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

Preparing athletes and teams for the Olympic Games: experiences and lessons learned from the world's best sport psychologists

As part of an increased effort to understand the most effective ways to psychologically prepare athletes and teams for Olympic competition, a number of sport psychology consultants have offered best-practice insights into working in this context. These individual reports have typically comprised anecdotal reflections of working with particular sports or countries; therefore, a more holistic approach is needed so that developing practitioners can have access to - and utilise - a comprehensive evidence-base. The purpose of this paper is to provide a panel-type article, which offers lessons and advice for the next generation of aspiring practitioners on preparing athletes and teams for the Olympic Games from some of the world’s most recognised and experienced sport psychologists. The sample comprised 15 sport psychology practitioners who, collectively, have accumulated over 200 years of first-hand experience preparing athletes and/or teams from a range of nations for six summer and five winter Olympic Games. Interviews with the participants revealed 28 main themes and 5 categories: Olympic stressors, success and failure lessons, top tips for neophyte practitioners, differences within one’s own consulting work, and multidisciplinary consulting. It is hoped that the findings of this study can help the next generation of sport psychologists better face the realities of Olympic consultancy and plan their own professional development so that, ultimately, their aspirations to be the world’s best can become a reality

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

Two-Color Coherent Photodissociation of Nitrogen Oxide in Intense Laser Fields

A simple one-dimensional semi-classical model with a Morse potential is used to investigate the possibility of two-color infrared multi-photon dissociation of vibrationally excited nitrogen oxide. The amplitude ratio effects and adiabatic effects are investigated. Some initial states are found to have thresholds smaller than expected from single-mode considerations and multiple thresholds exist for initial states up to 32. PACS: 42.50.HzComment: 3 pages, old papers, add source files to replace original postscrip

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

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

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

Damage estimation of subterranean building constructions due to groundwater inundation – the GIS-based model approach GRUWAD

The analysis and management of flood risk commonly focuses on surface water floods, because these types are often associated with high economic losses due to damage to buildings and settlements. The rising groundwater as a secondary effect of these floods induces additional damage, particularly in the basements of buildings. Mostly, these losses remain underestimated, because they are difficult to assess, especially for the entire building stock of flood-prone urban areas. For this purpose an appropriate methodology has been developed and lead to a groundwater damage simulation model named GRUWAD. The overall methodology combines various engineering and geoinformatic methods to calculate major damage processes by high groundwater levels. It considers a classification of buildings by building types, synthetic depth-damage functions for groundwater inundation as well as the results of a groundwater-flow model. The modular structure of this procedure can be adapted in the level of detail. Hence, the model allows damage calculations from the local to the regional scale. Among others it can be used to prepare risk maps, for ex-ante analysis of future risks, and to simulate the effects of mitigation measures. Therefore, the model is a multifarious tool for determining urban resilience with respect to high groundwater levels

State-to-State Differential and Relative Integral Cross Sections for Rotationally Inelastic Scattering of H2O by Hydrogen

State-to-state differential cross sections (DCSs) for rotationally inelastic scattering of H2O by H2 have been measured at 71.2 meV (574 cm-1) and 44.8 meV (361 cm-1) collision energy using crossed molecular beams combined with velocity map imaging. A molecular beam containing variable compositions of the (J = 0, 1, 2) rotational states of hydrogen collides with a molecular beam of argon seeded with water vapor that is cooled by supersonic expansion to its lowest para or ortho rotational levels (JKaKc= 000 and 101, respectively). Angular speed distributions of fully specified rotationally excited final states are obtained using velocity map imaging. Relative integral cross sections are obtained by integrating the DCSs taken with the same experimental conditions. Experimental state-specific DCSs are compared with predictions from fully quantum scattering calculations on the most complete H2O-H2 potential energy surface. Comparison of relative total cross sections and state-specific DCSs show excellent agreement with theory in almost all detailsComment: 46 page