COVID-19 AND FEAR, WHICH COMES FIRST?

Today people have a few unanswered questions in their mind, such as "Do negative emotions will co-survive with the COVID-19 pandemic? Which one is worse? Which one will disappear quicker? Is there any connection between negative emotions and being infected by COVID-19 or the severity of infected individual\u27s symptoms ? How are we supposed to live with COVID-19 and adapt our emotional system to the virus for more than one upcoming year? These uncertainties could result in massive pressure on people. While there is no clear consensus regarding what establishes psychological stress on an individual, the effect of negative affect and psychological stress on increased susceptibility to disease due to altered immune functions is well established. Here we are going through the possible effect of emotions associated with the present pandemic on COVID-19 course of disease and severity of symptoms

COVID-19 AND FEAR, WHICH COMES FIRST?

Today people have a few unanswered questions in their mind, such as "Do negative emotions will co-survive with the COVID-19 pandemic? Which one is worse? Which one will disappear quicker? Is there any connection between negative emotions and being infected by COVID-19 or the severity of infected individual\u27s symptoms ? How are we supposed to live with COVID-19 and adapt our emotional system to the virus for more than one upcoming year? These uncertainties could result in massive pressure on people. While there is no clear consensus regarding what establishes psychological stress on an individual, the effect of negative affect and psychological stress on increased susceptibility to disease due to altered immune functions is well established. Here we are going through the possible effect of emotions associated with the present pandemic on COVID-19 course of disease and severity of symptoms

Factor Structure and Psychometric Properties of the Farsi Versions of Empathy and Systemizing Quotient: Short Forms

Objective: We aimed to examine the validity and reliability of the empathy quotient (EQ) and systemizing quotient (SQ) in a Farsi-speaking population.  Method: This study explores the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Farsi translations of the 22-item version of EQ and the 25-item version of SQ among 542 young university students. Results: Applying a cross-validation approach, a 14-item two-factor model and a 15-item four-factor model for the Farsi translations of the short versions of EQ and SQ, respectively, were extracted from the exploratory dataset using exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on the validation dataset confirmed the factor structures identified by EFA. In addition, acceptable internal consistency and test-retest reliability were demonstrated for the Farsi translations of the 14-item two-factor EQ model and the 15-item four-factor SQ model. Conclusion: The results suggested further evidence in favor of the multi-factorial constructs of the EQ and SQ and validity and reliability of the scales

An 18-month Follow-up of Anger in Female Karate Athletes

Objective:The aim of this study was to evaluate changes of anger scores in female karate athletes during 18 months, and to compare anger scores in adolescents who continue or stop training karate.Method:The sample consisted of 18 female elite karate athletes, practicing modern style of karate. To measure anger and its subscales, participants were asked to complete “Adolescent Anger Rating Scale” (AARS) questionnaire in both stages of the study. Athletes were divided in to two groups of “stayer” (n=12) and “quitter” (n=6) if they continued practicing karate or stopped it, respectively. In order to study the changes of anger score with time, paired T test was used.Results:In analysis of changes in anger scores with time, there was a statistically significant increase in instrumental anger (p=0.001) and non-significant increase in other anger scores among 14-year-old girls who continued practicing karate.Conclusion :Increased instrumental anger in female karate athletes could be due to the impact of participation in a combative sport. However, the results should be interpreted cautiously due to limitations of the study

Effect of mental imagery on performance elite athletes’ in youth and adult age groups: a randomized trial

Background: Athletes are usually skilled in physical aspects of sports; they are widely involved in physical conditioning, technical and tactical training. However they usually ignore the psychological and cognitive skills linked to their performance. Sport imagery is a well known fundamental skill that has a critical role in how a player performs and shows his/her competency during a real world game. On the other hand football as a complex team sport includes several skills linked to physical and psychological properties. We aimed to study the effect of cognitive imagery on elite football players through league competitions in two separate studies.Methods: Twenty two youth players and Twenty two adult players randomly assigned to imagery and control groups. Players in intervention group received 12 weeks training program for specific cognitive imagery and general cognitive imagery. Imagery training program focused on an important component of football performance as “successful passing”. Players in control group were assigned to a waiting list with no intervention. In order to evaluate outcome variable we assessed successful passing in real compete-tions as player performance in both pre and post test occasions.Results: Findings of study in youth participants showed that young players in interven-tion group improved the performance of passing compared to control players (OR=1.41, P0.05, CI 95%: 0.82, 1.4(.Conclusion: These results showed that cognitive imagery intervention can affect elite soccer players’ performance. This effect is more prominent in youth age football players

