Experiences of Burnout Among Adolescent Female Gymnasts: Three Case Studies

Within the current study, the process of adolescent burnout is considered in relation to perceived contributors, symptoms, consequences, and subsequently, effective and ineffective coping strategies. Through case studies, the researchers sought the burnout experiences of three competitive female gymnasts. Participants were selected based on scores obtained from Raedeke and Smith’s (2001) Athlete Burnout Questionnaire. To gain a comprehensive understanding of the process, athlete data were considered in tandem with interviews from at least one parent and one coach. Transcribed data were segmented into meaning units, coded into a hierarchy of themes and verified by each respondent. Despite common trends among the participants, differences were also found in relation to symptoms, contributors, and the progression of the condition. Implications are provided for the athlete/parent/coach triad and also for sport psychologists

It takes a community to train a future physician: social support experienced by medical students during a community-engaged longitudinal integrated clerkship

Background:Social support may be beneficial for medical students who must develop adaptive strategies to respond to the demands and challenges during third-year clerkship.We provide a detailed description of the supportive behaviours experienced by third-year students during a longitudinal integrated clerkship (LIC) in the context of rural family medicine. Methods:Informed by a social constructivist research paradigm, we undertook a qualitative study to understand from the students’ perspectives the presence and characteristics of social support available during a LIC.Data were collected from conversational interviews at three points during the eight-month clerkship year, pre-, during, and post-clerkship, to explore how 12 medical students experienced social support. We employed an innovative methodological approach, the guided walk method, to gain the students’ stories in the contexts where they were taking place. Results: The participants described the relationships they developed with various sources of social support such as (a) preceptors, (b) peers, (c) family, (d) health professionals, and (e) community members.  Conclusion:Various individuals representing communities of practice such as the medical profession and community members were intimately related to the longitudinal aspects of the students’ experiences. The findings lend credence to the view that it really does take a community to train a future physician

Considerations Regarding Graduate Student Persistence

Completion of graduate studies is a central issue for universities. Over the past decade researchers interested in higher education have become concerned with graduate student completion rates. Possible reasons underlying variations in graduate student persistence have included the amassed learning experiences and subsequent perceptions of graduate students, supervisory committee members, and other department staff. This article addresses some of the psychosocial considerations that underlie the complex interactions among students, supervisory committees, and departmental support staff, referred to here as the "academic triad." Using Seligman's (1991) explanatory framework and Bandura's (1986) self-efficacy theory, this article explains how student persistence is closely tied to the behavior of students, academics, and departmental support staff. Further, the article provides two frameworks to gain a broadened understanding of the relationship between the academic triad and graduate student persistence. Recommendations are provided as to how to foster graduate student persistence through improved personal and interpersonal reflexivity.L'obtention par les étudiants d'un diplôme de deuxième ou troisième cycle constitue une question centrale pour les universités. Depuis les dix dernières années, les chercheurs dans le domaine de l'éducation postsecondaire se penchent davantage sur les taux de réussite chez les étudiants du deuxième ou troisième cycle. Parmi les raisons évoquées pour expliquer la variation dans la persévérance des étudiants du deuxième ou troisième cycle, on a proposé trois facteurs: l'accumulation des expériences d'apprentissage et les perceptions qu'en ont les étudiants, les membres du comité de thèse et finalement, les membres du personnel non-académique des départements impliqués. Cet article étudie quelques-unes des considérations psychosociales qui sous-tendent les interactions complexes entre les étudiants, les comités de thèse et le personnel non-académique. On nomme ces trois groupes la «triade académique». En s'appuyant à la fois sur le cadre de Seligman (1991) et la théorie d'auto efficacité de Bandura (1986), les auteurs expliquent le lien serré entre la persévérance des étudiants d'une part et le comportement des étudiants, du personnel académique et du personnel non-académique d'autre part. Les auteurs fournissent en plus deux cadres permettant de mieux comprendre le rapport entre la triade académique et la persévérance des étudiants de deuxième ou troisième cycle. Sont également présentées des recommandations pour favoriser la persévérance des étudiants de deuxième ou troisième cycle par le biais d'une autoréférence personnelle et interpersonnelle améliorée

An Examination of the Challenges Experienced by Canadian Ice-Hockey Players in the National Hockey League

