Criteria of Personal, Boys', and Girls' Popularity As Ranked By Greek Adolescents

This study examined what Greek adolescents believe are the most important criteria of personal, boys’ and girls’ popularity in their age group. Participants were 364 students aged between 12 and 15 years. Seven main criteria of popularity were identified: sport competence, physical appearance, academic ability, being a good friend, being sociable, having a good sense of humor, and having the ‘right circle of friends’. With regard to personal popularity, results showed that being a good friend and being sociable were the two most highly ranked criteria for both boys and girls across all ages. Boys and girls perceived differently the most important criteria of boys’ and girls’ popularity. Specifically, for same-gender popularity, being a good friend was the most highly ranked criterion, whereas for other-gender popularity physical attractiveness was the most highly ranked criterion. The findings imply that friendship and social affiliation are the most important criteria of popularity in Greek adolescents

Antecedents of perceived coach interpersonal behaviors: the coaching environment and coach psychological well- and ill-being

Embedded in the self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000) framework, we obtained self-report data from 418 paid and voluntary coaches from a variety of sports and competitive levels with the aim of exploring potential antecedents of coaches’ perceived autonomy supportive and controlling behaviors. Controlling for socially desirable responses, structural equation modeling revealed that greater job security and opportunities for professional development, and lower work–life conflict were associated with psychological need satisfaction, which, in turn, was related to an adaptive process of psychological well-being and perceived autonomy support toward athletes. In contrast, higher work–life conflict and fewer opportunities for development were associated with a distinct maladaptive process of thwarted psychological needs, psychological ill-being, and perceived controlling interpersonal behavior. The results highlight how the coaching context may impact upon coaches’ psychological health and their interpersonal behavior toward athletes. Moreover, evidence is provided for the independence of adaptive and maladaptive processes within the self-determination theory paradigm

Goal striving and well-being in sport: the role of contextual and personal motivation

This investigation sought to clarify mixed results in the literature exploring coach behaviors, basic psychological needs, goal motivation, and well- and ill-being. Regional level team sport athletes (N = 241) completed questionnaires on the aforementioned variables at the beginning of the season. A subsample (n = 70) provided saliva samples to assess physical ill-being. At the end of the season, athletes (n = 98) reported their goal motivation and attainment. Structural equation modeling demonstrated that coach behaviors were related to needs satisfaction and thwarting, which were related to autonomous and controlled goal motives respectively. Autonomous motives were related to well- and ill-being; controlled motives were only related to ill-being. Over time, only end-of-season autonomous goal motives were related to goal attainment. The findings provide an insight into how coaches can facilitate optimum goal striving and well-being in their athletes

Personal and psychosocial predictors of doping use in physical activity settings: a meta-analysis.

Background: There is a growing body of empirical evidence on demographic and psychosocial predictors of doping intentions and behaviors utilizing a variety of variables and conceptual models. However, to date there has been no attempt to quantitatively synthesize the available evidence and identify the strongest predictors of doping. Objectives: Using meta-analysis, we aimed to (i) determine effect sizes of psychological (e.g. attitudes) and social-contextual factors (e.g. social norms), and demographic (e.g. sex and age) variables on doping intentions and use; (ii) examine variables that moderate such effect sizes; and (iii) test a path analysis model, using the meta-analyzed effect sizes, based on variables from the theory of planned behavior (TPB). Data Sources: Articles were identified from online databases, by contacting experts in the field, and searching the World Anti-Doping Agency website. Study Eligibility Criteria and Participants: Studies that measured doping behaviors and/or doping intentions, and at least one other demographic, psychological, or social-contextual variable were included. We identified 63 independent datasets. Study Appraisal and Synthesis Method: Study information was extracted by using predefined data fields and taking into account study quality indicators. A random effects meta-analysis was carried out, correcting for sampling and measurement error, and identifying moderator variables. Path analysis was conducted on a subset of studies that utilized the TPB. Results: Use of legal supplements, perceived social norms, and positive attitudes towards doping were the strongest positive correlates of doping intentions and behaviors. In contrast, morality and self-efficacy to refrain from doping had the strongest negative association with doping intentions and behaviors. Furthermore, path analysis suggested that attitudes, perceived norms, and self-efficacy to refrain from doping predicted intentions to dope and, indirectly, doping behaviors. Limitations: Various meta-analyzed effect sizes were based on a small number of studies, which were correlational in nature. This is a limitation of the extant literature. Conclusions: This review identifies a number of important correlates of doping intention and behavior, many of which were measured via self-reports and were drawn from an extended TPB framework. Future research might benefit from embracing other conceptual models of doping behavior and adopting experimental methodologies that will test some of the identified correlates in an effort to develop targeted anti-doping policies and programs

