Athletic identity and aggressive behavior: A cross-cultural analysis in contact and collision sports.

Research independently examining athletic identity and aggressive sport behavior is quite extensive; however, the relationship between these variables has yet to be explored. Findings from the sport fandom literature regarding team identification and aggressive fan behavior provides a foundation on which to hypothesize about the potential role athletic identity may have in the expression of athlete aggression. Therefore, the purposes of the study were to: (a) further explore the utility and psychometric properties of the Athletic Identity Measurement Scale (AIMS) and the Competitive Aggressiveness and Anger Scale (CAAS), (b) examine the relationships between athletic identity, anger, and aggression in competitive athletes, (c) assess cross-cultural differences, and (d) test hypothesized pathways between variables predicted to contribute to sport aggression. A total of 569 male athletes participating in contact and collision sports in the United States (n = 362) and Hong Kong (n = 207) completed the AIMS, CAAS, and a modified version of the Context Modified Webb Scale. Results of the study showed support for future use of the AIMS and CAAS as sound measures of athletic identity, anger, and aggressiveness in both American and English-speaking Hong Kong Chinese athlete populations. Results also indicated small to moderate positive relationships between athletic identity, anger, and aggressiveness with differences in those variables found with respect to sport type (contact versus collision) and culture. Interestingly, group comparisons yielded significant differences between highly identified and lowly identified athletes in both anger and aggressiveness. Path analyses examined the influence of years of sport participation, perceived athletic ability, athletic identity, professionalization, and anger in aggressive sport behavior. Lastly, results indicated a good fit between the data and the proposed theoretical model accounting for 43.1% of the total variance in aggressiveness in American athletes and 56.5% of the variance in Hong Kong athletes

Characteristics of optimum falls prevention exercise programmes for community-dwelling older adults using the FITT principle

peer-reviewedThis review aims to identify the optimal exercise intervention characteristics for falls prevention among community-dwelling adults aged 60 years and over. Articles for inclusion were sourced by searching the Academic Search Premier, AMED, Biomedical Reference Collection: Expanded, CINAHL Plus, MEDLINE and SPORTDiscus databases with the key words ‘falls’, ‘prevention’, ‘exercise’ and ‘community’ and via reference lists of relevant articles. Only articles of level 1 or level 2 evidence (Howick et al. 2011) were included. Other inclusion criteria included recording falls incidence as an outcome measure, examining a community-dwelling population aged 60 years or over and implementing exercise as a single intervention in at least one group. Exercise programme characteristics from 31 articles were examined according to their frequency, intensity, time and type and their effects on falls incidence were reviewed. Exercising for a minimum of 1 h/week for at least 40 h over the course of an intervention is required to successfully reduce falls incidence. The optimal exercise frequency is three times per week, but the optimal duration per bout remains unclear. Specific balance training of sufficiently challenging intensity is a vital programme component, and strength training is most effective when combined with balance training. Flexibility and endurance training may also be included as part of a comprehensive programme. A combination of group and individual home exercise may be most effective for preventing falls and promoting exercise adherence

How Sweet It Is: The Many Reasons for Low-calorie Sweetener Consumption by Young Adults

Background: Over 40% of adults and 25% of children report consuming low-calorie sweeteners (LCS) daily. Despite their widespread use and non-caloric nature, whether LCS are beneficial for weight management is unclear. Epidemiologic studies demonstrate that LCS promote weight gain, yet human intervention studies suggest that replacement of added sugars with LCS may be beneficial, particularly in the context of behavioral support. The purpose of this study was to elucidate reasons why individuals consume LCS to gain insight into the contextual factors associated with LCS consumption, which may dictate the extent to which they are ultimately helpful or harmful for metabolic health. Methods: Sixty-eight college students (18 to 35 years of age) reporting habitual LCS consumption participated in the study. Each participant identified their reasons for LCS use through a secure web link and responded to the focus prompt “I consume low-calorie sweeteners” and/or products labeled “diet”, “sugar-free” or ‘no sugar added because.’ Each participant was asked to report as many reasons for their LCS use as possible. Once saturation was reached in brainstorming, idea synthesis, a form of qualitative content analysis, was conducted by the research team to sort and group statements based on their collective meaning. Results: A list of 195 statements was generated during brainstorming. Idea synthesis resulted in 38 independent reasons that represented the full saturation of ideas from the original statement list. Reasons for LCS consumption included 13 discrete themes: taste (10), calorie/weight management (8), finances (3), performance (3), overall health (2), sugar reduction (2), access (2), dietary patterns (2), addiction (2), weather (1), habit (1), family influence (1), and social influence (1). Discussion: The current body of literature investigating LCS effects within the context of intensive weight loss interventions captures only one of many contexts in which LCS are consumed. Our findings demonstrate that LCS are consumed for numerous reasons, spanning palatability, cost, habit, peer and family influences, and craving, in addition to weight management. These results will aid in the design of subsequent studies to investigate LCS health effects in a manner that best reflects real-life consumption. Furthermore, these findings may explain seemingly discrepant conclusions of epidemiologic and rodent studies compared to human intervention trials. Future investigations should also aim to quantify the extent to which the 38 reasons identified for consumption are true of the broader population of individuals who regularly consume LCS

