Self-Efficacy, Flow, Affect, Worry and Performance in Elite World Cup Ski Jumping

The present study investigated the relationship between self-efficacy, flow, positive- and negative affect, worry and ski jumping performance, as well as the degree of influence these psychological factors have on ski jumping performance in specific competitions and overall World Cup ranking. World Cup ski jumpers (N = 40) responded to four questionnaires in the middle of the World Cup season, reporting their subjective experience during a competitive setting over a period of three consecutive days. Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) and Flow Theory was used as main conceptual frameworks. Self-efficacy was moderately related to ski jumping performance, both overall World Cup ranking (r = −0.37) and the results from the first out of three individual ski flying competitions (r = −0.36) and explained approximately 14% of the variance in the overall World Cup. Flow was moderately related to ski jumping performance, both overall World Cup ranking (Flow-Focus) (r = −0.34), and individual ski flying results from the first competition (Flow-Arousal) (r = −0.36). The Flow-Arousal explained approximately 13% of the variance in ski flying results. Worry was highly related to ski jumping performance in the second (r = 0.60) and third (r = 0.52) competition, indicating that approximately 36 and 27% of the variance in ski flying results could be accounted for by levels of worry, respectively. Negative affect was moderately related to ski flying performance (r = 0.34). These results show that psychological factors that regulate emotional states may be of importance for World Cup ski jumping performance, and that appropriate coping strategies, constructive mindset and motivation, appears to be essential in this regard. To our knowledge, this is the first study on the relationship between these psychological factors and ski jumping performance among World Cup athletes. The study adds important information about some of the dynamic features of emotional and psychological mechanisms involved during elite ski jumping performance

Perceived stress and musculoskeletal pain are prevalent and significantly associated in adolescents : An epidemiological cross-sectional study

Background: Long-term musculoskeletal pain and negative stress are health risks with adverse long-term health effects, and these health risks seem to increase among young people. The mechanisms behind this are unclear. There is a need for a better understanding of perceived stress and musculoskeletal pain among adolescents, in order to improve health promotion and treatment approaches in this group. Methods: Objectives were to evaluate the current prevalence of perceived stress and musculoskeletal pain in 15 and 16 year olds, to explore stress-pain associations and the probability that perceived stress (PSQ) was related to the reporting of pain and variations in pain, and to investigate possible differences in stress between different types of musculoskeletal pain in the adolescents. A cross-sectional study was conducted. Elementary schools participated. The outcomes were stress (Perceived stress questionnaire; PSQ) and musculoskeletal pain (pain/no pain, pain sites, pain duration and pain intensity (Visual analogue scale; VAS). Results: Fifty-one point two percent (N = 422) reported pain, of which 70.8 % reported long-term pain. Some more girls (57.9 %) reported pain. 22.0 % of the study population reported moderate to severe stress (PSQ ≥ 0.45), of which 79.6 % were bothered by pain (Pearson Chi-square 38.47, p ≤ .001). All stress and pain variables were significantly associated (p < .01). The strongest association appeared between pain intensity (VAS) and stress (PSQ) (r = 0.40). Perceived stress (PSQ) was associated with the reporting of pain among the adolescents (Odds Ratio [OR] 1.68) and could explain some of the variation in pain intensity (VAS; β = 0.15, p < .001) and number of pain sites (β = 0.14, p < .01), according to the regression analyses. There were no mean differences in stress (PSQ) between different types of musculoskeletal pain. Conclusions: There was high prevalence of musculoskeletal pain, long-term pain and moderate to severe stress (PSQ ≥ 0.45) in this study sample. Perceived stress (PSQ) was related to the reporting of musculoskeletal pain among the adolescents and could explain some of the variation in pain intensity (VAS) and number of pain sites. There were no differences in stress levels (PSQ) between different types of musculoskeletal pain in the adolescents.Open Access - This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated

Exploration of the Specificity of Motor Skills Hypothesis in 7–8 Year Old Primary School Children: Exploring the Relationship Between 12 Different Motor Skills From Two Different Motor Competence Test Batteries

