Who gets more out of sport? The role of value and perceived ability in flow and identity-related experiences in adolescent sport

Sport is a context that provides positive developmental benefits to adolescents. However, these benefits are not distributed equally to all participants. This study examined whether the motivational constructs of attainment value and ability self-concept were related to positive developmental experiences in sport, and tested intensity of participation as a moderator of this relation. A sample of 1,628 students (954 grade 9, 674 grade 12) reported their developmental experiences in sport in two domains: identity formation and flow. Higher levels of attainment value and ability self-concept in sport were related to more identity and flow experiences. In addition, intensity of participation moderated the links between attainment value and identity and flow, and ability self-concept and identity, for older students. Placing higher value on sport was most strongly related to older students’ positive experiences at higher levels of involvement. This study contributes to understanding the role of individual differences in developmental experiences in sport.     

Leisure time sport activities and maximal aerobic power during late adolescence

The pattern of leisure time sport activity was estimated by retrospective recalls and expressed in terms of an annual sport activity score. The activity score was related to the development of maximal aerobic power during the period of late adolescence in German children. Both girls and boys reduced their activity pattern from 14 to 18 years of age, boys more than girls. At each age boys were more active than girls. A slight tendency towards better fitness with increased habitual physical activity was noticed, but many sedentary children exhibited a good performance capacity and some children with a high level of leisure time sport activity were characterized by a low level of maximal aerobic power. A statistical analysis revealed that the observed tendency to better fitness with increased habitual physical activity could be explained by an age factor with no additional effect of variation in sport activity score.     

Predicting Positive Citizenship from Adolescence to Young Adulthood: The Effects of a Civic Context

Researchers have theorized that programs to promote positive citizenship should begin with an opportunity for adolescents to participate in civic activities, such as community service or political volunteering. In this article we extend the theory by arguing that a more systemic approach is needed, in which a civic context is developed to promote citizenship. We hypothesize that living within a consistent civic context leads to civic engagement in late adolescence and into young adulthood. We use a diverse, longitudinal dataset to test this hypothesis. We find that social interactions with peers, parent modeling of civic behaviors, and cultural factors, such as ethnicity-specific practices, cumulatively result in a higher level of civic activities among youth and that a continued context that includes these factors results in a higher level of civic activities into adulthood. The implications of our findings are discussed with regard to program and policy development.     

Predicting Positive Citizenship from Adolescence to Young Adulthood: The Effects of a Civic Context

Researchers have theorized that programs to promote positive citizenship should begin with an opportunity for adolescents to participate in civic activities, such as community service or political volunteering. In this article we extend the theory by arguing that a more systemic approach is needed, in which a civic context is developed to promote citizenship. We hypothesize that living within a consistent civic context leads to civic engagement in late adolescence and into young adulthood. We use a diverse, longitudinal dataset to test this hypothesis. We find that social interactions with peers, parent modeling of civic behaviors, and cultural factors, such as ethnicity-specific practices, cumulatively result in a higher level of civic activities among youth and that a continued context that includes these factors results in a higher level of civic activities into adulthood. The implications of our findings are discussed with regard to program and policy development.     

Physical Activity Levels and Domains Assessed by Accelerometry in German Adolescents from GINIplus and LISAplus

Background

Physical activity (PA) is a well-known and underused protective factor for numerous health outcomes, and interventions are hampered by lack of objective data. We combined accelerometers with diaries to estimate the contributions to total activity from different domains throughout the day and week in adolescents.

Methods

Accelerometric and diary data from 1403 adolescents (45% male, mean age 15.6 ± 0.5 years) were combined to evaluate daily levels and domains of sedentary, light, and moderate-to-vigorous activity (MVPA) during a typical week. Freedson’s cutoff points were applied to determine levels of activity. Total activity was broken down into school physical education (PE), school outside PE, transportation to school, sport, and other time.

Results

About 2/3 of adolescents’ time was spent sedentary, 1/3 in light activity, and about 5% in MVPA. Boys and girls averaged 46 (SD 22) and 38 (23) minutes MVPA per day. Adolescents were most active during leisure sport, spending about 30% of it in MVPA, followed by PE (about 20%) transport to school (14%) and either school class time or other time (3%). PE provided 5% of total MVPA, while leisure sport provided 16% and transportation to school 8%. School was the most sedentary part of the day with over 75% of time outside PE spent sedentary.

