How perceived autonomy support and controlling coach behaviors are related to well- and ill-being in elite soccer players: A within-person changes and between-person differences analysis

ObjectivesGrounded in Basic Psychological Needs Theory (Ryan & Deci, 2002), this study examined the temporal relationships between perception of coaches' autonomy support and different facets of controlling behaviors, the satisfaction-frustration of athletes' basic needs, and subjective vitality, self-esteem and burnout in elite sportsmen.MethodsParticipants (N = 110 males) from three elite youth soccer academies in northwest France completed a questionnaire on three occasions during the last three months of the competitive season.ResultsLinear mixed models revealed that perceptions of coach-autonomy support and only two facets of controlling coach behaviors (excessive personal control and negative conditional regard) were related to basic need satisfaction-frustration, which in turn were related to the indices of well- and ill-being. In most cases, the relationships were observed both at the within- and between-person levels, but some were observed only at one level.ConclusionsThe findings highlight the importance of considering the different facets of controlling coach behaviors separately and disaggregating the between-person and within-person effects.     

Youth athletes’ perception of autonomy support from the coach, peer motivational climate and intrinsic motivation in sport setting: One-year effects

Objectives

Grounded in self-determination theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 1985) and achievement goal theory (AGT; Nicholls, 1989), the present study examined the temporal stability and reciprocal relationships among three key variables related to motivation: perceived autonomy support from the coach, task-involving peer motivational climates, and athletes’ intrinsic motivation.

Design

A prospective longitudinal design with data collected on two occasions one year apart over the course of a youth training season.

Method

Young athletes (N = 362, age range 11-16 years) completed measures of the Sport Climate Questionnaire and the Peer Motivational Climate in Youth Sport Questionnaire. One-year later participants completed these questionnaires again along with the Sport Motivation Scale.

Results

Structural equation modeling indicated that perceived autonomy support from the coach and task-involving peer motivational climates exhibited comparatively high stability over a one-year period. In cross-lagged analyses, perceived autonomy support from the coach positively predicted task-involving peer climate one-year later but not vice versa. In addition, both social factors demonstrated a significant direct effect on athletes intrinsic motivation measured concurrently in sport contexts. Further, an alternative structural model supported a longitudinal direct effect of autonomy support from the coach and task-involving peer climate measured on the first occasion on subsequent intrinsic motivation.

Conclusion

Results demonstrated the value of perceived autonomy support from the coach and task-involving peer motivational climate in predicting athletes’ intrinsic motivation over a training year. Findings also suggest that perceived autonomy support from the coach can facilitate later task-involving peer motivational climate.     

“You’re only as good as your weakest link”: Implicit theories of golf ability

Objectives

The purpose of this study was to examine the antecedents, specificity, and ceiling effects of golfers’ implicit theories of sport ability.

Design

The present study employs a qualitative research design. A constructivist grounded theory methodology was adopted.

Method

Participants (N = 8) were asked to describe their conceptions of golf ability. All responses were recorded, transcribed, and the data were analyzed through a series of iterations, which led to the identification of three dimensions that constitute golfers’ beliefs about ability.

Results

The three dimensions were: acquirable ability, stable ability, and developing natural attributes. Categories within these dimensions offer initial evidence for the role of social agents and the inherent culture of golf in shaping co-existing beliefs in relation to sport ability. Beliefs with regards to ceiling effects of ability are reported, with one theme proposing a ceiling to sport ability, and a contrasting category exemplifying the belief that there is always room for improvement.

Conclusions

The present study contributes to the field by offering initial evidence for the antecedents, specificity, and ceiling effects of golfers’ conceptions of their sport ability. Implications, both theoretical in terms of future research, and practical with regards to practitioners’ role in educating athletes and cultivating an environment conducive to the perception that sport ability is acquirable, are offered.     

Autonomy support,basic need satisfaction and the optimal functioning of adult male and female sport participants: A test of basic needs theory

Grounded in Basic Needs Theory (BNT; Ryan and Deci, American Psychologist, 55, 68–78, 2000a), the present study aimed to: (a) test a theoretically-based model of coach autonomy support, motivational processes and well-/ill-being among a sample of adult sport participants, (b) discern which basic psychological need(s) mediate the link between autonomy support and well-/ill-being, and (c) explore gender invariance in the hypothesized model. Five hundred and thirty nine participants (Male = 271; Female = 268; M _age = 22.75) completed a multi-section questionnaire tapping the targeted variables. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis revealed that coach autonomy support predicted participants’ basic need satisfaction for autonomy, competence and relatedness. In turn, basic need satisfaction predicted greater subjective vitality when engaged in sport. Participants with low levels of autonomy were more susceptible to feeling emotionally and physically exhausted from their sport investment. Autonomy and competence partially mediated the path from autonomy support to subjective vitality. Lastly, the results supported partial invariance of the model with respect to gender.     