This study examined the specificity hypothesis by examining the association between two specific motor competence test batteries [Movement Assessment Battery for Children (MABC) and Test of Motor Competence (TMC)] in a sample of young children. In addition, we explored the factorial structure of the MABC and TMC. A total of 80 children participated in the study (38 girls and 42 boys) with a mean chronological age of 7.9 years (SD 0.55). The correlation between total score MABC and total z-score TMC was r = 0.46. In general, low pair-wise correlations (r2 &lt; 0.20) between the different motor tasks were found. The highest correlation was between the placing bricks and building bricks r = 0.45 (TMC); the stork balance and jumping in squares r = 0.45 (MABC). These low pair-wise relations of items are consistent with findings from younger and older children's age-related motor competence test batteries. Principal components analysis (PCA) showed that the 1st component accommodated 25% of the variance and was dominated in the top five variable weightings by items of the MABC test; whereas the 2nd component accommodated 12% of the variance with the higher weightings all from the TMC test. The findings provide evidence with children for specificity rather than generality in learning motor skills a viewpoint that has predominantly been driven by adult learning studies. The PCA revealed that the MABC and TMC are testing different properties of children's motor competence though in both cases the variance accounted for is relatively modest, but generally higher than the motor item pair-wise correlation

Gender Gaps in Letter-Sound Knowledge Persist Across the First School Year

Literacy is the cornerstone of a primary school education and enables the intellectual and social development of young children. Letter-sound knowledge has been identified as critical for developing proficiency in reading. This study explored the development of letter-sound knowledge in relation to gender during the first year of primary school. 485 Norwegian children aged 5-6 years completed assessment of letter-sound knowledge, i.e., uppercase letters-name; uppercase letter-sound; lowercase letters-name; lowercase letter-sound. The children were tested in the beginning, middle, and end of their first school year. The results revealed a clear gender difference in all four variables in favor of the girls which were relatively constant over time. Implications for understanding the role of gender and letter-sound knowledge for later reading performance are discussed.Peer Reviewe

Associations of Physical Fitness and Motor Competence With Reading Skills in 9- and 12-Year-Old Children: A Longitudinal Study

This longitudinal study explores the association of motor competence and physical fitness with reading skills in children aged 9 and 12 years. Sixty-seven children aged 9 years completed an assessment of motor competence (measured using the Movement Assessment battery for Children), physical fitness (assessed using the Test of Physical Fitness), and reading (measured using the Wordchain test). The testing procedures were repeated after 32 months. For the 9-year-old group, there was a low, negative correlation between motor competence and reading overall, r = -.031 (girls: r = -.207; boys: r = .180). Correlation between fitness and reading was also low (r = .064). Girls had a higher correlation between fitness and reading than boys (r = .404; 17.7% shared variance, vs. r = -.138). When the children were 12 years old, there was still a low association of motor competence and fitness with reading. These low associations can be used to support the task specificity principles of learning.Peer Reviewe

The passion scale: Aspects of reliability and validity of a new 8-item scale assessing passion.

Publisher's version (útgefin grein)In this article, the psychometric properties of a new scale aimed at quantifying passion are explored, i.e. passion related to becoming good or achieving in some area/theme/skill. The Passion Scale was designed to be quantitative, simple to administer, applicable for large-group testing, and reliable in monitoring passion. A total of 126 participants between 18 and 47 years of age (mean age = 21.65, SD = 3.45) completed an assessment of Passion Scale, enabling us to investigate its feasibility, internal consistency, construct validity and test-retest reliability. Feasibility: The overall pattern of results suggest that the scale for passion presented here is applicable for the age studied (18-47). Internal consistency: All individual item scores correlated positively with the total score, with correlations ranging from 0.51 to 0.69. The Cronbach's alpha value for the standardized items was 0.86. Construct validity: Pearson correlations coefficient between total score passion scale and Grit-S scale were 0.39 for adults, mean age 21.23 (SD = 3.45) (N = 107). Test-retest reliability: Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICCs) between test and retest scores for the total score was 0.92. These promising results warrant further development of the passion scale, including normalization based on a large, representative sample."Peer Reviewed

The effect of aerobic exercise on speed and accuracy task components in motor learning

Acute exercise has an influence on human cognition, and both theoretical approaches and previous investigations suggest that the learning process can be facilitated. A distinction has been made however, between the predominately positive effects on task speed compared to both the negative and null effects on aspects of task accuracy. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise conducted before each practice trial (3 × week) for a period of four weeks, on speed and accuracy components in a novel keyboard typing task. To this end, young adults (n = 26) where randomized to a non-exercise resting group (control) or an exercise group (ergometer cycling at 65% of age-predicted maximal heart rate). Immediately after exercise or resting, participants practiced keyboard typing through specialized online software for a total of 2 h across the study period. All participants improved their speed and accuracy in the keyboard typing task. At 7-day retention, no differences were found between groups. Thus, the degree of improvement on both speed and accuracy task components was not significantly different between the exercise and control group. Further studies are warranted to establish the specific relationship between aerobic exercise and task components in motor learning and retention.publishedVersio