Conclusions

These German adolescents were typical of Europeans in showing low levels of physical activity, with significant contributions from leisure sport, transportation and school PE. Leisure sport was the most active part of the day, and participation did not vary significantly by sex, study center (region of Germany) or BMI. Transportation to school was frequent and thus accounted for a significant fraction of total MVPA. This indicates that even in a population with good access to dedicated sporting activities, frequent active transportation can add significantly to total MVPA.     

Dietary behaviors as associated factors for overweight and obesity in a sample of adolescents from Aquitaine, France

This study aimed to identify dietary behaviors that might be considered as associated factors for overweight or obesity among French adolescents. Forty-nine of the 536 middle and high schools in Aquitaine (southwest of France) were invited to take part in the study. For each school, participating adolescents were selected using stratification by grade. A self-report questionnaire, including information about sex, age, dietary behaviors, physical and sedentary activities, and parental socioeconomic status (SES), was filled in by adolescents during class. Overweight and obesity were defined according to the age- and sex-specific body mass index cutoff points of the International Obesity Task Force. Multivariate analysis (logistic regression) was used to identify independent dietary factors associated with overweight including obesity and obesity alone (adjustment on sex, age, parental SES, and weight status and adolescents' sedentary activity). In addition to parental SES and weight status and adolescents' sedentary activity, some dietary behaviors are also independently and significantly associated with a higher prevalence of overweight including obesity: absence (OR 1.43, 0.91–2.23) or rare (OR 1.57, 1.23–2.01) breakfast intake (p?<?0.01) and absence (OR 5.03, 3.19–7.92) or rare (OR 1.90, 1.46–2.47) light afternoon meal intake (p?<?0.001). All variables were also significantly and independently associated with obesity alone. This study shows that socioeconomic factors and individual behaviors are associated with overweight or obesity. These results confirm the importance to carry out multifaceted educational actions among adolescents, by promoting physical activity and healthy food choices in order to prevent overweight and promote healthy lifestyle behaviors.     

Intravenous antimicrobial therapy in the community: underused,inadequately resourced,or irrelevant to health care in Britain?

The NHS Executive is keen to promote "hospital at home" services in Britain, as part of its philosophy of keeping more care in the community and also to relieve the increasing demand for hospital beds. One such service is the provision of intravenous antimicrobial therapy in the community. Yet, compared with the United States, where home or outpatient intravenous antimicrobial therapy programmes are well developed, experience in Britain and Europe is limited, reflecting a difference in cultural attitudes and healthcare structures between the two continents. Only a few units in Britain currently run home intravenous antimicrobial therapy programmes, and several issues need to be addressed if more treatment is to be provided outside hospital. These include an assessment of the need for community intravenous antibiotic treatment and which patient groups many benefit. The main motive for community intravenous treatment should be better patient care and not simply a reduction in healthcare costs. At present the pace of change is being set by a few clinical enthusiasts and by commercial organisations, whereas the NHS deserves a more organised strategy for purchasing treatment with intravenous antibiotics in the community.     

The Relationship between Regular Sports Participation and Vigilance in Male and Female Adolescents

The present study investigated the relationship between regular sport participation (soccer) and vigilance performance. Two groups of male and female adolescents differentiated in terms of their sport participation (athletes, n = 39, and non-athletes, n = 36) took part in the study. In one session, participants performed the Leger Multi-stage fitness test to estimate their aerobic fitness level. In the other session, participants completed the Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT) to evaluate their vigilance performance. Perceived arousal prior to the task and motivation toward the task were also measured in the PVT session. The results revealed that athletes had better cardiovascular fitness and showed better performance in the PVT. However, correlation analyses did not show any significant relationship between cardiovascular fitness and performance in the PVT. Athletes showed larger scores in motivation and perceived arousal measures with respect to non-athletes, although, once again, these variables were not correlated with PVT performance. Gender differences were observed only in the Leger test, with males showing greater fitness level than females. The major outcome of this research points to a positive relationship between regular sport participation and vigilance during adolescence. This relationship did not seem to be influenced by gender, perceived arousal, motivation toward the task or cardiovascular fitness. We discuss our results in terms of the different hypotheses put forward in the literature to explain the relationship between physical activity and cognitive functioning.     

NATURA 2000 – The influence of the European directives on the development of nature-based sport and outdoor recreation in mountain areas

In all member countries of the European Community, the influence of European directives is increasing. This is especially the case with directives on the conservation of natural habitats and wild fauna and flora (European Council Directive 92/43 EEC from 1992 (Council of the European Union 1992) and the directive on the conservation of wild birds (European Council directive 79/409 EEC from 1979 (Council of the European Union 1979). These directives are expected to influence the future development of nature-based sport and outdoor recreation significantly. Many German sport organisations are expecting negative consequences for the future development of nature-based sport in mountain areas. This paper summarises key findings of a study commissioned by the German Sport Association.