Semistructured interviews were used in this study to learn about the challenges experienced by four groups of National Hockey League (NHL) players (N=11): prospects (n=3), rookies (n=3), veterans (n=2), and retirees (n=3). The database is comprised of 757 meaning units grouped into 11 contextual challenges pertaining to scouting demands, training camp, increased athletic demands, team expectations, and earning team trust. The veterans spoke mostly of challenges including scouting demands, athletic demands, and team expectations. Retirees considered mostly challenges pertaining to team expectations, athletic demands, lifestyle, media demands, transactions, cross-cultural encounters, and playoffs. An expert panel ensured that the interview guide, data analysis, and the findings represented the participants’ experiences in the NHL. Recommendations for practitioners and researchers working with NHL players are proposed

The COVID-19 pandemic and Olympic/Paralympic athletes’ developmental challenges and possibilities in times of a global crisis-transition

Our aim in this invited commentary is to stimulate discussion among sport psychology researchers and practitioners regarding the unique developmental challenges and possibilities that Olympic and Paralympic athletes are undergoing during their final – extended year of the Tokyo 2020 quadrenium. We begin the commentary with COVID-19 pandemic (C-19) context setting, proceed with discussing transitional and holistic perspectives on athletes’ Olympic/Paralympic journey, outline three potential pathway scenarios and “C-19 as a possibility-provider” coping (meta-) scenario for Olympic/Paralympic athletes, and finalise our commentary with a summary of messages intended to invite further discussion and collaboration

The Adaptation Challenges and Strategies of Adolescent Aboriginal Athletes Competing Off Reserve

Within the motivation literature, it has been indicated that athletes respond more effectively to sport’s contextual challenges through effective adaptation skills. Fiske identified five core motives as facilitators of the adaptation process across cultures: belonging, understanding, controlling, self-enhancement, and trusting. Through a cultural sport psychology approach, the adaptation challenges and strategies of Canadian Aboriginal adolescent athletes from one community (Wikwemikong) are described as they traveled off reserve to compete in mainstream sporting events. Concurrently, Fiske’s core motives are considered in relation to youth sport participants from the aforementioned Aboriginal community. Culture sensitive research methods among the Wikwemikong, including community meetings, talking circles (TCs), indigenous coding, and coauthoring, were employed in this article. Data are reflected in three themes: (a) challenges pursuing sport outside of the Aboriginal community in advance of bicultural encounters, (b) challenging bicultural encounters in Canadian mainstream sport contexts, and (c) specific responses to racism and discrimination

Coaches' decision making

Frank C, Wright D, Holmes P. Mental simulation and neurocognition: Advances for motor imagery and action observation training in sport. In: Routledge International Encyclopedia of Sport and Exercise Psychology. London: Routledge; 2020: 411-429

Joint position stand of the ISSP, FEPSAC, ASPASP, and AASP on professional accreditation

© 2018 Objectives: To situate the current status of accreditation in four key international societies, ASPASP, FEPSAC, AASP, and ISSP, in a historical backdrop and then to draw on these approaches to propose future directions and developments relating to practical standards. Design: A review of the origins and current status of accreditation in four international sport psychology societies is utilized to situate the recent prominence of professional standards and the importance of these in our global professional community. This review is written temporally from past, to present, to future prospects. Method: A presentation of societal accreditation foci is situated temporally using the following structure: (a) emergence and historical backdrop from each society, (b) emergence and reasoning for accreditation, (c) current societal standards/status of accreditation, (d) future developments in the society's accreditation system, and (e) reflections and recommendations for global standards, with suggestions of how this might be accomplished. Results: The presentation of scholarship is intended to serve as a form of advocacy for improved accreditation standards within the global professional community. The societal perspectives call for a balance between localized cultural infusion and proposed global guidelines upon which professionals might meet a converged reasonable practice threshold. Conclusions: Sport psychology accreditation is increasingly important as the applied realm of this profession spans community physical activity/recreation, and developmental and elite/professional sport. Accredited practices must integrate universal and local approaches

A season long investigation into the effects of injury, match selection and training load on mental wellbeing in professional under 23 soccer players: A team case study

This study examined the influence of injury, match selection and training load on mental wellbeing (MW) in a squad of professional soccer players. Using a longitudinal design, twenty-five male soccer players (age, 20 ± 1 years, height, 1.80 ± 5.79 m, body mass 76.33 ± 7.52 kg) from the under 23 squad playing in the Premier League 2 division in the UK completed the Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS) each week of the 2017/2018 season (37 weeks in total). Injury and non-selection for the match squad were the only significant predictors of MW (P  0.05). These findings highlight the importance of monitoring MW in professional soccer players and suggest that injured players and those rarely selected for the match squad should be educated on the strategies available for managing their mental health and wellbeing