The direct and indirect effects of motor competence on adolescents’ mental health through health-related physical fitness

ABSTRACT

Mental health is an important public health issue and up to one in five youth experience mental health problems. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the relationship among motor competence, health-related physical fitness and mental health outcomes in adolescents. A secondary goal was to test the direct and indirect effects of motor competence on adolescents’ mental health through health-related physical fitness. Participants were 279 adolescents (M_age = 12.49, SD = 0.89) recruited in the south-west region of the US Motor competence including volleyball, soccer, and ultimate Frisbee, were assessed using PE Metrics?. FITNESSGRAM® test battery was used to assess health-related physical fitness components. Students completed a survey measuring their depressive symptoms and health-related quality of life. Motor competence was significantly associated with components of health-related physical fitness (r ranged from ?0.15 to 0.38). The robust fit of the model supports the significant indirect effect of motor competence on mental health outcomes through health-related physical fitness (χ²/df = 39.92/25; CFI = 0.97; RMSEA = 0.046; 90% CI [0.02, 0.07]). The hypothesized conceptual model tested in this study provides insights into the potential interaction of motor competence and health-related physical fitness with adolescents’ mental health.     

The ‘uptake’ of a sport-for-development programme in South Africa

This article reports on the ‘uptake’ dynamics and resultant manifestations of a school-based, incentive-driven, sport-for-development programme in the South African context of poverty. The ecological systems theory of Brofenbrenner, the theory of complexity and a neo-liberal framework underpin the social constructions of local meanings associated with programme participation and involvement. Thirty-nine primary schools in the Western Cape Province and four schools in the Eastern Cape Province deliver the programme in partnership with a local foundation. A representative sample of 15 schools, from rural and urban (township) impoverished communities, were selected for a baseline study. A mixed-method approach of the Sport-in Development Impact Assessment Tool was adapted to collect comparative data through 57 interviews, 35 focus group sessions (with 75 teachers and 176 learners) and 159 questionnaires completed by learners and 29 by school and cluster coordinators. Various models of implementation render nuanced findings at meso-, exo- and micro-levels, where interrelated systems, demographic and developmental influences translate into culturally informed sense-making, pro- and anti-social associative behaviours, praxis, institutional empowerment and status-conferring identity constructions. All partners promote a neoliberal approach that limits changes to the underlying social systems, and mostly promote individual and group attributes within the institutional and social world settings of participants.     

The impact of social influence on physical activity among adolescents – a longitudinal study

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of the current study was to examine the impact of social support and negative social influence from various contexts on adolescents' current and intended physical activity (C&IPA) two years later. In addition, social influence related to C&IPA at baseline (16–17 years old) is compared to follow-up (18–19 years old). Methods: Questionnaire data was obtained from 404 students at the age of 16–17 and again at the age of 18–19. Relationships among variables were examined with structural equation modelling (SEM). Results: Social influence experienced by high-school students at 16–17 years of age had a direct suppressing effect and an indirect positive effect on their C&IPA two years later. Social support for physical activity was more complex and related to positive as well as negative relations at the age of 16–17 compared to two years later. Conclusions: The results imply that social support to adolescents should be offered over a longer period of time, with increased focus on its significance as a link from an initially external regulation to a more internal regulation of physical activity as students get older. Closer examination of maintaining, pro-activating and intervening effects of social support could enhance our understanding of direct and indirect effects of social support on physical activity.     

The influence of body discourses on adolescents’ (non)participation in physical activity

Drawing on semi-structured interviews with older adolescents, this article examines how healthism, ideal body discourses and performative body discourses influence their (non)participation in physical activity (PA) and their identity construction concerning exercise, sport and physical education. We illustrate that body transformation through PA, and related slim body desire and the fear of masculinised female bodies, affect adolescents’ decisions to engage in or drop out of sport. Also, a non-hegemonic body shape combined with a display of low physical competence triggers classmate and teachers’ rejection and marginalisation, affecting adolescents’ construction of embodied identities and preventing them from being active. Finally, adolescents who are competent in sport are less influenced by ideal body discourses than by performative body discourses. We highlight the health promotion effects of these hegemonic discourses and suggest strategies to challenge them.     