Is Sport an Untapped Resource for Recovery from First Episode Psychosis? A narrative review and call to action

AIM: The objective of this narrative review is to address the question: Should sport-based life skills interventions be developed for young people recovering from first episode psychosis? METHODS: A prose was developed through a broad, critical narrative review of literatures on (1) first episode psychosis recovery (FEP); and (2) life skills and sport, highlighting the conceptual (and limited empirical) links between the two. This style of review allowed for a critical examination of evidence from seemingly distinct literatures to address a question yet to be explored empirically. RESULTS: The review process highlighted important overlaps between psychosis recovery and sport. A review of the FEP recovery literature reveals that important components of an individual's recovery following a psychotic episode are: (1) physical activity, (2) opportunities to build life skills, and (3) social connectivity. A review of the sport and life skills literature suggests that sport can be a powerful platform from which to: (1) promote physical activity, (2) teach life skills, and (3) foster social connectivity within vulnerable populations. Despite the clear links between the two fields, mental health interventions that combine both life skills training components and physical activity in a context that promotes social connectivity are scarce to none. CONCLUSIONS: We suggest that sport-based interventions could be an opportunity to provide life skills training, social connectivity and physical activity opportunities in one intervention to individuals recovering from their first psychotic episode. We call for their development, and provide empirically-based recommendations for intervention design

Mental toughness in sport: Motivational antecedents and associations with performance and psychological health

We argue that basic psychological needs theory (BPNT) offers impetus to the value of mental toughness as a mechanism for optimizing human functioning. We hypothesized that psychological needs satisfaction (thwarting) would be associated with higher (lower) levels of mental toughness, positive affect, and performance and lower (higher) levels of negative affect. We also expected that mental toughness would be associated with higher levels of positive affect and performance and lower levels of negative affect. Further, we predicted that coaching environments would be related to mental toughness indirectly through psychological needs and those psychological needs would indirectly relate with performance and affect through mental toughness. Adolescent cross-country runners (136 male and 85 female, Mage = 14.36) completed questionnaires pertaining to BPNT variables, mental toughness, and affect. Race times were also collected. Our findings supported our hypotheses. We concluded that BPNT is generative in understanding some of the antecedents and consequences of mental toughness and is a novel framework useful for understanding mental toughness

A Three-Wave Longitudinal Test of Self-Determination Theory's Mediation Model of Engagement and Disaffection in Youth Sport.

Research adopting self-determination theory (SDT) supports a mediation model whereby coach motivational styles (autonomy support and interpersonal control) predict athletes' engagement and disaffection in youth sport via the satisfaction and frustration of psychological needs (autonomy, competence, and relatedness). Our study extends this research by examining SDT's mediation model longitudinally with three waves of data. Two hundred fifty-two youth sports participants (Mage = 12.98; SD = 1.84; range = 11-17; female n = 67) completed measures of study variables at the start, middle, and end of a competitive soccer season. Cross-lagged path analyses revealed that associations between the two coach motivational styles and athletes' engagement were mediated by psychological need satisfaction. Furthermore, a positive reciprocal association between psychological need satisfaction and engagement emerged over time. This study therefore supports the temporal assumptions underpinning SDT's mediation model but, importantly, evidences a mutually reinforcing interplay between athletes' psychological needs and their engaged behavior

Intrinsic motivation in two exercise interventions: Associations with fitness and body composition.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the motivational process through which increases in aerobic capacity and decreases in total body fat are achieved during high-intensity intermittent training (HIT) and moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) interventions. METHOD: Eighty-seven physically inactive adults (65% women, age = 42 ± 12, BMI = 27.67 ± 4.99 kg/m2) took part in a 10-week randomized intervention testing group-based HIT, operationalized as repeated sprints of 15-60 s interspersed with periods of recovery cycling ≤ 25 min/session, 3 sessions/wk-1, or MICT, operationalized as cycling at constant workload of ∼65% maximum aerobic capacity (VO2max, 30-45 min/session-1, 5 sessions/wk-1. Assessments of VO2max and total body fat were made pre- and postintervention. Motivation variables were assessed midintervention and class attendance was monitored throughout. Path analysis was employed, controlling for treatment arm and baseline values of VO2max and total body fat. RESULTS: The 2 groups differed in adherence only, favoring HIT. Baseline VO2max predicted intrinsic motivation midintervention. Intrinsic motivation predicted program adherence, which in turn predicted increases in VO2max and decreases in total body fat by the end of the study. CONCLUSION: Intrinsic motivation in HIT and MICT is positively linked to adherence to these programs, which can facilitate improvements in fitness and body composition. (PsycINFO Database Recor