An experimental investigation of physical education teachers’ and coaches’ reactions to weight-based victimization in youth

Objectives

Overweight youth are frequent targets of weight-based victimization during Physical Education (PE) and sports. In addition, previous research indicates that teachers’ perceptions and expectations may influence their likelihood of intervening during victimization, and physical educators may endorse biased perceptions and expectations of overweight youth. Despite this evidence, no research has examined how physical educators respond to weight-based victimization of their students. Thus, the current study examined PE teachers’ and coaches’ responses to different types of victimization involving average weight and overweight students.

Design

This study utilized an experimental design that assessed participants’ reactions to situations of weight-related victimization using hypothetical scenarios accompanied by photographs of youth.

Methods

PE teachers and sport coaches (N = 162) were randomly presented with a scenario and follow-up questions about an average weight or an overweight student. Each participant completed two conditions: one with a male target, and one with a female target.

Results

Participants were more likely to take action when overweight female students were victims of bullying, specifically in situations of verbal and relational victimization. Male participants were less likely to respond to victimization than female participants.

Conclusions

Findings suggest the importance of increasing awareness about weight-based victimization and its consequences, especially among male physical educators. Implications for the psychological, social, and physical development of overweight youth are discussed.     

The social environment and developmental experiences in elite youth soccer

Objectives

We aimed to examine social-contextual correlates of players’ developmental experiences in an elite youth soccer context. Specifically, we hypothesized that player perceptions of team cohesion and coach rapport would be positively associated with psychological need fulfillment. In turn, psychological need satisfaction was proposed to be positively related to adaptive developmental experiences in youth soccer (i.e., opportunities for leadership, emotional regulation, and goal setting), and negatively related to social exclusion.

Design

Cross-sectional.

Method

133 male elite soccer players, aged between 11 and 18 years old, completed a self-report questionnaire assessing the variables of interest.

Results

Using path analysis and bootstrapping methods, we found support for the overall model fit of the hypothesized conceptual framework and specific study hypotheses.

Conclusions

This study utilizes strong theoretical foundations to underscore the role of the coach and team environment in facilitating positive youth outcomes, and highlights a potential mechanism that may explain these processes.     

An assessment of the similarities between a measure of positive perfectionism and a measure of conscientious achievement striving

Objectives

The purpose of the study was to examine the similarities between the constructs measured by the positive perfectionism subscale from the Positive and Negative Perfectionism Scale and the achievement striving subscale from the Revised NEO Personality Inventory.

Design

A non-experimental design was adopted.

Method

One-hundred and seventy-nine junior basketball players (age M = 16.50, s = 1.12) completed measures of positive perfectionism, conscientious achievement striving and other external measures.

Results

Analyses revealed that the two scales were highly positively correlated and demonstrated a similar pattern of relationships with the external measures. However, a single latent factor model provided a comparatively poorer fit than a two latent factor model.

Conclusions

There is some evidence that the positive perfectionism and achievement striving constructs measured by the scales in this study are distinguishable as two distinct factors in a confirmatory factor analysis; however, more empirical evidence is needed to establish their substantive differences.     

Emotion-regulation skills as a treatment target in psychotherapy

Background

Deficits in emotion-regulation skills have been shown to be integral to the development and maintenance of a wide range of mental disorders.

Aim

To evaluate the importance of these skills as a treatment target in psychotherapeutic interventions.

Method

Nine specific emotion-regulation skills were assessed in a sample of 289 inpatients before and after cognitive-behavioural treatment. Self-reports of success in pretreatment skills application were first compared to those of 246 non-clinical controls. Pretreatment skills application and change in skills application during therapy were then related to a variety of outcome measures. Finally, the effects of integrating a brief training of general emotion-regulation skills into the CBT-based treatment were evaluated in a controlled trial.

Results

Uni- and multivariate analyses identified the skills of acceptance, tolerance, and active modification of negative emotions as particularly important for current mental health and treatment outcome. Replacing parts of the standard CBT treatment with the emotion-regulation training enhanced the effects of the CBT treatment on skills application and on other measures of mental health.

Conclusion

Incorporating interventions that directly target general emotion-regulation skills may improve the effectiveness of psychotherapeutic interventions.     