This project develops guidelines for the application and interpretation of these directives, as well as for their practicable use and management. The study shows that the potential negative effects of nature-based sport and outdoor recreation activities can be categorised into three general types. Furthermore, large sport events should be evaluated separately in the future. Finally, the crucial role of management plans is discussed, which are essential if NATURA 2000 areas are to be established successfully. The management plan assists in the selection of suitable measures, helps to resolve conflicts, and increases the level of acceptance and its transparency for the public. This paper will demonstrate that the consultation and participation of local people including members of sport and recreational organisations is essential to achieve the best result in the interest of nature conservation in general and conservation of endangered habitats or species specifically.     

Two Italian twin registers for research in human biology and sport science.

Two Italian twin registers are described, the Register of Italian Twin Athletes (RITA) and the Twin Register of Rome (TERRY), developed in recent years at the newly established University of Sport and Movement Sciences of Rome-Foro Italico (IUSM). Ascertainment procedures, database, applications and current prospects are outlined, along with their research focus, which mainly consists of epidemiological and clinical research on the determinants of sport performance as well as on the role of genetic factors versus lifestyle, especially physical activity, in health and aging.     

Change in knowledge and reported use of sport science by elite New Zealand olympic class sailors

The objective of this study was to examine the change in knowledge and use of sport science in 46 elite New Zealand Olympic class dinghy sailors' one year after the adoption of a sport science support (SSS) programme by Yachting New Zealand. Twenty eight (22 males, six females) sailors responded to a questionnaire which was administered during a training camp in April 1994 and 28 (also 22 males and six females) responded to the same questionnaire at a training camp in April 1995. Ten of the sailors responded in both 1994 and 1995. The questionnaire asked whether or not the sailors used a training race diary and inquired about their knowledge and use of sport science in the areas of nutrition, psychology and physical conditioning. In 1995, additional questions enquired about sailors' perception of sport science and its affect on their racing performance. In the intervening year, six of the sailors received sport science support (SSS) in nutrition; eleven received SSS in sport psychology; eleven received SSS in physical conditioning. In 1995, the sailors reported a greater amount of fluid taken and drunk on a four-hour sail and a greater proportion of sailors ate a high carbohydrate meal after a race. They also reported feeling less anxiety before a race. Increases were also observed in the sailors' volume and intensity of physical training and in their chosen type of aerobic training. Most sailors believed that their knowledge and use of sport science had increased and that this had led to improvements in racing performance. It is concluded that elite New Zealand sailors' reported use of sport science improved in the areas of physical conditioning and nutrition between 1994 and 1995. Improvement in the use of sports psychology was less clear and the eleven sailors who received psychology SSS reported feeling more anxious before a race. There was little evidence to suggest that the sport science programme was responsible for the improvements. This study indicates that sailors are beginning to understand the importance of sport science support, but there is still much room for improvement in their use of sport science.     

The endocrine response and substrate utilization during exercise in children and adolescents.

Adolescence is a time of rapid growth caused by significant changes in hormone levels. For many, it is also a time of increased physical activity and sport that places a large demand on energy reserves. Exercise is known to cause perturbations in endocrine and metabolic systems in children and adolescents, yet careful characterization of these responses is only now being conducted. It does not appear that prepubertal youth have a different muscle composition than adults. However, these youth do have a lower anaerobic capacity and a greater reliance on aerobic metabolism during activity. Prepubertal adolescents may have an immature glucose regulatory system that influences glycemic regulation at the onset of moderate exercise. During heavy exercise, muscle and blood lactate levels are lower in children than in adults and there is a greater reliance on fat as fuel. The exercise intensity that causes maximal fat oxidation rate and the relative rate of fat oxidation decreases as adolescents develop through puberty. The mechanism for the attenuated lipid utilization with the advancement of puberty, and the impact that this may have on body composition, are unknown. Surprisingly, prepubertal adolescents have relatively high rates of exogenous glucose oxidation, perhaps because of their smaller endogenous carbohydrate reserves. Further study is needed to determine the optimal exogenous carbohydrate feeding regimen for peak performance in adolescence. Studies are also needed to determine whether physical activity, at an intensity targeted to maximize fat oxidation, help to lower body adiposity in overweight youth.     

