgins, N., Rees, T., Coffee, P., Le Foll, D. and Cabagno, G., 2019. Being one of us: Translating expertise into performance benefits following perceived failure. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 43, 105-113.
  • Stevens, M., Rees, T. and Polman, R., 2019. Social identification, exercise participation, and positive exercise experiences: Evidence from parkrun. JOURNAL OF SPORTS SCIENCES, 37 (2), 221-228.
  • Green, J., Rees, T., Peters, K., Sarkar, M. and Haslam, S.A., 2018. Resolving not to quit: Evidence that salient group memberships increase resilience in a sensorimotor task. Frontiers in Psychology, 9 (DEC).
  • Arnold, R., Edwards, T. and Rees, T., 2018. Organizational stressors, social support, and implications for subjective performance in high-level sport. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 39, 204-212.
  • Stevens, M., Rees, T., Coffee, P., Haslam, S.A., Steffens, N.K. and Polman, R., 2018. Leaders promote attendance in sport and exercise sessions by fostering social identity. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports, 28 (9), 2100-2108.
  • Rees, T., Hardy, L. and Woodman, T., 2018. Authors’ Reply to Hill: Comment on “The Great British Medalists Project: A Review of Current Knowledge on the Development of the World’s Best Sporting Talent”. Sports Medicine, 48 (1), 239-240.
  • Stevens, M., Rees, T., Coffee, P., Steffens, N.K., Haslam, S.A. and Polman, R., 2017. A Social Identity Approach to Understanding and Promoting Physical Activity. Sports Medicine, 47 (10), 1911-1918.
  • Moll, T., Rees, T. and Freeman, P., 2017. Enacted support and golf-putting performance: The role of support type and support visibility. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 30, 30-37.
  • Hardy, L., Barlow, M., Evans, L., Rees, T., Woodman, T. and Warr, C., 2017. Great British medalists: Psychosocial biographies of Super-Elite and Elite athletes from Olympic sports. Prog Brain Res, 232, 1-119.
  • Hardy, L., Barlow, M., Evans, L., Rees, T., Woodman, T. and Warr, C., 2017. Great British medalists: Response to the commentaries. Prog Brain Res, 232, 207-216.
  • Rees, T., Hardy, L., Güllich, A., Abernethy, B., Côté, J., Woodman, T., Montgomery, H., Laing, S. and Warr, C., 2016. The Great British Medalists Project: A Review of Current Knowledge on the Development of the World’s Best Sporting Talent. Sports Medicine, 46 (8), 1041-1058.
  • Rees, T., Alexander Haslam, S., Coffee, P. and Lavallee, D., 2015. A Social Identity Approach to Sport Psychology: Principles, Practice, and Prospects. Sports Medicine, 45 (8), 1083-1096.
  • Rascle, O., Le Foll, D., Charrier, M., Higgins, N.C., Rees, T. and Coffee, P., 2015. Durability and generalization of attribution-based feedback following failure: Effects on expectations and behavioral persistence. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 18, 68-74.
  • Coussens, A.H., Rees, T. and Freeman, P., 2015. Applying generalizability theory to examine the antecedents of perceived coach support. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 37 (1), 51-62.
  • Solomon, E., Rees, T., Ukoumunne, O.C., Metcalf, B. and Hillsdon, M., 2014. The Devon Active Villages Evaluation (DAVE) trial of a community-level physical activity intervention in rural south-west England: A stepped wedge cluster randomised controlled trial. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 11 (1).
  • Freeman, P., Coffee, P., Moll, T., Rees, T. and Sammy, N., 2014. The ARSQ: The athletes' received support questionnaire. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 36 (2), 189-202.
  • Mitchell, I., Evans, L., Rees, T. and Hardy, L., 2014. Stressors, social support, and tests of the buffering hypothesis: Effects on psychological responses of injured athletes. British Journal of Health Psychology, 19 (3), 486-508.
  • Solomon, E., Rees, T., Ukoumunne, O.C., Metcalf, B. and Hillsdon, M., 2013. Personal, social, and environmental correlates of physical activity in adults living in rural south-west England: A cross-sectional analysis. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 10.
  • Rees, T., Salvatore, J., Coffee, P., Haslam, S.A., Sargent, A. and Dobson, T., 2013. Reversing downward performance spirals. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 49 (3), 400-403.
  • Solomon, E., Rees, T., Ukoumunne, O.C. and Hillsdon, M., 2012. The Devon Active Villages Evaluation (DAVE) trial: Study protocol of a stepped wedge cluster randomised trial of a community-level physical activity intervention in rural southwest England. BMC Public Health, 12 (1).
  • Rees, T., Freeman, P., Bell, S. and Bunney, R., 2012. Three generalizability studies of the components of perceived coach support. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 34 (2), 238-251.
  • Coffee, P. and Rees, T., 2011. When the chips are down: Effects of attributional feedback on self-efficacy and task performance following initial and repeated failure. Journal of Sports Sciences, 29 (3), 235-245.