A study on the effect of dual task on postural stability in children with high functional autistic disorder compared with typically developing children

Background and Aim: Performing cognitive and motor tasks simultaneously, which is called dual task, could be a challenging topic to children with motor disorders. Since in everyday life, each person can encounter situations in which require concurrent activities, and also there are deficits in cognition and motor control among autistic children, so we aimed to investigate the effect of cognitive task on children’s postural stability.Material & Methods: In this study, fifteen boys with high function autism in the age range of 9-13 were recruited. Individuals with sever intellectual disabilities and other neurological or skeletal disorders were excluded. The same numbers of healthy children who were typically matched according to their sex and age with problematic children were included. Then sway parameters in the single (only standing) and dual (standing and counting) conditions were calculated with force plate.Results: The postural sway score was higher in autistic group than control (p <0.05). Dual task makes the sway parameters increased. These changes are statistically significant in mean velocity among patients and also RMS (root mean square) among healthy children (p <0.05).Conclusion: In one hand, autistic children have more postural instability in contrast with the control group. Developmental delay or deficits in the central neural system can lead them to confront difficulties. In the other hand, the decreased postural control and increased sway in dual task, suggest the higher usage of the limited attentional capacity

Low Back Pain in Athletes Is Associated with General and Sport Specific Risk Factors: A Comprehensive Review of Longitudinal Studies

We aimed to examine systematically the available evidence on risk factors of low back pain (LBP) in athletes. We performed search without language restriction in PubMed, Ovid, Google Scholar, Scopus, and CINAHL. Longitudinal studies that examined possible risk factors of LBP in athletes were included in this systematic review. Based on methodological quality of studies, a best-evidence synthesis was conducted. Seven longitudinal studies were included, four of which had high methodological quality. Results showed that previous LBP, decreased lumbar flexion, and decreased lumbar extension are positively associated with LBP. There was moderate evidence for hip flexor tightness and high body weight as a risk factor. We found insufficient evidence for association between forward bending, previous injury, and amount of training per week, active years, age, and sex with LBP. In conclusion this study would provide a list of risk factors for LBP in athletes, though it showed a strong evidence for only a few including decrease lumbar flexion or extension, previous LBP, and high body weight. This review indicated a high heterogeneity of study characteristics including assessed risk factors and statistical techniques might limit the quality of evidence

Anger in adolescent boy athletes: A comparison judo, karate, swimming and non-athletes

Abstract Objective: Karate and judo are originally Japanese martial arts which may have different influences on adolescents&apos; behavior. This study was conducted to examine the total anger rate and its subscale-reactive anger, instrumental anger, and anger control-rates in young karateka and judoka. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in 11 to 19-year old boys. Adolescents included in the study were judoka (n=70), karateka (n=66), swimmers (n=59), and non athletes (n=96). One stage cluster sampling method was used to select judoka, karateka, and swimmers from sport clubs in Tehran. Students of governmental schools at the same area were chosen as the non-athletes group. The &quot;Adolescent Anger Rating Scale&quot; questionnaire was utilized to assess the anger rate. Findings: The mean age of participants was 12.90(±2.06) years. The total anger rates were 45.40 (±5.61) in judoka, 41.53(±5.63) in karateka, 41.19(±5.33) in swimmers, and 45.44 (±8.58) in non athletes. In total anger scale karateka and swimmers had a significantly lower score compared to judoka and non athletes. In instrumental anger subscale the difference was significant just between karateka and non athletes. In reactive anger subscale judoka showed higher scores than swimmers. In anger control subscale the difference was significant between judoka and swimmers and also judoka and karateka. The difference of anger control between karateka and non athletes was significant. Conclusion: The findings of this study propose a difference in the anger rate between judoka and karateka. In contrary to the results of previous studies, judo training may have no influence on anger control, while karate training could be beneficial

Action plan to increase physical activity during COVID-19 pandemic

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