Health Perceptions,Self and Body Image,Physical Activity and Nutrition among Undergraduate Students in Israel

Purpose

This study examines health perceptions, self and body image, physical exercise and nutrition among undergraduate students.

Methods

A structured, self-reported questionnaire was administered to more than 1500 students at a large academic institute in Israel. The study population was heterogenic in both gender and fields of academic study.

Results

High correlations between health perceptions, appropriate nutrition, and positive self and body image were found. The relationships between these variables differed between the subpopulation in the sample and the different genders. Engagement in physical exercise contributed to positive body image and positive health perceptions more than engagement in healthy nutrition. Nutrition students reported higher frequencies of positive health perceptions, positive self and body image and higher engagement in physical exercise in comparison to all other students in the sample.

Conclusions

This study suggests, as have many before, that successful health promotion policy should reflect a collectivist rather than an individualist ethos by providing health prerequisites through a public policy of health-promotion, where the academic settings support a healthy lifestyle policy, by increasing availability of a healthy, nutritious and varied menu in the cafeterias, and offering students various activities that enhance healthy eating and exercise.

Implications and contribution

This study examined health perceptions, self-image, physical exercise and nutrition among undergraduate students and found high correlations between these topics. Nutrition students reported higher frequencies of positive health perceptions, and positive self and body image and engaged more in physical exercise when compared with all other students in the sample.     

Sport activity and eating habits of people who were attending special obesity treatment programme

The aims of the study were to analyse the sport activity and eating habits of obese people in their childhood and adulthood. The research was underpinned by a survey questionnaire containing 37 variables which was completed by 71 people attending the obesity programme. The frequencies and contingency tables were calculated, whereas statistical significance was established at a 5% significance level. The analysis of the results showed that more than one-half of the survey respondents joined the obesity programme primarily for reasons of health and well-being. Most obese people did not engage in any organised sport activity in their childhood, nor did most of their parents. The respondents practiced sport in their childhood to a greater extent if their parents were also physically active and if they guided and encouraged their children. No less than one-third of the respondents were overweight in their childhood, of whom two-thirds did not participate in any organised sport activity. The majority of the respondents (85.9%) are currently engaged in an organised sport activity in their adulthood, mainly due to their participation in the weight reduction programme; most of them practice sport twice a week. Their eating habits are encouraging; the share of skipped meals is considerably lower and practically negligible compared to that in childhood. It has to be emphasized that most of them are of opinion that obese people have difficulties finding expert information on obesity, nutrition and sport activities as well as weight management centers and institutions.     

Relationship between running loads and soft-tissue injury in elite team sport athletes

Although the potential link between running loads and soft-tissue injury is appealing, the evidence supporting or refuting this relationship in high-performance team sport athletes is nonexistent, with all published studies using subjective measures (e.g., ratings of perceived exertion) to quantify training loads. The purpose of this study was to investigate the risk of low-intensity (e.g., walking, jogging, total distances) and high-intensity (e.g., high acceleration and velocity efforts, repeated high-intensity exercise bouts) movement activities on lower body soft-tissue injury in elite team sport athletes. Thirty-four elite rugby league players participated in this study. Global positioning system data and the incidence of lower body soft-tissue injuries were monitored in 117 skill training sessions during the preseason and in-season periods. The frailty model (an extension of the Cox proportional regression model for recurrent events) was applied to calculate the relative risk of injury after controlling for all other training data. The risk of injury was 2.7 (95% confidence interval 1.2-6.5) times higher when very high-velocity running (i.e., sprinting) exceeded 9 m per session. Greater distances covered in mild, moderate, and maximum accelerations and low- and very low-intensity movement velocities were associated with a reduced risk of injury. These results demonstrate that greater amounts of very high-velocity running (i.e., sprinting) are associated with an increased risk of lower body soft-tissue injury, whereas distances covered at low and moderate speeds offer a protective effect against soft-tissue injury. From an injury prevention perspective, these findings provide empirical support for restricting the amount of sprinting performed in preparation for elite team sport competition. However, coaches should also consider the consequences of reducing training loads on the development of physical qualities and playing performance.     

A prospective study of diet quality and mental health in adolescents

Objectives

A number of cross-sectional and prospective studies have now been published demonstrating inverse relationships between diet quality and the common mental disorders in adults. However, there are no existing prospective studies of this association in adolescents, the onset period of most disorders, limiting inferences regarding possible causal relationships.

