Perceptions of parenting practices and psychological variables of elite and sub-elite youth athletes

Drawing from the model of parental involvement in sport, the overall purpose was to examine the associations of perceptions of parenting practices (encouragement, reinforcement, instruction, and role modeling) and athletes’ psychological variables (self-efficacy, social self-efficacy, self-regulation, and intrinsic motivation) of elite and sub-elite youth athletes. Participants were elite (n = 210) and sub-elite (n = 635) athletes aged between 14 and 18 years (Mage = 16.58, SD = 1.33). Structural equation modeling analysis revealed that young elite athletes’ perceptions of sport-related parenting practices are associated with their psychological skills and performance level in sport. Specifically, in comparison with their sub-elite peers, perceptions of parental encouragement had a significantly different strong effect on intrinsic motivation. Moreover, perceptions of parental modeling revealed different effects on performance level, as well as on intrinsic motivation, and self-regulation. These perceptions of parenting practices may promote a positive learning environment, resulting in an increased likelihood of achieving a high level of sport performance in comparison with their sub-elite peers

Parental involvement in sport:psychometric development and empirical test of a theoretical model

The purposes of the present multistudy were to develop and provide initial construct validity for measures based on the model of parental involvement in sport (Study 1) and examine structural relationships among the constructs of the model (Study 2). In Study 1 (nparents = 342, nathletes = 223), a confirmatory factor analysis was used to verify the psychometric properties of the measures. Content and construct validity were evaluated, as well individual and composite reliability. Multi-group analysis with two independent samples provided evidence of factorial invariance. In Study 2 (nparents = 754, nathletes = 438), structural equation modeling analysis supported the hypothesised model in which athletes’ perceptions of parents’ behaviours mediated the relationship between parents’ reported behaviours and the athletes’ psychological variables conducive to their achievement in sport. The findings provide support for the parental involvement in sport model and demonstrate the role of perceptions of parents’ behaviours on young athletes’ cognitions in sport

Domains, challenges and health devices

UIDB/04647/2020 UIDP/04647/2020This article aims to understand the domains and uses of the various conceptual frameworks of contagion, its modalities and effects, in its different acceptations and historical contexts, as an expression of the process of interdependence between the stances and the different viewpoints of diverse actors involved with multiple scientific, moral, social and political challenges. Another objective focuses on understanding the process of collective management of contagion, disease and health, in which prevention is a critical element of its objectives and justifications, its discursive order and its practical activities.publishersversionpublishe

COVID-19 and social sciences

UIDB/04647/2020 UIDP/04647/2020publishersversionpublishe

Covid-19 and stigmatisation processes

UIDB/04647/2020 UIDP/04647/2020In this Letter to Editor, we put forth a reflection on the stigmatisation processes shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic.publishersversionpublishe

Informed Consent in Social Sciences Research: Ethical Challenges

Informed consent is a critical procedure for the fulfilment of the ethical dimension in scientific research in social sciences. On the basis of a stance centred in Sociology research practices developed by the authors, this paper reflects on informed consent, its relevance in research, and procedures involved in its production and its concomitant implications. The reflection on the research process is stressed, emphasising the need to not consider the informed consent procedure as something that is fulfilled only once, but rather as something that integrates both the research process and its product and that, therefore, should be continuously considered and assessed throughout research

Sustainability and digital as challenges of sociology

UIDB/04647/2020 UIDP/04647/2020Bearing in mind that the prospect of the future is always a sensitive dimension to be addressed, this paper, based on bibliographic collection and analysis, as well as on the authors’ academic experience, aims to add to the (re)thinking of some of the future challenges Sociology will face, in a sociologically informed society. It is concluded that sustainability and the digital are two of the crucial challenges for Sociology given the influence they exert, both in society and in the very way of doing sociology. Furthermore, to be successfully faced, there is the need for a concomitant articulation of a Sociology that amplifies its heuristic capacity to apprehend and respond to these challenges and the practice of fruitful interdisciplinarity, in which the different sciences accept and mobilize the contributions of other sciences. The existence of first-rate sciences compared to second-rate sciences has never been, is not and will never be the solution to (co)address these challenges.publishersversionpublishe

Perspectives and challenges

UID/SOC/04647/2013Currently, the possibility and interest in publishing in the preprint format are increasing, with more or less incidence in practically all scientific areas. Under these circumstances, the aim of this perspective opinion paper is to contribute to the discussion of the possible interest in publishing preprint. In order to meet this task of discussing preprint challenges and perspectives, we will analyse preprint, its potential advantages and limitations in comparison with other types of academic publications, looking at the future of preprint publication at two levels: in terms of communication and dissemination of science; and in terms of benefits for the academic career of the author of preprint publications.publishersversionpublishe

Photography in social science research

UIDB/04647/2020 UIDP/04647/2020Visual communication is critical in contemporary societies. Research in social sciences increasingly tends to mobilize the image, for example, in the form of photography, in its processes (in the collection and interpretation of information) and products (in the communication of research results), which leads to the need to reflect critically on its specificities. This paper aims to add to the analysis of the potentialities, limitations and challenges of the use of photography in social sciences research. For this purpose, the paper presents and discusses empirically collected documentary expressions, selected from an organizational case study based on their heuristic capacity to illustrate the argumentation put forth herein. It is concluded that the potential of the use of photography in research in social sciences is high, but it is essential that the researcher considers, besides more technical aspects and ethical complexities, that photography is, in part, also the materialization of a certain socially constructed representation of reality.publishersversionpublishe

A legitimization narrative of president trump’s status as a charismatic leader following a sars-cov-2 infection reported by the portuguese media

UIDB/04647/2020 UIDP/04647/2020This concept paper aimed to understand how stigma, a concept usually associated with negative social relationships, in the context of a pandemic threat such as COVID-19 can, in some situations, structure a charismatic social relationship in a perceived positive association between stigma and a specific social characteristic. For this purpose, we used the example of the news selected and highlighted by several Portuguese media about the actions and messages developed by President Trump in the context of his infection with SARS-CoV-2 and the subsequent recovery process. These news reports gave visibility to a narrative that can be considered as reinforcing the legitimization of his condition as a charismatic leader in an electoral context marked by the pandemic threat. In conclusion, stigma associated with a pandemic health threat and generally linked to a negative social status can also reinforce admiration, trust, and belief in the charismatic leader by supporters and followers, as demonstrated with the plight of President Trump. Stigma can be a factor in social uplift in affirming an upward trajectory of social status and symbolic power for actors seen as ill, where stigma-motivated discrimination is experienced positively, unlike in most cases.publishersversionpublishe