The ‘East Asian’ Olympic Games: what of sustainable legacies?

Sport has proven to be an unstoppable globalising force. The Olympic Movement has come to epitomise modernisation and the extent to which Western sport has become globalised. The philosophy of Olympism, once resting upon just two pillars of Excellence in Sport and Culture has since 1994 been underpinned by a third, the Environment. All of the Olympic Games host cities now have to support a responsible concern for environmental issues and with that the very sustainability of ‘our’ culture, and sport itself. They must do so by bequeathing a holistic positive legacy from their Games. This paper will analyse the three ‘Asian’ Olympic Summer Olympic Games – Tokyo 1964, Seoul 1988 and Beijing 2008 – by looking at the cultural, sporting and environmental legacies each has left.

The discussion of the concept of sustainability as an element of culture will embrace Littig and Griessler’s idea that social sustainability is about the quality of societies expressed through the nature-society relationships and is not merely an economically based notion.1 ?1.?Littig & Griessler, ‘Social Sustainability’, 72. In this paper we consider the three Asian Summer Olympic Games. Each has been related to a specific nodal point in the host country's national history, as a means of illustrating, indeed emphasising, the always unique impacts of context on event and process. Yet we propose that, locked as they are in distinct epochs and differing cultural, political and economic contexts, they are nonetheless marked in common by an Asian discourse heavily reliant upon economic and nationalistic motivations.

The progressive analysis of each Games demonstrates that although each was unique, particularly in regards to the expectations stakeholders had of ‘their Olympics’, all three host nations represented themselves as ‘modern hybrids’ by simultaneously demonstrating their modernised characters and emphasising their ancient cultures. The analysis demonstrates the holistic impact of these events by reference to the wide range of economic, social, cultural and sporting changes that have emerged for each host from each festival. The evaluation of the nature and significance of these legacies reemphasises the impact of the Olympic Games as a vehicle for social change and illustrates the transformative power of sport at national and global levels.     

Effects of a physical education-based coping training on adolescents’ coping skills,stress perceptions and quality of sleep

Background: Although most adolescents successfully manage the transition between childhood and adulthood, the speed and magnitude of these changes may exceed the coping abilities of a significant number of young people. For vocational students, additional responsibilities arise during the vocational school transition and the need to balance academic and job-related requirements. An expanding body of literature suggests that adolescence is a vulnerable period for the development of psychiatric diseases and as such, the need to develop an adequate coping repertoire is receiving increasing attention globally. The growing awareness of long-term consequences of stress has led governments to instill school-based resilience promotion programs. For instance, the new physical education (PE) curriculum of vocational (vocational education and training (VET)) students in Switzerland addresses stress management, because stress-related diseases at the workplace have become commonplace among young professionals.

Purpose: Our aim was to develop, implement and evaluate a PE-based coping training (EPHECT) for VET students. Therefore, we adapted components of extant field-tested coping training programs and tailored them to the unique needs of VET students. To facilitate the standardization of the program, each teacher received a teaching manual. Moreover, drawing upon experiential learning theory, we introduced the contents of the coping training in PE class through practical, movement-based exercises in PE. Students also received a workbook for use at home.

Participants and research design: In this cluster randomized controlled trial, eight classes from a Swiss vocational school participated (N?=?131, M_age?=?16.22?±?1.12, 35% females). Two trained PE teachers implemented the program with students in the intervention group (IG?=?67) for three months, while students in the other four classes maintained regular PE (CG?=?64) to comprise the control group. To evaluate the coping training, all participants completed several self-report psychological questionnaires (assessing stress, coping and sleep) at baseline and follow-up. IG students completed further questions with regard to intervention fidelity at follow-up.

Data analysis: To evaluate possible effects of the coping training on stress, coping and sleep, a 2?×?2 repeated-measures analysis of variance design was executed with time (pre vs. post) and group (IG vs. CG) as within- and between-subject factors.

Findings: Over time, IG students significantly increased their adaptive coping compared to CG students, while stress and sleep remained relatively stable for both. Regularly completing one’s homework reinforced this effect because it was significantly associated with students’ reflection and compliance.

