Developmental Trajectories of Motivation in Physical Education: Course, Demographic Differences and Antecedents

This study investigated changes in student motivation to participate in physical education and some determinants of these changes over a period of three years. Measures were taken twice a year, from the age of 13 until the age of 15 years, from a sample of Greek junior high school students. Multilevel modeling analyses showed significant decreases in task-involving teacher climate, relatedness, identified regulation, and intrinsic motivation. In contrast, there were significant increases in ego-involving climate and amotivation. For some of these variables the observed linear decreases or increases were somewhat reversed by the beginning of the last year of the junior high school. No significant changes were observed in competence need satisfaction and in extrinsic and introjected regulations. We found substantial between-student variability in the intercepts and growth trajectories of most variables and, therefore, we tested a number of theoretical and demographic predictors to partly account for such variations. The results indicated that increases in maladaptive motivation in physical education over time are not uniform across all students and may be partly tackled by facilitating competence need satisfaction. Keywords: Self-determination theory, changes in motivation, Greek students, psychological need satisfaction, motivational regulation

Developmental changes in achievement motivation and affect in physical education: Growth trajectories and demographic differences.

Objective: We examined changes in student achievement goals, perceptions of motivational climate and affective responses in secondary school physical education. Method: Greek junior high school students (N ¼ 394; 191 males and 203 females) responded to a multisection questionnaire twice a year from the ages of 12 to 15 years. Results: Multilevel modeling analyses showed significant linear decreases in perceptions of taskinvolving teacher climate, task and ego goal orientations, which were somewhat reversed by the beginning of the last year of the junior high school. Significant linear decreases were also observed for enjoyment whereas there were significant linear increases for perceptions of ego-involving climate and boredom. There was significant variability in the intercepts and/or average changes over time for all variables and, therefore, we included demographic and theoretical predictors in an attempt to account for such variations. Conclusion: The results indicated that decreases in adaptive motivation over time vary across students and in some cases may be tackled by fostering a task-involving teacher climate

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

Moral Disengagement and Risk Prototypes in the Context of Adolescent Cyberbullying: Findings From Two Countries

Cyberbullying is associated with a wide range of mental health difficulties and behavioral problems in adolescents and research is needed to better understand psychological correlates of this behavior. The present study used a novel model that incorporated Social Cognitive Theory and the prototype/willingness model to identify the correlates of behavioral willingness to engage in cyberbullying in two countries. Adolescent students were randomly selected from secondary schools in Italy (n = 1710) and Greece (n = 355), and completed anonymous measures of moral disengagement, descriptive norms, risk prototype evaluations and behavioral willingness to engage in cyberbullying. Hierarchical linear regression analyses showed that willingness to engage in cyberbullying was associated with moral disengagement, prototype evaluations and descriptive social norms in Italy, and with gender, moral disengagement and descriptive social norms in Greece. Regression-based multiple mediation modeling further showed that the association between moral disengagement and cyberbullying willingness was mediated by prototype evaluations in Italy and by descriptive norms in Greece. The implications of our findings are discussed in the context of self-regulating cyberbullying perpetration in adolescents and informing school-based policies and interventions to prevent cyberbullying behavior

A call for policy guidance on psychometric testing in doping control in sport.

One of the fundamental challenges in anti-doping is identifying athletes who use, or are at risk of using, prohibited performance enhancing substances. The growing trend to employ a forensic approach to doping control aims to integrate information from social sciences (e.g., psychology of doping) into organised intelligence to accelerate the pursuit of clean sport. Beyond the foreseeable consequences of a positive identification as a doping user, this task is further complicated by the discrepancy between what constitutes a doping offence in the World Anti-Doping Code and operationalized in doping research. Whilst psychology plays an important role in developing our understanding of doping behaviour in order to inform intervention and prevention, its contribution to the array of doping diagnostic tools is still in its infancy. At the same time, we must acknowledge that socially desirable responding confounds self-reported psychometric test results. Further, the cognitive complexity surrounding test performance means that the response-time based measures and the lie detector tests for revealing concealed life-events (e.g., doping use) are prone to produce false or non-interpretable outcomes in field settings. Differences in social-cognitive characteristics of doping behaviour that are tested at group level (doping users vs. non-users) cannot be extrapolated to individuals; nor these psychometric measures used for individual diagnostics. In this paper, we present a position statement calling for policy guidance on appropriate use of psychometric assessments in the pursuit of clean sport. We argue that both self-reported and response-time based psychometric tests for doping have been designed, tested and validated to explore how athletes feel and think about doping in order to develop a better understanding of doping behaviour, not to establish evidence for doping. A false 'positive' psychological profile for doping (or even failing to produce a definite negative profile) affects not only the individual ‘clean’ athlete but also their entourage, their organisation and sport itself. The proposed policy guidance aims to protect the global athletic community against social, ethical and legal consequences from potential misuse of psychological tests, including applications as forensic diagnostic tools in both practice and research