The impact of breastfeeding on mothers' attentional sensitivity towards infant distress

Background

Maternal response towards infant distress has an important impact on infant development. In animals it is established that lactation and pup suckling plays an important role in maintaining maternal responses. Previous research suggests that breastfeeding is associated with sensitive maternal responses in human mothers. However, this may be because women who are more sensitive to their infant choose to breastfeed. The current study investigated the attentional sensitivity towards infant distress in women who went on to breast or formula feed during pregnancy as well as after birth. We hypothesised that differences in breast and formula feeding mothers would only emerge after birth once feeding had commenced.

Method

Women were recruited during pregnancy through community midwives as part of a longitudinal study. 51 women were seen during late pregnancy and between 3 and 6 months after birth (27 were breast and 24 were formula feeding). Sensitivity to infant distress was measured as the extent of women's attentional bias towards infant distress stimuli.

Results

After birth, we found that our index of attentional bias towards infant distress was 37 ms (0.5 S.D.s) (CI; 6-69, p = 0.021) higher in breastfeeding compared to formula feeding mothers. However, mothers who went on to breastfeed did not show greater attentional bias towards infant distress already during late pregnancy.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that the act of breastfeeding may influence mothers’ attentional sensitivity towards infant distress. Previous research suggests breastfeeding is indicative of sensitive parenting. The current findings may suggest a mechanism by which breastfeeding and/or associated infant interaction could contribute to this sensitivity.     

Images of exercising: Exploring the links between exercise imagery use, autonomous and controlled motivation to exercise, and exercise intention and behavior

Objectives

In the present study, we tested a model examining the relationships between exercise imagery use, motivational regulations for exercise engagement, intention to exercise, and self-reported exercise behavior. This work represents an initial attempt to examine relationships between a new type of exercise imagery (enjoyment imagery) and motivational regulations for exercise.

Design

Cross-sectional.

Method

Exercisers with a mean age of 40.29 years (SD = 13.29; 177 female, 141 male) completed measures of the targeted variables.

Results

Structural equation modeling analyses revealed direct and indirect (via motivational regulations) links between imagery and exercise-related outcomes. Technique and enjoyment imagery were positively related to autonomous motivation. Conversely, appearance imagery was positively associated with controlled motivation. Direct relationships were evidenced between energy imagery and self-reported exercise behavior, and between appearance imagery and intention to exercise.

Conclusions

The potential motivational functions served by different exercise imagery types are discussed, and the inclusion of enjoyment imagery in future exercise imagery research is recommended.     

Self-regulated learning in physical education: Examining the effects of emulative and self-control practice

Objective

This study examined the effectiveness of sequential practice from the emulation to the self-control level of the social cognitive model of self-regulated learning development. The model proposes that students who practice with social feedback at the emulation level first and then set goals and self-record their performance at the self-control level master sport skills effectively.

Design

The design included one between-subjects factor, the group with five levels and one within-subjects factor, time (pre-test, post-test).

Method

One hundred fifth and sixth grade students (40 boys and 60 girls) were assigned to four experimental and one control group and practiced the basketball dribble.

Results

The results showed that students of all experimental groups improved their dribbling performance from pre- to post-test. Students who received social feedback and observed repeated demonstrations at the emulation level and then set process or performance goals and self-recorded their performance at the self-control level improved their dribbling performance more than students who missed emulative practice. No improvement was found for control group students.

Conclusions

These results supported the effectiveness of the social cognitive model of self-regulated learning development, showing that this model can be used as an instructional approach for teaching sport skills in physical education.     

Informational constraints shape emergent functional behaviours during performance of interceptive actions in team sports

Objectives

This study aimed to explain how defenders intercept the trajectory of a passing ball by understanding how they coupled their actions to critical information sources in a competitive performance setting in team sports.

Design

Time series data on movement displacements of fifteen senior male futsal performers were recorded and digitized during nine competitive futsal games.

Method

Performance was recorded by a digital camera and digitized with TACTO software. The spatial-temporal dynamics of performers during ten intercepted and ten non-intercepted passes were compared. Time to ball interception was calculated by the difference between the time of each defender to an interception point in ball trajectory and the time of the ball’s arrival at the same interception point. Initial distances between defenders and ball and velocity data of defenders and ball over time were also recorded.

Results

Time to ball interception revealed positive values when passes were not intercepted, and negative to zero values when passes were intercepted. At the moment of pass initiation defenders’ distances to the ball constrained their possibilities for successful interception. Analysis of defenders’ adaptations to the environment revealed that continuous changes in the defenders’ velocities constrained their success of the interception.

