The significance of best-friend relationships in adolescence

Research is summarized that documents the nature of the best-friend process in adolescence. Similarities and differences between the sexes are detailed. Female relationships are described as more intense, demonstrative, exciusive, and nurturant than male. Females depend heavily on the friend as a confidante with whom to process their mutual experiences and psychological reactions, apparently in an effort to understand and develop their own personalities. While males also confide at an intimate level, male relationships are more likely to be based on enjoyable companionship and similarity in attitudes, with less emphasis on continual analysis of experience. For both sexes, but especially for females, the relationship is important enough to development that lack of a close friend should be viewed as a deficit that responsible adults should help a student to remedy. Resources are cited that may be utilized by school personnel in helping the unfriended to make more effective contact with potential friends.     

Using football cultures as a vehicle to improve mental health in men: the case of the Redcar and cleveland boot room

This paper sets out to appraise (from the perspective of members) the impact of a localized, football-based mental health intervention. Commissioned in late 2015, the ‘Redcar and Cleveland Boot Room (BR)’ was implemented in response to mass redundancy in the local area, coupled with regional suicide rates in men that exceed the national average. Interactive discussions with BR members revealed that: (a) the language of football and shared identity were important for initiating and sustaining engagement in the BR; (b) peer-support and mentoring combined with member-led activities were active ingredients of the BR and (c) that the BR was an effective vehicle for building mental health resilience. This evaluation adds to the evidence base on the value of football as a context to engage adult males in community-based interventions targeting mental health resilience.     

Skating start propulsion: three-dimensional kinematic analysis of elite male and female ice hockey players

The forward skating start is a fundamental skill for male and female ice hockey players. However, performance differences by athlete’s sex cannot be fully explained by physiological variables; hence, other factors such as skating technique warrant examination. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the body movement kinematics of ice hockey skating starts between elite male and female ice hockey participants. Male (n = 9) and female (n = 10) elite ice hockey players performed five forward skating start accelerations. An 18-camera motion capture system placed on the arena ice surface captured full-body kinematics during the first seven skating start steps within 15 meters. Males’ maximum skating speeds were greater than females. Skating technique sex differences were noted: in particular, females presented ~10° lower hip abduction throughout skating stance as well as ~10° greater knee extension at initial ice stance contact, conspicuously followed by a brief cessation in knee extension at the moment of ice contact, not evident in male skaters. Further study is warranted to explain why these skating technique differences exist in relation to factors such as differences in training, equipment, performance level, and anthropometrics.     

Attribution in the classroom: How just is the just world?

Research in the area of attribution theory is reviewed which documents the tendency to explain whatever happens to someone else as a just consequence of his own personal characteristics, rather than the result of environmental circumstances. The ramifications of this tendency in teachers' perceptions of students are discussed, and suggestions are offered for guarding against this sort of attributional bias.     

Force transducer system for measurement of ice hockey skating force

The purpose of this study was to develop a portable force measurement system for ice hockey skating. The system consisted of three strain gauge pairs affixed to an ice hockey skate’s blade holder with wire leads connected to a microprocessor controlled data acquisition device carried in a backpack worn by the skater. The configuration of the strain gauges simultaneously determined the vertical and medial–lateral force components experienced by the blade holder with a resolution accuracy of 1.9 N and a coefficient of variation of 9.2%. On-ice testing of this system with subjects performing forward start, acceleration, and constant velocity skating permitted unencumbered, natural movement and demonstrated clear, unambiguous signal responses, high trial-to-trial repeatability, and easy data retrieval. The practicality and accuracy of this testing approach have many applications, such as a quantitative tool for skating force assessment to aid athletes and coaches, as well as providing the means to examine other skill-specific dynamics.