竞技运动项目教练员工作倦怠量表编制

从竞技运动项目教练员工作特点和工作倦怠主题入手,以文献研究和已有相关问卷、量表为基础,结合半结构问卷调查和访谈所获得资料,编制竞技运动项目教练员工作倦怠问卷。对514名竞技运动项目教练员进行了施测,并对测试数据进行探索性因素分析和验证性因素分析。探索性因素分析的结果表明,竞技运动项目教练员工作倦怠主要表现在情绪衰竭、去个性化、个人成就感低、知识枯竭感4个方面;验证性因素分析结果表明,所提取的4个因素与构想模型拟合较好,编制的竞技运动项目教练员工作倦怠量表的信度、效度均达到心理测量学上的要求,可以作为今后测量竞技运动项目教练员工作倦怠状况的工具。     

The generalized matching law in elite sport competition: football play calling as operant choice

A mathematical model of operant choice, the generalized matching law was used to analyze play-calling data from the 2004 National Football League season. In all analyses, the relative ratio of passing to rushing plays was examined as a function of the relative ratio of reinforcement, defined as yards gained, from passing versus rushing. Different analyses focused on season-aggregate data for the league as a whole, game-by-game data for the league as a whole, and game-by-game data for individual teams. In all analyses except those for a few individual teams, the generalized matching law accounted for a majority of variance in play calling. The typical play-calling pattern reflected undermatching (suggesting imperfect sensitivity of play calling to yardage-gained reinforcers) and a bias for calling rushing plays. Bias was found to be a function of both the relative risk of turnovers and the relative variability in yards gained associated with passing versus rushing plays. The external validity of the matching analyses was supported by significant correlations between parameters of the generalized matching law and team success on offense and season winning percentage. These results illustrate the broad applicability of the generalized matching law to problems outside of the laboratory.     

Exploring coaches' experiences and perceptions of a virtual parasport coach mentorship program

Partnering with a provincial coaching association in Canada, we explored the experiences and perceptions of 15 mentor and 29 mentee coaches who participated in a formal virtual parasport coach mentorship program. Data were gathered via focus groups and individual interviews and analyzed using a reflexive thematic analysis. Mentor coaches built a virtual relationship through mutual trust and respect and were perceived by their mentees as supportive, motivating, and knowledgeable. Mentee coaches valued conversations with their mentors surrounding disability-specific knowledge that enhanced their coaching efficacy. Coaches highlighted the need for a greater sense of community within parasport and recommended keeping a virtual component of the program to foster accessibility and learning. Findings provide insight into effective mentorship in parasport for researchers, practitioners, and organizations overseeing this important initiative. Our results will contribute to higher quality experiences for Canadian parasport coaches and athletes and work to progress the growth of parasport worldwide.     

Advancing a grounded theory of parental support in competitive girls’ golf

Parental support in youth sport has been associated with positive athlete outcomes, such as sport enjoyment and continued participation. Although research has demonstrated the significant and influential role parents fulfil in the youth sport context, there remains a dearth of theoretical frameworks detailing parental support in youth sport and an absence of empirical research examining parental support across athlete development stages and sports. The present study sought to examine athletes’ perceptions of parental support, with a view to advancing a grounded theory of parental support in youth golf. Fourteen online synchronous focus groups were conducted with an international sample (Australia, Canada, England, Finland, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland) of 61 girls, in the specialising (n = 27) and investment stages (n = 34) of athlete development. Data were analysed in three phases: open-coding, axial coding, and theoretical integration. The substantive grounded theory is constructed on the core category of ‘Individual Parental Support Preferences’. This core category is underpinned by four sub-categories of parental support which were evident across development stages: instrumental, informational, emotional, and autonomy support, and is influenced by a host of athlete (e.g., athletes’ performance), parent (e.g., parents’ knowledge), and contextual characteristics (e.g., location). Unconditional parental support is an important aspect of emotional support, however the concept of adopting a person-first approach to sport parenting is novel. These results provide a rich and novel insight of parental support in girls’ golf, advancing a grounded theoretical understanding of parental support mechanisms in a youth sport context.     

The role of career adaptability resources in dual career pathways: A person-oriented longitudinal study across elite sports upper secondary school

ObjectivesObtaining education is an important milestone in athletes’ preparation for their professional career after sport. Literature indicates that combining school and sport is not an easy task for many aspiring youth athletes. It has been proposed that career adaptability, which refers to psychosocial resources enabling individuals to solve complex occupational transitions, present and anticipated vocational development tasks, and career related challenges could be a relevant concept for applied work with student-athletes. In this study, we examined whether there are distinct developmental profiles of career adaptability among adolescent athletes across the upper secondary school years. We also investigated the associations between career adaptability and sport withdrawal and academic achievement.Design and methodsA total of 391 Finnish-speaking student-athletes completed the questionnaire on career adaptability (Career Adapt-Abilities Scale – Dual Career Form; Ryba & Aunola, 2015; Ryba et al., 2017) at the beginning and end of upper secondary school. The participants’ background information about their sport participation and grade point average were collected upon completion of each grade of upper secondary school. The data were analysed using cluster analysis, cross-tabulation, and one-way analysis of variance.ResultsFour distinct adaptability profiles were identified: higher adaptability, lower adaptability, increasing adaptability, and decreasing adaptability. Higher and lower adaptability profiles showed stable levels of adaptability across time, whereas the adaptability level either increased or decreased in the other two profiles. Student-athletes with a lower career adaptability profile were overrepresented among those who withdrew from competitive sports, and they reported lower grade point averages than those with higher scores of career adaptability.ConclusionsHigh scores of career adaptability were associated with high grades, whereas low scores of career adaptability were associated with low grades and a probability to withdraw from competitive sport. Therefore, it is recommended that career adaptability be considered as important self-regulation resources for sustaining dual career pathways over time.     