Conclusions

Intercepted passes seemed to be influenced by the continuous regulation of a defender’s velocity relative to the ball’s trajectory. Time to ball interception is a variable that captured the emergent functional behaviours of players attempting to intercept the trajectory of a pass in the team sport of futsal.     

The relationship between psychosocial developmental and the sports climate experienced by underserved youth

Objectives

This study was designed to assess developmental outcomes underserved youth report from their sports participation; identify perceptions of the sports climate their coaches create; and, measure the relationships between participants reported gains and perceptions of the psychosocial sports climate.

Method

Participants were 239 urban youth sports participants from an underserved community who completed the Youth Experiences Scale (YES-2), Sport Motivational Climate Scale, Caring Climate Scale and measures of the importance their coaches placed on life skills.

Results

Multivariate analyses revealed a number of significant relationships between YES-2 outcomes and motivation and caring climate predictor variables, which clearly show that the more coaches create caring, mastery-oriented environments, the more likely positive developmental gains result.

Conclusion

These findings are consistent with the previous motivational (Smith, Smoll, & Cumming, 2007) and caring climate (Fry & Gano-Overway, 2010) research and shows that coaching actions and climates have an important influence on personal and social development of young people.     

Temporal pattern of pre-shooting psycho-physiological states in elite athletes: A probabilistic approach

Objective

The IZOF-based probabilistic approach provides a methodology to study within-individual patterns of a performer's states. So far, the time course of physiological data before performance have not been investigated within the probabilistic methodology framework. The purpose of this study was to examine the value of the probabilistic approach in the assessment of the time course of physiological indicators of arousal/activation and vigilance during the period preceding the shot, in comparison with the performance-based method.

Design

Longitudinal assessment of psycho-physiological data and performance outcomes was conducted on eight elite pistol shooters in a controlled setting.

Methods

Each participant performed 60 air-pistol shots in 2 sessions. Skin conductance level and cardiac activity were recorded. Affective states intensity was evaluated on a modified 11-point Borg scale. Affect, HR and SC level were evaluated with a Performance-based approach and a Probabilistic method, and results compared at an individual level.

Results

Findings showed the higher effectiveness of the probabilistic method to analyse physiological parameters (skin conductance and heart rate) and to describe the physiological mechanisms associated with shooters’ performance.

Conclusions

The probabilistic method better discerned the contribution of arousal/activation and vigilance to optimal and non-optimal performance in elite shooters, thereby providing a sharper representation of the temporal pattern of performers' states before shooting. From an applied perspective, we believe that the probabilistic approach can help athletes become aware of the subtle variations occurring in their psychophysical states during the preparatory period preceding the shot and not only at the moment of shot release.     

The diagnostic utility of the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders-71 (SCARED-71)

Objective

This study investigated the diagnostic utility of the 71-item Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED-71), as a screening tool for identifying anxiety disorders in youth aged 8-18 years.

Method

The SCARED-71 and the Anxiety Disorder Interview Schedule (ADIS) were administered to clinically referred anxious children (n = 138) and control children (n = 38) as well as their parents.

Results

Results showed that the SCARED-71 differentiated clinically anxious from control children on the total score and on all subscales. Girls generally reported higher levels of anxiety symptoms and there were also significant age effects for various anxiety subscales. Further, reliable cut-off scores were established for the child and parent version of the SCARED-71. The parent version displayed better sensitivity and specificity, and therefore seems to be a more optimal screen for anxiety problems in children and adolescents. Finally, evidence for the predictive validity across anxiety disorders was found.

Conclusion

The SCARED-71 can be used as a screening tool to detect clinically significant anxiety problems in children and adolescents and discriminates reasonably well among specific anxiety disorders.     

Relationships between personal beliefs and treatment acceptability, and preferences for behavioral treatments

Background

The literature on preferences for behavioral interventions is limited in terms of understanding treatment-related factors that underlie treatment choice. The objectives of this study were to examine the direct relationships between personal beliefs about clinical condition, perception of treatment acceptability, and preferences for behavioral interventions for insomnia.

Methods

The data set used in this study was obtained from 431 persons with insomnia who participated in a partially randomized clinical trial and expressed preferences for treatment options. The data were collected at baseline. Logistic regression was used to examine the relationships between personal beliefs and treatment acceptability, and preferences. The relationships between personal beliefs and perception of treatment acceptability were explored with correlational analysis.