Conclusion: A complete and accurate implementation of a PE-based coping training can make a positive contribution to the development of adaptive coping skills among adolescents attending vocational schools. This PE-based program allows students to experience their responses to stress directly and offers opportunities to experiment with different coping strategies. Adaptive coping skills are vital for successful stress management and the prevention of stress-related disorders across the work domain and in everyday life.     

Influence of occupational socialization on beginning teachers’ interpretation and delivery of sport education

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which newly qualified teachers employed the Sport Education (SE) model. In addition, we attempted to discover factors that led to and facilitated beginning teachers employing the model and those that did not. Participants were six American and four British beginning teachers. Data were collected by formally interviewing each teacher. Analysis procedures employed were analytic induction and constant comparison. Occupational socialization was the theoretical framework that guided data collection and analysis procedures. The results indicated that teachers interpreted and delivered SE in one of three different ways: full version, watered down version and cafeteria style. Moreover, the teachers’ acculturation, professional socialization and organizational socialization largely explained why teachers interpreted and delivered SE as they did.     

Perception of the new competition formats in the Innsbruck 2012 Youth Olympic Games sports programme—A spectators’ perspective

The Youth Olympic Games (YOG) was initiated by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2007 aiming to reach out to a younger target group. Besides the introduction of a Culture and Education Programme the creation of new competition formats was an important initiative. The objective of this study was to assess the spectators’ perception of the new sports competitions at the first Winter YOG 2012 in Innsbruck, Austria. The aim was to understand how the Games were perceived by on-site spectators attending the event. For this purpose a quantitative research approach was chosen. Based on an extensive literature review a paper questionnaire was developed and distributed among the spectators during the YOG in Innsbruck. The results revealed that the Level of Performance was perceived very positively across all competitions. Regarding the Entertainment Value, Future Development, Eustress and Rules the spectators’ perception differed between the various competitions. The findings from the study in hand provide important insights for future organisers of sports events and other related stakeholders (federations and sports clubs) with respect to the implementation of new sports competitions.     

Communicating via photographs: A gendered analysis of Olympic athletes’ visual self-presentation on Instagram

The purpose of this study was to examine Olympic athletes’ self-presentation on Instagram, a social media outlet on which users post photographs as their primary communication mechanism, in order to develop an understanding of the ways in which athletes use this medium as a communication and marketing tool to build their personal brand. Additionally, this research sought to understand whether differences existed between the utilisation of Instagram by male and female athletes. Drawing on Goffman's (1959) theory of self-presentation, this study examined eight purposively selected Olympic athletes’ Instagram photos. Findings revealed similarities to previous research on athletes’ use of written social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter, as the majority of photos posted by athletes were personal in nature, thus reflecting backstage performance strategies according to self-presentation theory. The results indicated that female athletes were more likely to share photos of themselves and photos taken in private settings, but male athletes who posted a wider variety of photos encouraged greater engagement from their followers. Personal brand management implications for athletes and sport organisations are examined in greater detail in the discussion.     

The evolution of student-coach’s pedagogical content knowledge in a combined use of sport education and the step-game-approach model*

Background: One of the essential elements within Sport Education is the inclusion of student roles and responsibilities. While previous research has examined students’ performance in officiating tasks, the examination of student-coaches’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) within peer-assisted tasks of Sport Education has been scarce. Indeed, the only study to date which has examined student-coach effectiveness was conducted by Wallhead and O’Sullivan [2007. “A Didactic Analysis of Content Development During the Peer Teaching Tasks of a Sport Education Season.”Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy 12 (3): 225–243]. In that study, student-coaches struggled to manifest PCK by providing appropriate demonstrations, to diagnose errors, or to modify tasks for higher order content development. The study of PCK may be a useful heuristic to examine instructional effectiveness in physical education.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the evolution of the PCK of a cohort of student-coaches across three hybrid Sport Education-Step Game Approach seasons, and to examine the impact of protocols put in place to specifically enhance coaches’ PCK.

