Greek students' attitudes toward physical activity and health-related behavior

A three-wave study over one year with 882 adolescents, aged 10 to 16 years at the initial testing, examined psychosocial variables regarding four health-related behaviors: exercise, eating fruit, smoking, and drug use. Analysis showed that during the stages of the study, high school students' exercise behavior decreased and their smoking behavior increased as well as their willingness to use drugs. It seems that study of physical education and health education during adolescence must take into account the possible differences in psychosocial variables associated with health-related behaviors as well as the different stages of adolescence.     

Composantes culturelles du développement du raisonnement technique chez les enfants d'âge préscolaire lors de substitutions instrumentales

Cette recherche vise à définir le rôle du milieu culturel dans la substitution d'un outil par un autre instrument dans trois tâches techniques quotidiennes: découpage, dévissage, clouage. Trois catégories de sujets (n = 180) d'âge préscolaire (milieu: gitan, technicien, “favorisé”) ont été testées dans deux conditions expérimentales de substitution: (1) les sujets ont à choisir un instrument adéquat parmi les substituts (11 objets proposés) socialement marqués par leur usage courant; (2) les sujets sont invités à remplacer l'outil manquant par un objet non investi de significations sociales particulières. Les résultats montrent une supériorité générale du milieu gitan dans les deux conditions expérimentales; surtout dans la mesure où le substitut proposé ne se trouve pas investi par les valeurs culturelles propres au mode de vie du groupe social.     

Health Beliefs and Illness Perceptions as Related to Mammography Uptake in Randomly Selected Women in Greece

Previous research has shown that, although routine mammography screening can reduce mortality from breast cancer, the use of annual mammography screening remains well under 65%. In an effort to determine the factors that are associated with women’s mammography behaviors, this study used the health belief model and the common-sense model of self-regulation as the theoretical frameworks to explore health beliefs, illness representations, and women’s mammography practice. Data were obtained from a nationally representative sample of 408 Greek women, 40 years of age or older, with no personal history of cancer. Three dependent variables were considered: recent mammography, repeat mammography, and no mammogram during lifetime. Predictors included socio-demographic and medical variables, perceived benefits of mammography screening, perceived barriers to mammography screening, self-efficacy, as well as illness perceptions. Multivariate analyzes indicated that never having had a mammogram was more likely for women who perceived fewer benefits and more barriers to mammography screening, had more negative emotional representations of breast cancer, and had no private health insurance coverage. Factors associated with recent mammography were younger age, a good knowledge of the recommended mammography screening interval, a family history of breast cancer, and use of patient reminders for next mammogram. Adequate knowledge about the recommended mammography screening interval and higher values for breast cancer worry were associated with an increased number of repeat lifetime mammograms. Implications of the results and suggestions for future research are outlined.     

Development and validation of the Causes of Re-Injury Worry Questionnaire

Re-injury worry is an important construct in competitive sport that may influence performance and increase the risk of re-injury. However, there are currently no available instruments to measure the causes of re-injury worry. The purpose of this study was to develop the Causes of Re-Injury Worry Questionnaire (CR-IWQ). The study was conducted in three independent research phases to investigate the following: (a) the content relevance, (b) the factor structure and the factorial validity, (c) the concurrent validity, (d) the discriminant validity, and (e) the test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficients; ICC), and the internal consistency of the instrument. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was chosen to examine the factor structure of the CR-IWQ. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to examine further the factorial validity of the instrument. A number of valid constructs were used to assess the concurrent and discriminant validity of the CR-IWQ. The reliability of the new instrument was examined using Pearson r (ICC) and Cronbach α. Three hundred and seventy athletes with an acute musculoskeletal sport injury in the last year participated in the study. EFA revealed a 12-item model, representing two factors ("Re-injury worry due to rehabilitation" and "Re-injury worry due to opponent's ability"). CFA supported the two-factor model of the CR-IWQ. The concurrent and discriminant validity of the CR-IWQ was confirmed by examining correlations between the CR-IWQ with other constructs. The ICCs and the Cronbach α indices of the CR-IWQ were acceptable. We have demonstrated that the CR-IWQ is a good psychometric instrument that can be used for clinical and research purposes.     

Regulatory foci and organizational commitment

We use regulatory focus theory to derive specific predictions regarding the differential relationships between regulatory focus and commitment. We estimated a structural equation model using a sample of 520 private and public sector employees and found in line with our hypotheses that (a) promotion focus related more strongly to affective commitment than prevention focus, (b) prevention focus related more strongly to continuance commitment than promotion focus, (c) promotion and prevention focus had equally strong effects on normative commitment. Implications of these findings for the three-component model of commitment, especially the ‘dual nature’ of normative commitment, as well as implications for human resources management and leadership are discussed.     

The Relationships Between Athletes’ Perceptions of Coach-Created Motivational Climate,Self-Talk,and Self-Efficacy in Youth Soccer

The purpose of this study was to explore the mediating role of self-talk in the relationship between athletes’ perceptions of coach-created motivational climate and athletes’ self-efficacy. Two hundred eighty-nine youth soccer players (M = 11.63 years, SD = 1.55 years) completed the Automatic Self-Talk Questionnaire for Sport, the Empowering and Disempowering Motivational Climate Questionnaire, and a self-efficacy measure for soccer. The results showed that only positive and not negative self-talk mediated the relationship between empowering motivational climate and self-efficacy, whereas no relationship emerged between disempowering climate and self-efficacy, highlighting the role of self-talk explaining this relationship.     

Youth sport motivational climate and attitudes toward migrants’ acculturation: The role of empathy and altruism

Previous research has shown that an empowering motivational climate in organized sport has been linked to attitudes favoring migrants’ integration. The purpose of the present study was to further test the relationship between motivational climate and acculturation attitudes, and to explore the role of prosocial skills as potential mediators of this relationship in adolescent athletes from the host population. Participants were 338 (13.61 ± .95 years of age) Greek adolescents (167 girls) participating in organized sport. Participants’ acculturation attitudes, prosocial skills, and perceptions of the coach-created motivational climate were measured. Analysis of structural models revealed that an empowering motivational climate was positively related with prosocial skills, reflecting empathy and altruism, which in turn were positively linked with acculturation attitudes favoring migrants’ integration. The results of the present study replicate previous findings regarding the links between empowering motivational climate and acculturation attitudes, and further, provide evidence that prosocial skills such as empathy and altruism mediate this relationship.     

Development and validation of the attention questionnaire of rehabilitated athletes returning to competition

The present study describes the development and validation of an instrument designed to examine athletes' selective attention returning to competition following a musculoskeletal injury--the attention questionnaire of rehabilitated athletes returning to competition (AQ-RARC). Using a sample of 186 rehabilitated athletes, exploratory factor analysis revealed a 10-item model that examines functional attention and distraction attention. Confirmatory factor analysis further supported the factorial validity of the AQ-RARC with another sample of 184 rehabilitated athletes. The two subscales have good internal consistency and test-retest reliability. The concurrent and discriminant validity of the new instrument were confirmed by examining correlations between the AQ-RARC with other constructs. It is concluded that the AQ-RARC is a valid and reliable instrument that can be used for clinical and research purposes.