  • Freeman, P., Coffee, P. and Rees, T., 2011. The PASS-Q: The perceived available support in sport questionnaire. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 33 (1), 54-74.
  • Rees, T., Mitchell, I., Evans, L. and Hardy, L., 2010. Stressors, social support and psychological responses to sport injury in high- and low-performance standard participants. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 11 (6), 505-512.
  • Rees, T. and Freeman, P., 2010. Social support and performance in a golf-putting experiment. Sport Psychologist, 24 (3), 333-348.
  • Freeman, P. and Rees, T., 2010. Perceived social support from team-mates: Direct and stress-buffering effects on self-confidence. European Journal of Sport Science, 10 (1), 59-67.
  • Freeman, P. and Rees, T., 2009. How does perceived support lead to better performance? An examination of potential mechanisms. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 21 (4), 429-441.
  • Coffee, P., Rees, T. and Haslam, S.A., 2009. Bouncing back from failure: The interactive impact of perceived controllability and stability on self-efficacy beliefs and future task performance. Journal of Sports Sciences, 27 (11), 1117-1124.
  • Freeman, P., Rees, T. and Hardy, L., 2009. An intervention to increase social support and improve performance. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 21 (2), 186-200.
  • Rees, T. and Freeman, P., 2009. Social support moderates the relationship between stressors and task performance through self-efficacy. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 28 (2), 244-263.
  • Coffee, P. and Rees, T., 2009. The main and interactive effects of immediate and reflective attributions upon subsequent self-efficacy. European Journal of Sport Science, 9 (1), 41-52.
  • Freeman, P. and Rees, T., 2008. The effects of perceived and received support on objective performance outcome. European Journal of Sport Science, 8 (6), 359-368.
  • Coffee, P. and Rees, T., 2008. Main and interactive effects of controllability and generalisability attributions upon self-efficacy. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 9 (6), 775-785.
  • Coffee, P. and Rees, T., 2008. The CSGU: A measure of controllability, stability, globality, and universality attributions. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 30 (5), 611-641.
  • Evans, L., Hardy, L., Mitchell, I. and Rees, T., 2008. The development of a measure of psychological responses to injury. Journal of Sport Rehabilitation, 17 (1), 21-37.
  • Rees, T. and Freeman, P., 2007. The effects of perceived and received support on self-confidence. Journal of Sports Sciences, 25 (9), 1057-1065.
  • Rees, T., Hardy, L. and Evans, L., 2007. Construct validity of the social support survey in sport. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 8 (3), 355-368.
  • Rees, T., 2007. Main and interactive effects of attribution dimensions on efficacy expectations in sport. Journal of Sports Sciences, 25 (4), 473-480.
  • Rees, T., Hardy, L. and Freeman, P., 2007. Stressors, social support, and effects upon performance in golf. Journal of Sports Sciences, 25 (1), 33-42.
  • Rees, T., Ingledew, D.K. and Hardy, L., 2005. Attribution in sport psychology: Further comments on Faulkner and Finlay (2005). Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 6 (2), 213-214.
  • Rees, T., Ingledew, D.K. and Hardy, L., 2005. Attribution in sport psychology: Seeking congruence between theory, research and practice. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 6 (2), 189-204.
  • Rees, T. and Hardy, L., 2004. Matching social support with stressors: Effects on factors underlying performance in tennis. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 5 (3), 319-337.
  • Rees, T., Evans, L., Mitchell, I. and Hardy, L., 2004. Social support and psychological response to injury. Psychology and Health, 19 (SUPPL. 1), 144.
  • Rees, T., Smith, B. and Sparkes, A.C., 2003. The influence of social support on the lived experiences of spinal cord injured sportsmen. Sport Psychologist, 17 (2), 135-156.
  • Rees, T., Hardy, L. and Ingledew, D.K., 2000. Performance assessment in sport: Formulation, justification, and confirmatory factor analysis of a measurement instrument for tennis performance. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 12 (2), 203-218.
  • Rees, T., Hardy, L., Ingledew, D.K. and Evans, L., 2000. Examination of the Validity of the Social Support Survey Using Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 71 (4), 322-330.
  • Rees, T. and Hardy, L., 2000. An investigation of the social support experiences of high-level sports performers. Sport Psychologist, 14 (4), 327-347.
  • Rees, T., Ingledew, D.K. and Hardy, L., 1999. Social support dimensions and components of performance in tennis. Journal of Sports Sciences, 17 (5), 421-429.