Participants and setting: Twenty-one students and one teacher from a school class in the north of Portugal participated in the present study.

Method: Data from multiple sources were collected: (a) videotape observations of all lessons, (b) field notes, and (c) pre-lesson interviews with the student-coaches. These were then subjected to deductive examination through a process of thematic analysis.

Findings and conclusions: Following a baseline season that identified four key limitations within the student-coaches’ instruction (task presentation, error diagnosis, feedback, and task modification), these students participated in specific coach preparation that involved modelling teacher’s instruction, pre-lesson meetings, and coaches’ corners. While showing marked improvement in their content knowledge across the second season, a second protocol was instigated during the third that involved the student-coaches to participate in stimulated reflections of their instruction and the incorporation of planning sheets to enhance their instruction. It was found that both interventions were efficacious in developing student-coaches’ PCK, which allowed a more complete transfer of the instructional responsibility from the teacher to the students. These results give insight into the importance of including coach education protocols within the design of seasons of Sport Education with respect to student-coaches’ instructional preparation.     

Measuring effects of naming-rights sponsorships on college football fans’ purchasing intentions

Corporate sponsorship is now commonplace across the college athletic landscape; however, the introduction of naming-rights sponsorships for college football stadiums has been a significantly slower process. Although there are several Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) programs that have secured naming-rights partners (i.e. University of Minnesota), this practice is still the exception rather than the norm, which is also true in many other global sport contexts. In order to better understand this phenomenon, the goal of this study was to investigate fans’ attitudes related to sponsorship, tradition, and commercialism in college football. The results indicated fans that had more positive attitudes toward sponsorship had more positive behavioral intentions toward both the football program and a potential naming rights partner. On the other hand, those who had more positive perceptions of the institution's football tradition and venue had more negative behavioral intentions. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed, as well as suggestions for future research.     

Acute effects of static and dynamic stretching on hamstrings’ response times

Abstract

The main purposes of this study were to (a) investigate acute effects of static and dynamic lower limb stretching routines on total response time, pre-motor time and motor time of the medial and lateral hamstrings during maximal eccentric isokinetic knee flexion; and (b) determine whether static and dynamic routines elicit similar responses. A total of 38 active adults completed the following intervention protocols in a randomised order on separate days: (a) non-stretching (control condition), (b) static stretching and (c) dynamic stretching. After the stretching or control intervention, total response time, pre-motor time and motor time of the medial and lateral hamstrings were assessed during eccentric knee flexion movements with participants prone. Measures were compared via a mixed-design factorial ANOVA. There were no main effects for total response time, pre-motor time and motor time. The results suggest that dynamic and static stretching has no influence on hamstrings response times (total response time, pre-motor time and motor time) and hence neither form of stretching reduces this primary risk factor for anterior cruciate ligament injury.     

Comparing effects of a TPSR training program on prospective physical education teachers’ social goals,discipline and autonomy strategies in Spain,Chile and Costa Rica

Background: Conflict prevention, respect, tolerance and acceptance of others should be basic outcomes in any educational context. Physical Education (PE) has the potential to be one of the curricular subjects that could help students meet these goals. However, teachers need to use appropriate instructional approaches like Teaching for Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR).

Purpose: The objectives of this study were two: (1) to compare the impact of TPSR training on social goals, discipline strategies and autonomy support of future PE teachers from Spain, Chile and Costa Rica; and (2) to assess participants’ perceptions of their country's social, cultural and curricular aspects that may influence TPSR implementation.

Participants and settings: 156 prospective PE teachers (48 from Spain, 54 from Chile and 54 from Costa Rica), with an average age of 21.41?±?2.57 years, agreed to participate. 88 (54%) were males, while 75 (46%) were female. They were enrolled in teacher training programs in three different universities located in three different countries: (i) Faculty of Education of the University of Burgos (Spain); (ii) Nursery School of the University of Valparaiso (Chile) and (iii) School of Physical Education and Sports of San José (Costa Rica). All students experienced the same TPSR intervention program, conducted by the same university teacher.

Research design: This study followed a quasi-experimental, pre-test/post-test non-equivalent research design with mixed methods.

