The sideline behaviour of coaches at children’s team sports games

Objectives

This study aimed to establish the prevalence, pattern and nature of coaches’ verbal behaviour at children’s (ages 6-12 years) team sports events. The study draws upon the motivational model presented by Mageau and Vallerand (2003) to examine the influence of global (gender), contextual (sport related), and social (athlete gender) factors on coach comments.

Design

A cross-sectional observational study of coaches stratified across four team sports: Rugby Union, Netball, Association Football and Touch Rugby.

Method

The Observation Instrument at Sports Events was used to categorise covertly recorded verbal comments made by coaches at organised team sports games.

Results

Overall, 10,697 comments were recorded at 72 games at a rate of 3.71 comments/minute; 35.4% were categorised as positive, 21.6% as negative, and 43.0% as neutral. Significant differences in negative comments were identified between sport (p < .001) with rugby coaches recording the highest percentage of negative comments and the lowest percentage of positive comments; by coach gender (p < .001), with male coaches recording higher rates of negative comments; and by athlete gender (p < .001), with coaches of male-only teams recording higher rates of negative comments. When simultaneously included in a Poisson regression model the difference in negative comments between sports remained statistically significant (p < .001) whereas coach gender was no longer significant.

Conclusions

The ratio of negative coach comments for all sports gives cause for concern. These findings suggest that sports of national and cultural significance are a key driver of coaching behaviours in a competitive environment.     

Religiousness as a Protective Factor for Substance Use in Dance Sport

Although religiousness is found to be a significant protective factor in substance use, there is an evidential lack of studies of such in athletes. The aim of the study was to identify the predictive value of the religiousness and some social, educational, and sport factors on substance use in 43 sport dancers. An originally developed questionnaire for studying substance use and precipitation factors was applied. The Chi-square showed male dancers as more religious than females. Using the Spearman’s correlation, religiousness was found to be a significant protective factor in cigarette smoking, sport nutritional supplementation, and the likelihood of doping. Data were interpreted emphasizing the previous findings from the literature.     

Burnout and its relations with basic psychological needs and motivation among athletes: A systematic review and meta-analysis

ObjectivesThe present study is a review on studies about the relationships between the three basic psychological needs/motivational regulations (i.e., amotivation, controlled regulation, extrinsic autonomous regulation, and intrinsic motivation) and burnout.DesignA systematic review and meta-analysis.MethodStudies were identified through five electronic databases and manual search using combinations of three groups of keywords. Three inclusion criteria were then used to screen the searched articles.ResultsEighteen studies met the inclusion criteria and these studies varied considerably in terms of their study characteristics (e.g., characteristics of participants, study designs, and outcome measures). The results also showed that the three basic psychological needs, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic autonomous regulation, and amotivation had small to large effects on predicting global burnout and its three dimensions. However, controlled regulation showed no or weak correlations with the burnout subscales.ConclusionsSelf-determination theory was generally supported in explaining athlete burnout.     

Determinants of coach motivation and autonomy supportive coaching behaviours

ObjectiveThe objective of the present study is to build upon the existing literature examining the coaching context and how it relates to coaches' use of autonomy-supportive interpersonal behaviours (i.e. Stebbings, Taylor, Spray, & Ntoumanis, 2012) by identifying additional environmental factors and exploring the role of coach motivation.DesignAn academic model designed by Pelletier, Seguin-Levesque, and Legault (2002) to predict teacher motivation and autonomy-supportive styles in academic settings, was adapted to the coaching context.MethodsThe influence of pressure from above (sport administrations) and pressure from below (athlete motivation) on coach motivation and autonomy-supportive coaching behaviours was tested using structural equation modeling.ResultsResults support the fit of the model in a sport context.ConclusionsPressure from above, pressure from below, and coach motivation predict coaches’ reported use of autonomy-supportive behaviours.     