Methods

In this study, 3040 Australian adolescents, aged 11–18 years at baseline, were measured in 2005–6 and 2007–8. Information on diet and mental health was collected by self-report and anthropometric data by trained researchers.

Results

There were cross-sectional, dose response relationships identified between measures of both healthy (positive) and unhealthy (inverse) diets and scores on the emotional subscale of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL), where higher scores mean better mental health, before and after adjustments for age, gender, socio-economic status, dieting behaviours, body mass index and physical activity. Higher healthy diet scores at baseline also predicted higher PedsQL scores at follow-up, while higher unhealthy diet scores at baseline predicted lower PedsQL scores at follow-up. Improvements in diet quality were mirrored by improvements in mental health over the follow-up period, while deteriorating diet quality was associated with poorer psychological functioning. Finally, results did not support the reverse causality hypothesis.

Conclusion

This study highlights the importance of diet in adolescence and its potential role in modifying mental health over the life course. Given that the majority of common mental health problems first manifest in adolescence, intervention studies are now required to test the effectiveness of preventing the common mental disorders through dietary modification.     

Examining the influence of sport program staff and parent/caregiver support on youth outcomes

Abstract

Youth participation in sport is associated with positive developmental outcomes. The development of life skills is especially important for urban youth of color who are often underserved and face poor long-term outcomes. To service the needs of underserved youth, community youth sport programs have begun to utilize sport-based positive youth development (PYD). Through this approach, key adult figures such as sport program staff and parents/caregivers have been identified as important mechanisms for life skill development and the transfer of learning. The aim of the current study sought to better understand how key adult figures influence life skill outcomes of urban youth of color involved in a community sport-based PYD program. Hierarchical linear regression analyses were used to examine the independent and interactive effects of staff support and parent/caregiver support on youth life skill and transfer of learning outcomes. Results indicated that staff support and parent/caregiver support predicted youth life skill and transfer of learning outcomes, both independently and, in some cases, interactively.     

Early Neurodevelopment and Self-Reported Adolescent Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety in a National Canadian Cohort Study

Objective

Little is known about the mental health outcomes of young children who experience developmental delay. The objective of this study was to assess whether delay in attaining developmental milestones was related to depressive and anxious symptoms in adolescence.

Method

The sample included 3508 Canadian children who participated in a nationally representative prospective cohort study. The person most knowledgeable about the child reported on attainment of developmental milestones spanning several developmental domains at ages 2–3. The children were followed into adolescence and self-reported depressive and anxious symptoms were used from adolescents ages 12–13. An overall assessment of developmental milestones as well as a supplementary analysis of specific categories of developmental milestones was conducted.

Results

Cohort members who displayed delayed developmental milestones in early childhood were more likely to experience higher levels of depressive and anxious symptoms as adolescents. However, there was no interaction between delayed developmental milestones and stressful life events. In the supplementary analysis, two developmental domains (self-care and speech/communication) were associated with higher levels of depressive and anxious symptoms in adolescence.

Conclusion

Delay in attainment of early developmental milestones is significantly associated with adolescent depressive and anxious symptoms.     

Monoamine oxidase A polymorphism moderates stability of attention problems and susceptibility to life stress during adolescence

Attention problems affect a substantial number of children and adolescents and are predictive of academic underachievement and lower global adaptive functioning. Considerable variability has been observed with regard to the individual development of attention problems over time. In particular, the period of adolescence is characterized by substantial maturation of executive functioning including attentional processing, with the influence of genetic and environmental factors on individual trajectories not yet well understood. In the present investigation, we evaluated whether the monoamine oxidase A functional promoter polymorphism, MAOA‐LPR, plays a role in determining continuity of parent‐rated attention problems during adolescence. At the same time, a potential effect of severe life events (SLEs) was taken into account. A multi‐group path analysis was used in a sample of 234 adolescents (149 males, 85 females) who took part in an epidemiological cohort study at the ages of 11 and 15 years. Attention problems during early adolescence were found to be a strong predictor of attention problems in middle adolescence. However, in carriers of the MAOA‐LPR low‐activity variant (MAOA‐L), stability was found to be significantly higher than in carriers of the high‐activity variant (MAOA‐H). Additionally, only in MAOA‐L carriers did SLEs during adolescence significantly impact on attention problems at the age of 15 years, implying a possible gene × environment interaction. To conclude, we found evidence that attention problems during adolescence in carriers of the MAOA‐L allele are particularly stable and malleable to life stressors. The present results underline the usefulness of applying a more dynamic GxE perspective.