A novel sleep optimisation programme to improve athletes’ well-being and performance

Objectives: To improve well-being and performance indicators in a group of Australian Football League (AFL) players via a six-week sleep optimisation programme. Design: Prospective intervention study following observations suggestive of reduced sleep and excessive daytime sleepiness in an AFL group. Methods: Athletes from the Adelaide Football Club were invited to participate if they had played AFL senior-level football for 1–5 years, or if they had excessive daytime sleepiness (Epworth Sleepiness Scale [ESS] >10), measured via ESS. An initial education session explained normal sleep needs, and how to achieve increased sleep duration and quality. Participants (n?=?25) received ongoing feedback on their sleep, and a mid-programme education and feedback session. Sleep duration, quality and related outcomes were measured during week one and at the conclusion of the six-week intervention period using sleep diaries, actigraphy, ESS, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Profile of Mood States, Training Distress Scale, Perceived Stress Scale and the Psychomotor Vigilance Task. Results: Sleep diaries demonstrated an increase in total sleep time of approximately 20?min (498.8?±?53.8 to 518.7?±?34.3; p?<?.05) and a 2% increase in sleep efficiency (p?<?0.05). There was a corresponding increase in vigour (p?<?0.001) and decrease in fatigue (p?<?0.05). Conclusions: Improvements in measures of sleep efficiency, fatigue and vigour indicate that a sleep optimisation programme may improve athletes’ well-being. More research is required into the effects of sleep optimisation on athletic performance.     

Texts

Made in America: Immigrant Students in Our Public Schools. Laurie Olsen, New York: The New Press, 1997, 276 pages, $25.00 (hardcover), ISBN 1–5658–4400–9, and $14.95 (softcover), ISBN 1–5658–4471–8.

The Power of Their Ideas: Lessons for America From a Small School in Harlem. Deborah Meier, Boston: Beacon Press, 1995, 190 pages, $12.00 (softcover). ISBN 0–8070–3111–9.

Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow: Meeting the Challenge of Our Multicultural America & Beyond. Paul D. Christiansen and Michelle Young, San Francisco: Gaddo Gap Press, 1996, 376 pages, $29.95 (softcover). ISBN 1–8801–9218–7.     

13th China Wuqiao International Acrobatic Festival Concluded with Great Success

From October 22 to 30, 2011, the 13th China Wuqiao Acrobatic Festival was held in Shijiazhuang, north China’s Hebei province.Co-organized by the Ministry of Culture of China and Hebei People’s Provincial Government, this biennial event featured the theme of "developing acrobatic art, facilitating international exchanges,promoting economic and social development,and enriching people’s cultural life". This year,the festival attracted more than 200 acrobats from 27 circus companies from 17 countries and regions around the world, including Russia,Canada, USA, DPRK, Australia and France, who     

Celebrating Chinese New Year Worldwide

<正>During the Spring Festival in 2012, the Cultural Ministry of China, along with China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Education, State Administration of Radio, Film and TV and the State Council Office for Overseas Chinese Affairs     

Chinese Cultural Ministry Hosts Mid-autumn Reception

正On the evening of September 21, 2012, a new moon hangs over the newly lit streetlights. The Mid-Autumn reception for the year of the Dragon was held by Chinese...     

Children's adaptive behavior scale: A new measure of adaptive functioning

This article describes a new instrument for the measurement of adaptive behavior that is administered directly to the child. It was designed for brief administration, to be educationally relevant, and to measure these five domains of adaptive behavior: Language Development, Independent Functioning, Family Role Performance and Economic-Vocational Activity, and Socialization. An initial study of test-retest reliability indicates the instrument has high reliability.     

Validation of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children with a sample of preschool children

The validity of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) (Kaufman & Kaufman, 1983) was investigated with a sample of preschool-age children. The sample consisted of 50 subjects aged 21/2 through 4 who were distributed roughly equally by age, sex, and race according to the 1980 census. The validity of the K-ABC was examined using the Slosson Intelligence Test (SIT) (Slosson, 1982) and the Classroom Behavior Inventory-Preschool Form (CBI) (Schaefer & Edgerton, 1978) as criterion measures. The SIT and CBI-Preschool Form Verbal Intelligence Scale were found to correlate significantly (p<.01) with the global scales of the K-ABC. The K-ABC did not differentiate between age or sex groups, but blacks scored lower than whites. The findings are supportive of previous validity studies (Kaufman & Kaufman, 1983) and two-factor theories of intelligence (e.g., Das, Kirby, & Jarman, 1975).     

Factor structure evidence for developmental levels of perceptual processing on the developmental test of visual-motor integration

Beery's Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration was individually administered to 193 school-age children. Test protocols were factor analyzed by a principal component solution. Four factors were obtained, indicating that the test does not measure a unitary dimension of perceptual-motor development, but rather four distinct levels or stages for the age range of children investigated. The structural features of the designs that make up the test were used to define the factors. It is argued that a more useful interpretation of performance on this test would be one that designates visualmotor processing in terms of levels, not age equivalents.     

The WISC-R and Woodcock-Johnson tests of cognitive ability: A comparative study

The Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery has become a popular instrument for assessing students with learning problems. Previous research has indicated a possible discrepancy between overall scores on the WISC-R and the congnitive portion of the Woodcock-Johnson with samples of learning disabled (LD) students. The current study, conducted with samples of students not designated as LD, also found significant differences in the mean scores between the two measures. The hypothesis that the difference between measures is a function of grade level was not supported. Other findings of the current study, coupled with previous research, suggest that the congnitive portion of the Woodcock-Johnson may be loaded with verbal factors.     

Factor analysis of the metropolitan readiness test on first-grade children

The factor composition of the Metropolitan Readiness Test was investigated, using 1st-grade subjects in a suburban school district. In this analysis, a total battery score was supported, as well as a second factor believed to represent a language dimension of the test. None of the MRT's other content areas (auditory, visual, or quantitative abilities) or a distinct prereading measure were identified for this sample.