The determinants of stadium attendance in elite women’s football: Evidence from the UEFA Women's Champions League

Women’s football struggles to build a solid platform in terms of fan interest. However, while an increase in gate receipts can help assist its long-term sustainability, there is limited evidence in the academic literature on the factors influencing spectator demand in women’s football. The authors investigate determinants of stadium attendance for UEFA Women's Champions League (UWCL) matches. Using regression models deployed on 554 UWCL games played between 2009/10 and 2017/18, the authors examine contextual and sport-related variables as the main predictors of stadium attendance. Findings show that there is no continuous growth of attendance over the period examined, and highlight that spectators’ interest is positively associated with five factors: stage of the competition, uncertainty of match outcome, competitive intensity, away club’s reputation and weather conditions. Football governing bodies should put in place initiatives to ensure match outcome uncertainty is maintained as this represents a key determinant to maximise stadium attendance. Based on the specific context of European women’s football, recommendations to foster its development are discussed. These include incentivising investment into the elite women’s game and designing sport policies to encourage participation at grassroots levels.     

Cognitive behavioural strategies and anxiety in elite orienteers

The primary purpose of this exploratory field study was to examine the use of cognitive behavioural strategies by highly skilled orienteers prior to and during competition. A secondary purpose of the study was to investigate whether differences in the level of qualification in orienteering is related to state anxiety. The subjects were divided into three classes with respect to their international and national records. The first two classes (A and B) were composed of international and national level athletes. The third class (C) included orienteers with unknown international records. Examination of the use of behavioural cognitive strategies during competition indicated that all orienteers reported a moderate use of mental imagery, above moderate use of inner talk and a focus of attention on present action rather than past or future. The other major findings were that prior to competition, superior orienteers reported use of higher self‐efficacy, more positive outcome expectations and more task demand orientation than their less successful counterparts. Top orienteers coped more successfully with pre‐competition anxiety by lowering their anxiety to a more moderate level prior to the actual performance.     

Changing cognitions in parents of two‐year‐olds attending Scottish Sure Start centres

The study examined how preschool intervention programmes set up by three Scottish local authorities changed parents’ cognitions. Quantitative parent outcomes were measured using Parenting Daily Hassles Scales (N = 88). A matched comparison group of parents (N = 55) recruited from the same areas of disadvantage but whose children did not attend the intervention programmes also completed questionnaires. Qualitative outcomes were evaluated using semi‐structured interviews (N = 30). A significant group × time interaction effect was found for daily hassle cognitions, Parenting Task–Intensity, Challenging Behaviour–Frequency and Challenging Behaviour–Intensity, with comparison group parents showing an increase in their experience of hassles during the ‘terrible twos’ compared with intervention group parents. Complementary qualitative data indicated that intervention group parents had gained valuable new insights into their children’s behaviour, changing how they thought about their role as parents and their behavioural and developmental expectations of their children. Implications for parental engagement in preschool programmes are discussed.     

数学中的"运动"

数学由常量到变量是学数学的一个转折，也是教学的一个难点，只有在平时经常对这一方面进行知识积累，才能有助于接受知识。     

证明函数一致连续的几种方法

主要从五个方面探究证明函数一致连续的方法:从导函数判断函数是否一致连续;利用Lipschitz条件,推导出判断复合函数是否一致连续的方法;由函数定义域上数列的limn→∞xn存在,而nl→im∞(fxn)不存在,从而得(fx)不一致连续;从函数(fx)导数的极限判断函数一致连续;用另一个函数给出函数一致连续的充要条件。主要的研究方法是放缩条件、类比、等价转化。     

Investigating teachers’ explanations for aggressive classroom discipline strategies in China and Australia

Student misbehaviour can provoke aggressive teacher management (e.g. yelling in anger), adversely effecting students’ learning and attitudes toward school. To investigate this phenomenon, data were obtained from 75 Chinese (typically Eastern) and 192 Victorian (typically Western) secondary teachers who self-reported aggressive management. Results: 49% of Chinese and 59% of Australian teachers adopt aggressive behaviours rarely to sometimes; and, 9% of Chinese and 13% of Australian teachers sometimes or more frequently. The teachers were assessed for levels of support for Attribution, Attachment or Efficacy theory as explanations. The only significant differences were found for Attachment theory with Chinese teachers reporting significantly more support. National setting explained 29% of the variance independent of gender, levels of aggression and years of experience.     

Bystander Behaviour Among Italian Students

This paper reports the Italian data on the bystanders' project. In the last decade, several studies have been conducted on the prevalence and nature of bullying among primary and secondary students as well as on individual and social risk factors, illustrating that bullying in the Italian context is a widespread phenomenon. No research has been conducted, so far, on the 'bystander' behaviours of those students who see other peers being bullied or bullying others in school either physically, verbally or through sexual coercion (i.e. touching girls). The study was conducted with 594 students (51.9% boys and 48.1% girls), aged 12–16 years old, with a mean age of 13.1 (SD=0.87). They were recruited from six different middle schools, two in each of three different sites in Italy: Northern Italy (Vercelli), Central Italy (Rome) and Southern Italy (Catania). Results showed that though the most likely reaction is supporting the victim by trying to discourage the bully, gender differences emerged, with girls more likely than boys to support the victim and boys more likely to encourage the bully or simply ignore. Differences resembling the same pattern emerged also with regard to own involvement as a bully or a victim. Findings are discussed by looking at possible applications for intervention.     

Promoting inner stillness: the value of a self-discovery programme for children with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties

Dr Lesley Cullen-Powell and Professor Julie Barlow are both chartered health psychologists and both work at the Interdisciplinary Research Centre in Health at Coventry University where Lesley Cullen-Powell is a research fellow and Julie Barlow is a director. In this article, they assess the benefits of a 'self-discovery programme' for children aged six to seven years attending one mainstream primary school. Staff at the school selected 18 pupils, many of them considered to be at risk of exclusion, to participate in the study. The children were allocated either to an 'intervention' or 'non-intervention' group. The children in the intervention group experienced the self-discovery programme over two terms.
Results suggest that the programme was well received by the children. They became more confident, respectful and calm and they displayed less aggressive behaviours during the self-discovery programme. Lesley Cullen-Powell and Julie Barlow are cautious in the interpretation of their findings, but suggest that the self-discovery programme has the potential to help children to feel more positive about themselves and their peers and to re-engage with learning. The authors argue that a wider implementation of the programme, with a controlled study, is now required to evaluate the self-discovery programme in more depth and detail.