A Serious Game Approach in Anti-Doping Education: the Game Project

Anti-doping education has largely relied on traditional educational approaches such as face-to-face interaction and e-learning material. Current challenges in anti-doping education involve a) the development of modern educational tools suitable for the new generation of athletes, b) the use of state-of- art learning pedagogies that will enable effective engagement, learning and retention of the learned material, c) a systematic evaluation of the outcomes of anti-doping educational interventions on behavior and related cognition, and d) a positive approach to doping prevention. Project GAME aims to address these needs through the development of a serious game that will incorporate current empirical evidence on the psychological mechanisms underpinning the decision making process towards doping use in competitive and recreational sports. The aim of the present study is to highlight the importance of anti-doping education, conduct a state of the art literature review on serious games' design, present the prototype of a scenario that will be included in a serious game for anti-doping education, and discuss the project's activities related to the use of technologies in anti-doping education. +++++++++++++ Anti-doping education has largely relied on traditional educational aproaches such as face-to-face interaction and e-learning material. Current chalenges in anti-doping education involve a) the development of modern educational tools suitable for the new generation of athletes, b) the use of state-of- art learning pedagogies that will enable effective engagement, learning and retention of the learned material, c) a systematic evaluation of the outcomes of anti-doping educational interventions on behavior and related cognition, and d) a positive approach to doping prevention. Project GAME aims to address these needs through the development of a serious game that will incorporate current empirical evidence on the psychological mechanisms underpinning the decision making process towards doping use in competitive and recreational sports. The aim of the present study is to highlight the importance of anti-doping education, conduct a state of the art literature review on serious games' design, present the prototype of a scenario that will be included in a serious game for anti-doping education, and discuss the project's activities related to the use of technologies in anti-doping educatio

Reporting doping in sport: national level athletes' perceptions of their role in doping prevention.

This paper qualitatively explores national level athletes' willingness to report doping in sport. Following ethical approval, semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine national level athletes from rugby league (n = 5) and track and field athletics (n = 4). Thematic analysis established the main themes within the data. Contextual differences existed around the role that athletes perceived they would play if they became aware of doping. Specifically, track and field athletes would adopt the role of a whistle-blower and report individuals who were doping in their sport. In comparison, the rugby league players highlighted a moral dilemma. Despite disagreeing with their teammates' actions, the players would adhere to a code of silence and refrain from reporting doping. Taking these findings into account, prevention programs might focus on changing broader group and community norms around doping. In doing so, community members' receptivity to prevention messages may increase. Moreover, developing skills to intervene (e.g., speaking out against social norms that support doping behavior) or increasing awareness of reporting lines could enhance community responsibility for doping prevention. In sum, the findings highlight the need to consider the context of sport and emphasize that a one-size-fits-all approach to anti-doping is problematic

Doping use in sport teams : the development and validation of measures of team-based efficacy beliefs and moral disengagement from a cross-national perspective

Objectives: The main goal of this research focused on the development and validation of three instruments designed to assess athletes' self-regulatory efficacy in team contexts, team collective efficacy and team moral disengagement with relevance for doping use across three European countries. Design: The research relied on three distinct studies. A first qualitative study focused on item development. The second study assessed the factor structure and internal reliability of each of the new team instruments. The third study provided evidence for instrument validity by assessing the hypothesis that efficacy measures and moral disengagement would contribute to team athletes' doping intentions. The latter two studies also focused on the relations among measures and on measurement reliability, both within and across countries. Method: The first study relied on focus group data collected from twenty-one team sport professionals (mean age=34; SD=11.65). Four hundred and fourteen adolescent athletes (mean age=16.69; SD=1.55) participated in the second study, whereas seven hundred forty-nine adolescent team athletes (mean age=16.43; SD=1.69) participated in the third study. For the latter two studies, team athletes were recruited across Italy, Germany and Greece and provided data on the new team measures. Only athletes participating to the third study provided data on prospective doping intentions. Results: The findings of the three studies supported the empirical goals of the investigation and provided evidence for the factor structure, reliability and validity of the team instruments. Furthermore, multigroup findings supported the hypothesis that the new instruments would have equivalent measurement and validity characteristics across the three European countries. The conclusions focus on the conceptual and practical implications of these findings