Chapters

  • Stevens, M., Cruwys, T., Rees, T., Haslam, S.A., Boen, F. and Fransen, K., 2020. Physical activity. The New Psychology of Sport and Exercise The Social Identity Approach. SAGE.
  • Hartley, C., Haslam, S.A., Rees, T. and Coffee, P., 2020. Social Support. The New Psychology of Sport and Exercise The Social Identity Approach. SAGE.
  • Valeeva, E.V., Ahmetov, I.I. and Rees, T., 2019. Psychogenetics and sport. Sports, Exercise, and Nutritional Genomics: Current Status and Future Directions. 147-165.
  • Rees, T., 2016. Social support in sport psychology. Routledge International Handbook of Sport Psychology. 505-515.
  • Rees, T. and Freeman, P., 2011. Coping in sport through social support. Coping and Emotion in Sport: Second Edition. 102-117.

Conferences

  • Heaton, I., Hall, E.E., Ahmed, O., Rees, T. and Ketcham, C.J., 2018. Examination of the availability and effectiveness of social support systems following a concussion in collegiate student-athletes and dancers. In: 2018 Brain Injury Summit 7-10 January 2018 Vail, Colorado, USA.
  • Rees, T., 2017. A Social Identity Approach to Leadership. In: International Council for Coaching Excellence (ICCE) Global Coach Conference 29 July-2 August 2017 Liverpool.
  • Rees, T., 2017. Social identity in sport: Future directions. In: International Conference on Social Identity in Sport 1-2 July 2017 Leuven, Belgium.
  • Rees, T., Moll, T. and Freeman, P., 2015. What makes support effective: The impact of support content and support visibility. In: British Psychological Society 14-15 December 2015 Leeds.
  • Rees, T., Ingledew, D.K. and Hardy, L., 1996. Dimensions of performance and differential effects of hassles, support and perceived control. Journal of Sports Sciences, 14 (1), 43-44.

PhD Students

  • Aritra Majumdar
  • Francesca Dean

Grants

  • Developing a toolkit to support health professionals in building community-based group exercise programmes for older people with chronic conditions (Economic and Social Research Council, 01 Sep 2022). Awarded
  • GrOup-based physical Activity for oLder adults Trial 2.0 (GOAL 2.0) (Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), 01 Feb 2020). Awarded
  • Injury risk and performance: Towards a better understanding of the complexities and intricacies of load monitoring within an elite football club (AFC Bournemouth, 16 Sep 2019). Awarded
  • The Active Ageing project (Active Dorset, 01 Dec 2018). Awarded
  • A pragmatic multi-centred randomised controlled trial with economic evaluation, to compare a cycling and educational programme with usual physiotherapy care in the treatment of hip osteoarthritis: CycLing and EducATion (CLEAT). (National Institute of Health Research, 01 Oct 2018). Awarded
  • Mental health and movement: Whole school approaches & community engagement. (Stormbreak / Venture EP, 17 Sep 2018). In Progress
  • The diffusion and adoption of sport psychology in elite academy football: Integration and application. (AFC Bournemouth, 17 Sep 2018). In Progress
  • Performance Analysis in Football: Academy Development (AFC Bournemouth, 01 Sep 2018). Completed
  • A programme of coaching and education to improve coaching outcomes in Chinese football (Federation of University Sports of China, 01 Jul 2017). Completed
  • Coaches’ attitudes and behaviors towards doping and their impact on development athletes’ attitudes, intentions, and willingness to dope. (International Olympic Committee, 01 Aug 2016). Completed
  • Improving talent identification and development in the Rugby Football Union (Economic and Social Research Council / RFU / Open Innovation Fund, 01 Mar 2015). Completed
  • Outward Mobility Academic Fellowship (University of Exeter, 01 Oct 2014). Completed
  • The development and validation of a psychological profiling system for elite cricket players (Economic and Social Research Council, 01 Oct 2010). Completed
  • Understanding changes in the personal, social and environmental impact upon physical activity of the Devon Active Villages programme (Economic and Social Research Council, 01 Oct 2010). Completed
  • Understanding changes in the personal, social and environmental impact upon physical activity of the Devon Active Villages programme (PenclaHRC (Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry), 01 Oct 2010). Completed
  • Understanding GB medal winners (UK Sport, 01 Apr 2010). Completed
  • Business Vouchers \ Link Funds (University of Exeter, 01 Oct 2009). Completed
  • Conference Grant (British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences, 01 Jul 2009). Completed
  • The impact of reattribution upon expectations, emotions, persistence, and performance (British Council, 01 Oct 2008). Completed
  • The determinants of exercise behaviour in Saudi schoolchildren (Saudi Government, 01 Oct 2008). Completed
  • The psychology and physiology of impulse shopping (Barclaycard / Lexis PR, 01 May 2003). Completed
  • Conference Grant (UK Sport, 01 Jul 2001). Completed

Memberships

  • British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Accredited Sport and Exercise Scientist,
  • British Psychological Society, Associate Fellow,
  • British Psychological Society, Chartered Psychologist,
  • Higher Education Authority, Fellow,