Passion, grit and mindset in football players

Publisher's version (útgefin grein)The main aim of the study was to explore the relationship between passion, grit and mindset in a group of football players in Norway. The sample had 63 participants. In three different groups in relation to age and level. Sogndal elite team (N = 25) (Elite), Sogndal Junior team (N = 17) (Junior 18) and young talents in Sogn-og Fjordane (N = 21) (Junior 15). To assess the level of passion the passion scale was used, an eight-item scale. To measure grit the Grit-S scale was used. The scale has 8 items. Mindset was measured with the Theories of Intelligence Scale (TIS). The scale has 8-items. Trainers in each group ranked the players football competence. The results show that the elite team did have the highest score in all factors. Significant difference between elite and Junior 15 in the factor grit. The results indicate significant correlations between the variables; passion-grit (r = 0.576, p < .001) and grit-mindset (r = 0.271, p < .05. The correlation was not significant for passion-mindset (r = 0.121). Elite: a significant correlation for the variables passion-grit (r = 0.474, p < .001) only. The correlation passion-mindset (r = 0.049); grit-mindset (r = 0.215) and trainers ranking was not significant. However, it is interesting to note the moderate correlation between passion and trainers ranking (r = -0.326) and grit and trainers ranking (r = -0.268) in this group. Junior 18: a significant correlation for the variables passion-grit (r = 0.679, p < .001) only. The correlation between passion-mindset (r = 0.146); grit-mindset (r = 0.381) and trainers ranking was not significant. Junior 15: the results indicate a significant correlation for the variables passion-grit (r = 0.665, p < .001) and passion-trainers ranking (r = -0.545, p < .05; large correlation) only. The correlation between passion-mindset (r = 0.181); and grit-mindset (r = 0.227) was not significant. In sum, despite associations magnitudes between variables (grit, mindset, and passion) are different among groups, only significant differences between groups were found in grit.Peer reviewe

Effect of a Single Bout of Acute Aerobic Exercise at Moderate-to-Vigorous Intensities on Motor Learning, Retention and Transfer

Publisher's version (útgefin grein)Acute exercise influences human cognition, and evidence suggests that learning can be improved. According to the cognitive-energetic approach towards exercise cognition, exercise represents a stressor that elevates physiological arousal, which, in turn, increases the availability of mental resources. However, the degree of arousal is hypothesized to have optimal and suboptimal states, and moderate intensity exercise is thus considered to be favorable compared to low intensity and vigorous exercise. The current evidence for such a moderating effect of exercise intensity on motor learning, however, appears somewhat mixed. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the effect of aerobic exercise conducted with different exercise intensities on immediate practice, transfer, and 24-h retention of a motor skill. To this end, young adults (n = 40, mean (SD) age: 23.80 (1.98) years) were randomized to exercise at either 50% or 75% of age-predicted maximal heart rate according to the Karvonen formulae. Immediately after exercising, participants practiced a high-precision golf putting task in a blocked design. Retention and transfer of skill were assessed after 24 h. Results indicated that both groups demonstrated motor learning, retention, and transfer at a similar level. Further works are thus needed to establish the specific relationship between exercise and learning and establish the factors that have an influence."Peer Reviewed

Passion, grit and mindset in young adults: Exploring the relationship and gender differences

Publisher's version (útgefin grein)The main aim of the study was to explore the associations between passion, grit and mindset in a group of young Icelandic adults. The sample consisted of 146 participants. The eight item Passion Scale was used to assess passion, and the Grit-S scale was used to assess grit. Mindset was measured with the Theories of Intelligence Scale (TIS). The scale has 8-items. The results show significant difference between female and male in the passion factor only, in favor of males. In addition the results indicated a significant correlation between all factors for the group as a whole; passion and grit, r = .435; passion and mindset, r = .260; grit and mindset, r = .274. The results for the gender separate indicate a same pattern for the females, significant correlation between all the factors; passion – grit, r = .382, passion-mindset, r = . 299 and grit-mindset, r = .356. For the males the pattern was different. Significant correlation was between passion-grit, r = .500 and for passion-mindset r =.260. For grit-mindset there was not significant correlation r = .215. The results indicate gender differences in associations between passion, grit and mindset.Peer reviewe