Identifying and preventing disordered eating among athletes: Perceptions of track and field coaches

ObjectiveThis study aimed to identify the strategies employed by coaches when identifying disordered eating (DE) among track and field athletes.DesignThis was a qualitative study and an inductive thematic analysis was conducted.MethodSemi structured interviews were conducted with eleven track and field coaches, with experience of coaching at national and international level. The interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysis was conducted.ResultsTrack and field coaches reported using physical, social and performance indicators to identify disordered eating in their athletes. Coaches also monitored their athletes' eating attitudes and behaviors. Weight loss (both observed and objectively monitored) was considered to be a key indicator of disordered eating. Coaches placed a high level of importance on weight for performance, and an “ideal” female athlete body. Previous experiences of detecting disordered eating and a close relationship with the athlete facilitated the identification of disordered eating. Athlete secrecy and masking behaviors, difficulties in communication and coaches' stereotypical beliefs were found to complicate the identification process.ConclusionsThis study highlights the need for additional information, advice and guidance for track and field coaches to improve their knowledge and confidence in identifying disordered eating among their athletes.     

The impact of uniform color on judging tackles in association football

ObjectivesThe aim of the study was to question whether uniform color had any impact on judging tackles in football.DesignFifty-two videos showing the tackles of an achromatic and a chromatic team were individually presented in random order. The chromatic team's uniform color was changed to blue, green, red and yellow.MethodsFootball referees and participants with a high and minor level of understanding of the rules of football judged the roughness of each tackle.ResultsBy analyzing all four colors, results did not reveal any impact of uniform color. Restricting analysis to blue and red showed that referees and participants with a high level of understanding of the rules judged tackles from behind more harshly for players wearing red.ConclusionsThe study found some empirical support for associating red with aggression and emphasized a differential impact of blue versus red uniforms for tackles committed from behind.     

Correlates of youth sport attrition: A review and future directions

ObjectivesThis review aims to (a) identify correlates of youth sport attrition, (b) frame correlates within a multilevel model of youth sport participation (i.e., biological, intra-personal, inter-personal, institutional, community, and policy levels), and (c) assess the level of evidence for each correlate.DesignReview paper.MethodsSystematic review method.ResultsEntering relevant search terms into PubMed, PsycINFO, SPORTDiscus and Web of Knowledge databases identified 23 articles with a total of 8345 participants. Satisfactory articles largely examined sport-specific attrition and sampled youth from western countries (e.g., Canada, France, Spain, United States). Of the 141 correlates examined, most were framed at the intrapersonal (90) and inter-personal levels (43). The level of evidence for each correlate (i.e., high, low, insufficient) was systematically assessed based on the quantity and quality of supporting articles. In total, 11 correlates were categorized as having a high quality level of evidence and 10 as having a low quality. High quality correlates included, among others, age, autonomy, perceived competence, relatedness, and task climate.ConclusionsOverall, established correlates of youth sport attrition are largely social in nature. Future directions surrounding (a) the need to examine correlates at lower (i.e., biological level) and higher (i.e., institutional, community, policy) analytic levels, (b) to sample participants from more culturally diverse societies and (c) to examine sport-general attrition are offered.     

Le momentum psychologique en sport : vers une perspective complexe et dynamique

Psychological momentum (PM) is a social phenomenon that has triggered the curiosity of sport psychologists since the early 1980s. From early to recent conceptualizations, PM has been considered as a complex construct, inherently related to variations in sport performance. Over the past 30 years, several models have been proposed to untangle how PM is triggered, which psychological changes are involved in PM experiences, and how PM relates to performance. While linear (causal) models have dominated past research on PM, researchers have recently found that PM can change nonlinearly, depending on the performance history of the competition. This systematic review aims to provide an overview of different PM models that have been proposed in the past to increase insights into the complexity of PM, including the transition from linear causal models to nonlinear dynamical models. Moreover, based on the current state of affairs, perspectives for future research are provided.     

Motivation and engagement in diverse performance settings: Testing their generality across school,university/college,work, sport,music, and daily life

In the light of recent calls for more integrative approaches to theorizing and measurement in motivation and engagement research, the present study assesses the generality of key motivation and engagement constructs across seven performance domains: elementary school (N = 624), high school (N = 21,579), university/college (N = 420), work (N = 637), music (N = 224), sport (N = 204), and daily life (N = 249). Based on domain specific adaptations of the Motivation and Engagement Scale, multi-group confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) tested invariance across the seven domains. First and higher order multi-group CFAs demonstrated broad invariance in factor loadings (in particular), factor correlations/variances, and uniquenesses across performance domains. Taken together, the present data support the hypothesized generality of key motivation and engagement constructs. Findings hold implications for pragmatic, statistical, substantive, and intervention considerations in motivation and engagement research and also for research into cognate constructs in personality psychology more generally.