Data collection: Three validated questionnaires were used to obtain quantitative information from the participants before and after the training program. Qualitative information was obtained from three discussion groups conducted with the participating students (one from each country).

Data analysis: Statistical analysis of quantitative data was conducted with the statistical package SPSS (version 22.0), while content analysis and constant comparison were used to assess qualitative data.

Findings: The prospective PE teachers from the three countries held different views of the effects of the TPSR program on social goals, discipline strategies and autonomy support, and they were based on socio-cultural considerations of the subject (PE), the teachers’ academic training and their professional identity as teachers on each country. Spanish and Costa Rican PE teachers demonstrated a significant positive change in their perspectives on discipline strategies, and Chilean PE teachers demonstrated a significant positive change in their perception of social goals after experiencing a TPSR intervention.

Conclusion: If cultural context is considered, TPSR can be an effective teacher training approach related to discipline strategies, social goals and autonomy support in PE.     

The distance – time relationship over a century of running Olympic performances: A limit on the critical speed concept

Abstract

We analyse the evolution of the slope (critical speed) and the y-intercept (anaerobic distance capacity) of the linear distance–time relationship over a century of Olympic running performances. The distance–time relationship of each Olympic Games (1920–2004) was plotted using the performances in the 800-, 1500- and 5000-m track events. Values for critical speed and anaerobic distance capacity were determined by linear modelling. Mean performances for the 800, 1500 and 5000 m were 104.9 ± 1.5 s (1.4%), 217.2 ± 2.8 s (1.3%) and 808.9 ± 18.4 s (2.3%), respectively. Critical speed improved during the first three-quarters of the twentieth century to reach a plateau in 1984. This is in accordance with the literature (Peronnet & Thibault, 1989 Peronnet, F. and Thibault, G. 1989. Mathematical analysis of running performance and world running records. Journal of Applied Physiology, 67: 453–465. [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and suggests that “human aerobic endurance” has improved within the century (+13.4%) and tends to stabilize. Anaerobic distance capacity was highly variable over the century (coefficient of variation = 9.4%) and did not show a linear improvement over the years as has previously been suggested (Peronnet & Thibault, 1989 Peronnet, F. and Thibault, G. 1989. Mathematical analysis of running performance and world running records. Journal of Applied Physiology, 67: 453–465. [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). This could be due to an artefact in the application of the two-parameter model to only three Olympic performances. A limitation to the use of this linear mathematical model to fit physiological data may have been demonstrated.     

‘The old days of amateurism are over’: the Samaranch revolution and the return of Olympic tennis

Tennis featured in every Olympics from 1896 to 1924, after which disagreements between the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF) on matters pertaining to organisational control and the amateur eligibility of players led to tennis being removed from the Olympic Games as a full-medal event until the 1988 Seoul Olympics. This paper traces the steps of the sport’s reinstatement, from when efforts commenced in the 1950s, setting this development in the contexts of: broader political movements, shifting IOC leadership, burgeoning commercialisation of Olympic sport, the concomitant push for professionalisation and the declining influence of amateur ideals within both the Olympic movement and international tennis. Under the leadership of the amateur stalwart Avery Brundage, the IOC stymied attempts to facilitate tennis’s re-entry, challenging both the ILTF on failing to deal with widespread ‘sham-amateur’ practices and the avaricious promoters luring amateur players toward the professional ranks. Brundage and the IOC also strongly condemned the move to ‘open’ tennis and an acceptance of full-blown professionalism. Only a change in leadership, firstly with Lord Killanin and then the progressive reformer Juan Antonio Samaranch, did the IOC recognise the value of tennis within the Olympic movement, which by then had itself become increasingly money-oriented.     

