Three component model of meaningfulness of life of male and female university students regarding their sport activity

The aim of the study is to expand knowledge in meaningfulness of life of athlete and non-athlete college students at universities in Bratislava and identify differences in its dimensions: affective, motivation and cognitive. The research sample comprised of 198 undergraduates (males: n=90, 20.68±1.56 years of age; female: n=108, 20.74±1.16 years of age). The respondents were divided into 2 groups according to their sports activities: college students who do not take active part in any sports activities (non-athlete respondents), and college students who are engaged regularly (at least twice a week) in sport activities. The questionnaire The Scale of Life Meaningfulness was used as a research tool. The results revealed significant differences in total score of meaningfulness of life by male (U=383.0, p=0.001, r=0.52) and also female (U=687.5, p=0.001, r=0.45). According to three-component model we have found out the significant differences between athlete and non-athlete college students in affective dimension (male: p=0.025, female: p=0.007) and motivation dimension (male: p=0.001, female: p=0.001). There were no significant differences in cognitive dimension (male: p=0.062, female: p=0.127). According to our results which testified the fact that sport activity is one of the determinants for increased meaningfulness of life of undergraduates

Personal well-being as part of the quality of life: Is there a difference in the personal well-being of women and men with higher level of anxiety trait regarding their sport activity ?

Anxiety trait is a relatively stable personality trait, which refers to the differences between individuals in terms of their tendency to experience state anxiety in response to the anticipation of a threat. Regular sport activity may influence some aspects of emotional adjustment in positive way and so on an individual´s well-being. The aim of the study is to find out the possible differences in the level of separate dimensions of personal well-being of men and women with increased anxiety trait level, regarding their sport activity. The research sample consists of 74 respondents in late adolescence (30 men: athletes n=12, nonathletes n=18; 44 women athletes n=18, nonathletes n=26). We have used the standardized STAI questionnaire to determine the level of anxiety trait and standardized BDP questionnaire to determine the level of personal well-being (with respect to its two positive dimensions and three negative dimensions). The results have showed that male athletes demonstrated a significant higher level of positive attitude towards life (p=0.01) and a significantly lower level of awareness of problems (p=0.04) and depressive mood (p=0.03) as male nonathletes. Female athletes demonstrated a significant higher level of positive attitude towards life (p=0.02) and selfevaluation (p=0.00) while a significant lower level of depressive mood (p=0.04) as female nonathletes. Our findings indicate that regular sport activity can be a suitable instrument to increase personal wellbeing (in some aspects of well-being) of women and men with higher level of anxiety trait

Women’s Well-Being, State and Trait Anxiety Regarding their Sport Activity

The aim of the paper is to identify the level of women’s wellbeing regarding their sport activity, whereby we assume that athletes will have a higher level of wellbeing. The second aim is to determine the relationship between the individual dimensions of wellbeing and the level of state anxiety and trait anxiety. The research group consists of 107 women (20.03±1.47 years), divided into groups based on their sport activity (active 62, inactive 45). We used the standardized BDP questionnaire to determine the level of wellbeing. We used the standardized STAI questionnaire to determine the level of anxiety. We recorded a higher value of personal well-being in the sample of women actively participating in sport activities. In both the samples, we found an indirect relation between positive dimensions of personal well-being and state anxiety (in the case of the sample of women not participating in any sport activity even with trait anxiety). A direct relation between the negative dimensions of wellbeing and the level of state as well as trait anxiety was recorded only in the sample of women not participating in any sport activity. Our results correspond with other fi ndings which suggest that regular sport activity increases the level of women´s personal well-being. In the same time, our results partially correlate with research according to which state anxiety and trait anxiety tends to infl uence subjective personal well-being negatively. Our fi ndings indicate that sport activity can be a suitable instrument to increase women´s personal well-being

Achievement Motivation of Undergraduates Divided by Sport Activity

This paper strives to contribute to performance motivation research and to point out diff erences in achievement motivation among college students in terms of sports activities. The research sample was comprised of 248 college students (men: n=141, 22.40±1.62 years of age; women: n=107, 21.78±1.49 years of age) from Bratislava. The respondents were divided into 3 groups according to frequency of sports activities: college students who didn’t engage in any sports activities (non-active respondents), college students who engaged in sports activities 1 to 2 times a week (moderately active respondents), and those who engaged in sports activities 3 or more times a week (highly active respondents). A standardized DMV questionnaire consisting of 52 items was used as the research tool. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to assess the normality of data and the Kruskal-Wallis test and MannWhitney tests were used to test the signifi cance of the diff erences between independent choices. The coeffi cient η2 , expressed the eff ect of the independent variable (sport activity) on the dependent variable (achievement motivation). The degree of dependence between the two of the groups of features was expressed by means of the coeffi cient r. The results revealed signifi cant (p≤0.001) diff erences in all three performance motivation dimensions. The performance motivation of the highly active respondentswas signifi cantly (p=0.000) higher compared to that of the moderately active respondents. Also, when compared with the non-active respondents, the level of performance motivation was signifi cantly (p=0.000) higher among the highly active respondents. Performance motivation and performance-supporting anxiety increases with the frequency of sports activities; on the contrary, performance-hindering anxiety decreases with the frequency of sports activities. Hence, our results testify to the fact that sport activity is one of the determinants for increased performance motivation

Thyroid Cancer Detection in a Routine Clinical Setting: Performance of ACR TI-RADS, FNAC, and Molecular Testing in Prospective Cohort Study

The aim of our study was to address the potential for improvements in thyroid cancer detection in routine clinical settings using a clinical examination, the American College of Radiology Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Database System (ACR TI-RADS), and fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) concurrently with molecular diagnostics. A prospective cohort study was performed on 178 patients. DNA from FNA samples was used for next-generation sequencing to identify mutations in the genes BRAF, HRAS, KRAS, NRAS, and TERT. RNA was used for real-time PCR to detect fusion genes. The strongest relevant positive predictors for malignancy were the presence of genetic mutations (p p p < 0.01). Overall, FNAC, ACR TI-RADS, and genetic testing reached a sensitivity of up to 96.1% and a specificity of 88.3%, with a diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) of 183.6. Sensitivity, specificity, and DOR decreased to 75.0%, 88.9%, and 24.0, respectively, for indeterminate (Bethesda III, IV) FNAC results. FNA molecular testing has substantial potential for thyroid malignancy detection and could lead to improvements in our approaches to patients. However, clinical examination, ACR TI-RADS, and FNAC remained relevant factors