Results

Perception of treatment acceptability was associated with preferences. Persons viewing the option as convenient tended to choose that option for managing insomnia. Personal beliefs were not related to preferences. However, beliefs about sleep promoting behaviors were correlated with perceived treatment effectiveness.

Conclusions

Perception of treatment acceptability underlies expressed preferences for behavioral interventions. Personal beliefs about insomnia are not directly associated with preferences. Importance is highlighted for providing information about treatment options and exploring perception of each option's acceptability during the process of treatment selection.     

Depressive symptoms during pregnancy: impact on neuroendocrine and neonatal outcomes

Objective

To explore the interplay of maternal depressive symptoms on the infant limbic-hypothalamic-pituitary axis (LHPA) and neurological development.

Design

Pregnant women were monitored for depressive symptoms using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) at 28, 32, and 37 weeks of gestation and at delivery. A mixture growth curve analysis divided the women into three risk groups: low/stable, intermediate, and high/increasing depression based on BDI scores. The infant neuroendocrine system was examined using cord blood for adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) and cortisol measurements. Two-week-old infants were examined using Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Neurobehavioral Scale (NNNS).

Results

Infants born to women of the high/increasing depression group had significant ACTH elevation at birth. On NNNS examination, these infants were more hypotonic and habituated to auditory and visual stimuli.

Conclusion

When compared to non-depressed women, maternal depressive symptoms, even in the absence of major depressive disorder, appeared to facilitate a different developmental pathway for the infant LHPA and early neurological development.     

Contextual and individual influences on antisocial behaviour and psychobiosocial states of youth soccer players

Purpose

The aim of the study was to assess the effects of contextual and individual variables (perceived motivational climate and moral atmosphere, task/ego orientation and perceived competence) on antisocial behaviour and emotion-related psychobiosocial (PBS) states as conceptualised within the individual zones of optimal functioning model.

Participants

The study was conducted on a sample of 382 young male soccer players, aged from 14 to 16 years, drawn from 27 Italian teams.

Method

A cross-sectional design was used. Assessment included measures of reported antisocial behaviour, perceived moral atmosphere, perceived motivational climate, goal orientation, perceived competence, and PBS states. Data analysis involved confirmatory factor analysis of measures and path analysis of the hypothesized relationships.

Results

Results suggest that performance climate and a moral atmosphere, in which aggressive behaviours are encouraged, are likely to determine antisocial behaviour and a range of unpleasant PBS states in young sports participants.

Conclusions

Findings substantiate the importance of the situational factors on ethical aspects and emotional states in youngsters.     

Resilience as positive coping appraisals: Testing the schematic appraisals model of suicide (SAMS)

Aims

The Schematic Appraisals Model of Suicide (SAMS) suggests that positive self-appraisals may be important for buffering suicidal thoughts and behaviours, potentially providing a key source of resilience. The current study aimed to explore whether positive self-appraisals buffered individuals from suicidality in the face of stressful life events.

Method

78 participants who reported experiencing some degree of suicidality were recruited from a student population. They completed a battery of questionnaires including measures of suicidality, stressful life events and positive self-appraisals.

Results

Positive self-appraisals moderated the association between stressful life events and suicidality. For those reporting moderate or high levels of positive self-appraisals, raised incidence of stressful life events did not lead to increases in suicidality.

Discussion

These results support the SAMS framework, and suggest that positive self-appraisals may confer resilience to suicide. Positive self-appraisals may be a promising avenue for further resilience research, and an important area to target for suicide interventions.     

Cognitive-behavioral treatment of childhood obsessive-compulsive disorder in community-based clinical practice: clinical significance and benchmarking against efficacy

Objective

To evaluate the feasibility and outcomes of evidence-based (EB) manualized, cognitive-behavioral treatment (CBT) for childhood obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), when delivered in an outpatient community-based specialist clinic.

Method

This study, conducted in an outpatient private clinic in South-East Queensland Australia, involved thirty-three children and adolescents with OCD. Children were assessed at pre- and post-treatment, by means of diagnostic interviews, symptom severity interviews, and self-report. Treatment involved 12 sessions CBT delivered either individually or in small groups and included parental involvement.

Results

Manualized CBT could be transported to the community setting effectively, with 63% of the current sample responding positively, based on post-treatment diagnosis. Significant change was evident across a wide-range of outcomes; including, diagnostic severity, symptom severity, child reported depression and anxiety, and both child and parent reported OCD functional impairment.

Conclusions

This study provides evidence for the transportability of manualized CBT in clinical community practice for pediatric OCD. The next important step is larger community based dissemination and effectiveness studies to advance both research and clinical practice outcomes.