A framework to explain the in-match decision-making of elite Australian football coaches

The ability to make effective decisions is an important function of any football coach, whether during training, team selection, match-day performance or post-match player evaluation. It is not yet known how elite Australian football coaches make decisions during matches, in time-constrained but well-resourced environments. This study is the first to explore the decision-making of elite Australian football coaches during matches, in pursuit of identifying opportunities to improve the translation and implementation of research findings into the competitive match environment. Using semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis, a six-stage framework of the decision-making of elite Australian football coaches during matches was developed. The stages include (1) Opportunity trigger, (2) Understand the opportunity, (3) Determine the need for action, (4) Explore options, (5) Take action and (6) Evaluate the decision. Coaches relied on subjective and objective sources of information and consulted with assistant coaches, performance analysts, and sport scientists. The findings enable researchers to ensure future interventions to improve decision-making during matches are well integrated. They also provide an opportunity for coaches to reflect on their own decision-making process, identifying targeted areas for improvement in their own practice.     

Motivation for orienteering An exploratory analysis using confirmatory factor analytic techniques

The aim of the present study was to investigate and identify different dimensions of motivation for the sport of orienteering, as well as to compare the strength of these dimensions by sex and age. Data for 512 subjects was analyzed with confirmatory factor analytic techniques in an extensive process where model generating was the primary matter of interest. There appear to be three broad main dimensions of motivation for orienteering. There is a main distinction between a social-recreational dimension and one reflecting a desire to achieve. Within the social-recreational dimension it is possible to identify more specific factors. In addition, there seems to be a relatively broad and distinct dimension, which is partly related to the other two, reflecting a search for internal stimulation. Comparisons of means of latent variables by sex and age indicate a number of clear and interesting differences.     

Psychometric properties of the youth experience survey with young athletes

Objectives

The topic of positive youth development through sport has received much research attention in recent years. However, a specific tool that measures this construct has yet to be fully developed. The purpose of this study was to test the factor structure of the Youth Experience Survey 2.0 (YES; Hansen & Larson, 2005) in a sample of youth sport participants; an instrument that was originally developed to assess experiences across any type of structured activity.

Design/methods

A total of 637 athletes aged 9-19 years completed the YES. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to fit the data to the model. The confirmatory factor analysis did not provide strong support for the models tested that resulted in a re-examination of the data using exploratory analyses. This analysis was preceded by a parallel analysis to determine the number of factors to retain.

Results

Results of exploratory analyses created a modified version of the YES that measures 5 dimensions of youth development (personal and social skills, initiative, goal setting, cognitive skills, and negative experiences). The revised version of the scale, which contains 37 items, was renamed the Youth Experience Survey for Sport (YES-S).

Conclusions

The YES-S is proposed as an instrument capable of measuring positive and negative developmental experiences occurring in the youth sport domain.     

Amount and type of physical activity as predictors of growth in executive functions,attentional control,and social self-control across 4 years of elementary school

This paper used a nationally representative sample of children from the United States to examine the extent to which physical activity and sports participation may promote growth in children's executive functions (EFs), attention, and social self-control over time. Using data from the ECLS-K:2011 (N = 18,174), findings indicated that regular physical activity predicted growth in EFs and attention from 3rd to 4th grade (βs = 0.03–0.05) but not from kindergarten to 1st grade. After controlling for the frequency of physical activity, participation in group sports predicted increases in EFs, attention, and social self-control during both periods (βs = 0.02–0.04). Though modest in size, the findings suggest that encouraging children to engage in more frequent and more team-based activity will benefit the development of their EFs and related skills, and especially so for children in middle childhood.     

Drop-out from team sport among adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies

During the last decades, an increased drop-out rate in adolescents’ team sport participation is observed. Given the potential adverse consequences of drop-out from team sport more information about risk factors for drop-out is warranted. The objectives of this systematic review were to (1) synthesise the literature on factors associated with future drop-out from team sport among adolescents and (2) investigate the strength of associations between drop-out and related factors with meta-analysis. The databases Academic Search Elite, ERIC, PsycINFO, PubMed and SPORTDiscus were searched for relevant publications from the earliest reported date until October 8, 2021. Articles were included if: (1) data about drop-out was collected; (2) the focus was on adolescents; (3) the context was team sport and (4) studies were of prospective design. We used the Risk of Bias Assessment Tool for Non-randomized Studies (RoBANS) to assess the risk of bias in included studies. A narrative synthesis was conducted according to the reporting guideline of synthesis without meta-analysis. Studies that presented statistical data necessary for the calculation of Hedge’s g effect sizes were included in the meta-analysis. In total, 16 studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in the narrative synthesis. The meta-analysis included 12 of the studies. Altogether, 6304 adolescent team sport players participated in the selected studies. Of those studies, most had a focus on intrapersonal factors relationship with drop-out. The results showed that constructs related to motivation as well as sport experience had the strongest relationships with drop-out. To prevent drop-out from adolescents’ team sport, organisations and clubs are recommended to focus on developing a high-quality motivation climate that facilitates motivation and enjoyment.