Mental health in sport: the role of authentic leadership, competition level, and sport type

Introduction Mental health is an important part of an individual’s overall health. It is a complex topic and can be examined in terms of a combination of subjective wellbeing and mental illness. Factors can influence one’s mental health either positively or negatively, and these can be described as protective or risk factors. Authentic leadership is a leadership style has been related to positive outcomes in sport. Competition level has been shown to relate to mental health as elite athletes often demonstrate a greater prevalence of mental illness than others. Sport type is another factor that influences mental health as individual sports athletes often demonstrate greater levels of mental illness and lower wellbeing due to a lack of social nature compared to team sports. The purposes of this study were to identify the relationship between authentic leadership and mental health, to identify whether competition level or sport type moderate the relationship between authentic leadership and mental health, and understand the process in which this relationship occurs. Method 647 athletes (n=281 female) from a variety of sports (n=194 individual sports athletes) and competition levels (n=104 elite) responded to a short online questionnaire measuring demographics, authentic leadership, psychological capital, teammate behaviours, subjective wellbeing, and mental illness. Athletes were recruited via social media platforms, through university lectures and emails, and local sports clubs and colleges. Amazon vouchers were offered as prizes as an incentive to increase response rate. Data was collected using Jisc Survey and analysed on IBM SPSS Statistics. Results Authentic leadership was positively correlated with subjective wellbeing and negatively correlated with mental illness. There were no significant differences across competition level on subjective wellbeing or mental illness. There was a difference in sport type on mental illness: individual athletes had higher scores on mental illness; but there was no significant difference for subjective wellbeing. Neither sport type nor competition level moderated the relationship between authentic leadership and subjective wellbeing or mental illness. Gender moderated the relationship between authentic leadership and mental illness, as authentic leadership was not related to a decrease in mental illness in females, but it was in males. Psychological capital partially mediated the relationship between authentic leadership and both subjective wellbeing and mental illness. Prosocial teammate behaviours partially mediated the relationship between authentic leadership and subjective wellbeing, and antisocial teammate behaviours did not mediate either relationship between authentic leadership and subjective wellbeing or mental illness

Mental health in athletes:Does authentic leadership matter?

Recent research has attested to the prevalence of mental health issues in sport, and the need to identify factors that could promote athletes’ mental health. In this study, we investigated: (a) whether authentic leadership is associated with athletes’ mental health directly and indirectly via psychological capital and prosocial and antisocial behaviour experienced from one’s teammates; and (b) whether the hypothesized model testing these relationships is the same in higher versus lower competitive level athletes. We examined two dimensions of mental health, namely positive mental health and mental illness. A total of 751 athletes (Mage = 22.92, SD = 8.53; 294 female) from a range of sports completed a multi-section questionnaire administered via an online survey. Structural equation modelling showed that authentic leadership was positively related to positive mental health via psychological capital and prosocial behaviour and negatively linked to mental illness via psychological capital and antisocial behaviour. The effects of authentic leadership on positive mental health via prosocial teammate behaviour and subsequently psychological capital, and on mental illness via prosocial teammate behaviour, were stronger in higher compared to lower competitive level athletes. The findings suggest that by adopting an authentic leadership style coaches could strengthen athletes’ positive mental health and protect them from mental illness. This may happen by increasing athletes’ psychological capital and prosocial behaviour within the team and decreasing antisocial behaviour within the team

Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) enhances lipopolysaccharide-stimulated tissue factor in human monocytes and monocyte-derived microvesicles

Abstract Background Immunomodulatory effects in humans of Δ9−Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive component of marijuana are controversial. Tissue factor (TF), the activator of the extrinsic coagulation cascade, is increased on circulating activated monocytes and is expressed on microvesicles released from activated monocytes during inflammatory conditions, which perpetuate coagulopathies in a number of diseases. In view of the increased medicinal use of marijuana, effects of THC on human monocytes and monocyte-derived microvesicles activated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) were investigated. Findings Peak levels of TF procoagulant activity developed in monocytes or microvesicles 6 h following LPS treatment and were unaltered by THC. After 24 h of LPS stimulation, TF activity declined in control-treated or untreated cells and microvesicles, but persisted with THC treatment. Peak TF protein occurred within 6 h of LPS treatment independent of THC; by 24 h, TF protein declined to almost undetectable levels without THC, but was about 4-fold greater with THC. Steady-state TF mRNA levels were similar up to 2 h in the presence of LPS with or without THC, while 10-fold greater TF mRNA levels persisted over 3–24 h with THC treatment. Activation of MAPK or NF-κB pathways was unaltered by THC treatment and inflammatory cytokine IL-6 levels were unchanged. In contrast, TNF and IL-8 levels were enhanced by 20–50 %. Conclusions THC enhances TF expression in activated monocytes resulting in elevated procoagulant activity. Marijuana use could potentiate coagulopathies in individuals with chronic immune activation such as HIV-1 infection or inflammatory bowel disease

Myeloid Cell Tissue Factor Does Not Contribute to Venous Thrombogenesis in an Electolytic Injury Model

Tissue factor (TF) is a potent initiator of the extrinsic coagulation cascade. The role and source of TF in venous thrombotic disease is not clearly defined. Our study objective was to identify the contribution of myeloid cell TF to venous thrombogenesis in mice