The effects of work – rest duration on intermittent exercise and subsequent performance

This study examined the effects of different work?–?rest durations during 40?min intermittent treadmill exercise and subsequent running performance. Eight males (mean?±?s: age 24.3?±?2.0 years, body mass 79.4?±?7.0?kg, height 1.77?±?0.05?m) undertook intermittent exercise involving repeated sprints at 120% of the speed at which maximal oxygen uptake (v-[Vdot]O_2max) was attained with passive recovery between each one. The work?–?rest ratio was constant at 1:1.5 with trials involving short (6:9?s), medium (12:18?s) or long (24:36?s) work?–?rest durations. Each trial was followed by a performance run to volitional exhaustion at 150% v-[Vdot]O_2max. After 40?min, mean exercise intensity was greater during the long (68.4?±?9.3%) than the short work?–?rest trial (54.9?±?8.1% [Vdot]O_2max; P?<?0.05). Blood lactate concentration at 10?min was higher in the long and medium than in the short work?–?rest trial (6.1?±?0.8, 5.2?±?0.9, 4.5?±?1.3?mmol?·?l^?1, respectively; P?<?0.05). The respiratory exchange ratio was consistently higher during the long than during the medium and short work?–?rest trials (P <?0.05). Plasma glucose concentration was higher in the long and medium than in the short work?–?rest trial after 40?min of exercise (5.6?±?0.1, 6.6?±?0.2 and 5.3?±?0.5?mmol?·?l^?1, respectively; P?<?0.05). No differences were observed between trials for performance time (72.7?±?14.9, 63.2?±?13.2, 57.6?±?13.5?s for the short, medium and long work?–?rest trial, respectively; P = 0.17), although a relationship between performance time and 40?min plasma glucose was observed (P?<?0.05). The results show that 40?min of intermittent exercise involving long and medium work?–?rest durations elicits greater physiological strain and carbohydrate utilization than the same amount of intermittent exercise undertaken with a short work?–?rest duration.     

Influence of two preservice teachers’ value orientations on their interpretation and delivery of sport education

Teachers’ beliefs have a considerable impact on their instructional styles, methods, objectives and curricular organization. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of two preservice teachers’ (PTs’) value orientations on their interpretation and delivery of sport education (SE). A secondary purpose was to describe possible changes and development of PTs’ value orientations while teaching SE. Data were collected while they engaged in their final student teaching experience using a variety of qualitative techniques. These were analyzed using standard interpretive techniques. Results indicated that their disciplinary mastery focus strongly influenced the type of SE seasons they delivered. In addition they revealed that the PTs broadened their beliefs about their teaching toward the end of student teaching to the extent that they expressed interest in goals related to and used pedagogies consistent with social reconstruction, social responsibility and self-actualization value orientations.     

Rhetoric and realities of London 2012 Olympic education and participation ‘legacies’: voices from the core and periphery

A legacy emphasis was one of the fundamental pillars of the London 2012 Olympic Games. The notion of an Olympic legacy was predicated on assumptions that the event's value would not purely derive from the sporting spectacle, but rather from the ‘success’ of enduring effects met out in London and across the country. For physical education students and practitioners, Olympic legacy agendas translated into persistent pressure to increase inspiration, engagement, participation and performance in the subject, sport and physical activity. Responding to this context, and cognizant of significant disciplinary scholarship, this paper reports initial data from the first phase of a longitudinal study involving Key Stage Three (students aged 11–13) cohorts in two comparable United Kingdom schools: the first an inner-city (core) London school adjacent to the Olympic Park in Stratford, East London (n = 150); the second a (peripheral) school in the Midlands (n = 198). The research involved the use of themed questionnaires focusing on self-reported attitudes towards the Olympic Games and experiences of physical education, sport and physical activity. Students from both schools demonstrated a wide variety of attitudes towards physical education and sport; yet, minor variances emerged regarding extreme enthusiasm levels. Both cohorts also expressed considerably mixed feelings towards the impending Olympic Games. Strong and variable responses were also reported regarding inspiration levels, ticketing acquisition and engagement levels. Consequently, this investigation can be read within the broader context of legacy debates and aligns well with physical educationalists' ongoing discomfort regarding legacy imperatives being enforced upon the discipline and its practitioners. Our work reiterates a shared disciplinary scepticism that while an Olympic Games may temporarily affect young peoples' affectations for sport (and maybe physical education and physical activity), it may not provide the best, or most appropriate, mechanism for sustained attitudinal and/or social changes en masse.