Triangulation in youth sport: Healthy partnerships among parents, coaches, and practitioners

Youth sport is unique because it involves communication, coordination, and maintenance of relationships among multiple adults, all of whom are vested stakeholders in a child-athlete’s sport experience. This dynamic becomes even more complex when a sport psychology practitioner is added; therefore, the purpose of this paper is to provide guidelines and considerations to assist sport psychology practitioners in managing the triangulation of adults who are involved in the consultation process with youth athletes. We first discuss specific dyads and considerations for the practitioner and then highlight recommendations for practitioners regarding transparency and confidentiality issues specific to youth athletes

Mental training with youth sport teams: Developmental considerations and best practice recommendations

Working with youth athletes requires knowledge of the inherent variability in child and adolescent development that will impact the implementation of a mental training program. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of developmental considerations that should be noted when doing mental training, particularly for athletes participating in sport at mid-childhood, early adolescence, and mid-adolescence. Gender differences at these stages of development are also highlighted. Additionally, we forward best practice recommendations and learning-activities that have been tailored for each developmental stage that can be used in the provision of a mental training program in a team setting

Assessment in youth sport: Practical issues and best practice guidelines

Assessment is an important element to the present and future of sport psychology (McCann et al., 2002), both in science and in practice. Yet, there exist few resources addressing the unique developmental parameters facing sport scientists and sport practitioners when it comes to conducting sound assessment across the athletic lifespan. Indeed, this aspect of the literature remains particularly sparse with respect to youth sport assessment (Noble, 2011). Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to provide an understanding of the practical issues and best practice guidelines pertaining to assessment during the provision of sport psychology services to children and adolescent athletes

Conceptualization of Low-calorie Sweetener Consumption Among Young Adults

Background: Over 40% of adults and 25% of children report consuming low-calorie sweeteners (LCS) daily, yet whether LCS are beneficial for weight management and metabolic health is unclear. Epidemiologic studies demonstrate that LCS promote weight gain and development of chronic disease, yet human intervention studies suggest replacement of added sugars with LCS may be beneficial. Discrepancies in findings of observational compared to interventional studies suggest the effects of LCS may be largely dependent on the context in which they are used. The purpose of this study was to develop a conceptual framework using a mixed-method, applied social research methodology called concept mapping to understand the determinants of LCS consumption among young adults (18-35 years old) reporting habitual LCS consumption. Method: Concept mapping engages participants in a step-wise series of tasks (i.e., brainstorming, sorting, rating), which was conducted in two phases. In phase one, participants (n = 68) were asked to brainstorm as many reasons for their LCS use as possible, responding to the prompt, ‘I consume low-calorie sweeteners and/or products labeled ‘diet,’ ‘sugar-free’ or ‘no sugar added’ because…’. Once a saturation of ideas was reached, idea synthesis identified a discrete list of LCS determinants that was representative of all brainstormed ideas. In phase two, participants (n = 93) were asked to sort the LCS determinants based on their meaning and rate (n = 97) each determinant on how true it was to their own consumption of LCS. All activities were completed using an online platform. Results: Idea synthesis identified 38 determinants of LCS consumption. Similarity matrices, multidimensional scaling, and hierarchical cluster analysis with a two-dimensional solution produced a series of maps (i.e., SWEET MAPS) spatially representing young adults LCS consumption within 8 overarching factors (i.e., Taste Preference, Sweetness, Don’t Like Water, Dependence, Health Benefits & Performance, Weight Management, Habitual Influence, and Cost & Availability). Among these factors, Weight Management, Taste Preference, Sweetness, and Habitual Influences were rated the highest. Discussion: Although weight management was among the highest rated factors for LCS consumption, our findings demonstrate that LCS are consumed for numerous reasons. These results will aid in the design of subsequent studies to investigate LCS health effects in a manner that best reflects ‘real-life’ consumption and accounts for contextual factors that may influence LCS effects. Furthermore, these findings call attention to the many challenges in extrapolating findings reported in highly controlled rodent models into the complex framework of human behavior