The Quantity and Quality of Anxiety Are Mediating Variables between Motivation, Burnout and Fear of Failing in Sport

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect mediated by self-determined motivation on an athlete’s burnout, anxiety and fear of failure. To this end, the sample group consisting of 235 semi-professional yachtsmen and women was asked to answer four questionnaires which set out to assess each of the study’s variables: Behavioural Regulation in Sport Questionnaire, Performance Failure Appraisal Inventory, Sport Anxiety Scale-2 and Athlete Burnout Questionnaire. The ex-post facto research was designed to analyse a single group based on structural equation modelling (SEM) between the constructs under analysis. The results illustrate that behavioural regulation could be used to positively predict burnout and fear of failure mediated by sport anxiety. Moreover, behavioural regulation has a significant, positive and moderate bearing on burnout and is wholly mediated by sport anxiety. It concludes by underscoring the point that there is no relationship either between behavioural regulation and burnout or between behavioural regulation and fear of failure, unless the athlete in question experiences anxiety.

The Role of Regulation and Emotional Eating Behaviour in the Early Development of Obesity

The purpose of our research was to explore the role of both parents’ use of behavioural regulation with food and children’s emotional self-regulation in young children with and without overweight/obesity. For this purpose, 123 participants (n = 62 boys and n = 61 girls) were recruited and classified into two groups by their Body Mass Index (BMI, non-overweight vs. overweight/obese) and into two age groups (four years and seven years). The children’s parents/primary caregivers completed two scales of the Childhood Obesogenic Behaviours’ Questionnaire (COBQ). The participants were measured and weighed to calculate their BMI to identify overweight, obesity, and non-overweight. The results showed that the means for children who were obese/overweight were significantly higher than those of children who were non-overweight for both the parents’ behavioural regulation scale (non-overweight: M = 1.80, SD = 0.69; overweight/obesity: M = 2.94, SD = 0.85) and the child’s emotional overeating scale (non-overweight: M = 1.47, SD = 0.56; overweight/obesity: M = 2.65, SD = 0.87). No statistically significant differences were found related to age (4 and 7 years), indicating that the potential impact of obesogenic behaviours starts early in development. Similarly, no differences by gender were found. Due to the implications of obesity for physical and mental health, and the high probability of maintaining this overweight status in the long term, family-based interventions to prevent obesity are highly advisable from birth.

Investigation of the associations between physical activity, self-regulation and educational outcomes in childhood

It is common knowledge that physical activity leads to physiological and psychological benefits. The current study explored the association between physical activity and self-regulation longitudinally and the indirect relationship this may have on academic achievement, using secondary data on primary and secondary school children from the Millennium Cohort Study, a cohort of infants born in 2000–2001 in the United Kingdom. There are two main findings. First, there is a positive link between physical activity and emotional (not behavioural) regulation both concurrently and longitudinally across all three time points, 7-years-old, 11-years-old and 14-years-old. The relationship was negative for emotional regulation and negligible for behavioural regulation when controlling for socioeconomic status. Second, across two time points (due to data availability), physical activity positively predicted academic achievement through emotional regulation for 7-year-olds and behavioural regulation in 11-year-olds. The impact of this relationship was more pronounced when controlling for socioeconomic status. Together these findings indicate that emotional regulation is linked to physical activity in early childhood. Subsequently, emotion regulation predicts academic attainment, suggesting that early interventions might focus on attention rather than behaviour.

Validación de la versión española de la Escala de Reflexión en futbolistas de élite jóvenes

Objetivo. Validar la versión española de la Escala de Reflexión del instrumento Reflective Learnning Continuum en futbolistas jóvenes de élite. Método. Estudio de validación. La versión original fue traducida y adaptada siguiendo el protocolo de la American Psychological Association. Una vez traducida, se administró a 478 jugadores jóvenes de élite junto con el Behavioural Regulation in Sport Questionnaire, con el objetivo de evaluar sus propiedades psicométricas; además, se llevaron a cabo el análisis de consistencia interna, el análisis factorial confirmatorio y el análisis de correlaciones bivariadas con variables teóricamente relacionadas. Resultados. En el análisis de contenido, la versión española de la Escala de Reflexión aplicada mostró evidencias en los aspectos cultural y lingüístico con la versión original. Además, el análisis factorial confirmatorio mostró un ajuste aceptable a los datos: χ²(df) = 28.61 (88), p < 0.001, RMSEA (90% CI) = 0.07 (0.06-0.08), CFI = 0.99, TLI = 0.99. Los análisis de consistencia interna, así como la relación con la motivación, apoyaron la versión validada. Conclusión. Los resultados proporcionan evidencia en favor de las propiedades psicométricas de la validación al español de la Escala de Reflexión.

Women’s Barriers to Weight Loss, Perception of Future Diabetes Risk and Opinions of Diet Strategies Following Gestational Diabetes: An Online Survey

Weight loss after gestational diabetes (GDM) reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes (T2DM); however, weight loss remains challenging in this population. In order to explore perceptions of T2DM risk, barriers to weight loss, and views of diet strategies in women with previous GDM, a cross-sectional online survey of n = 429 women in Australia aged ≥18 years with previous GDM was conducted. Opinions of intermittent energy restriction (IER) were of interest. Seventy-five percent of responders (n = 322) had overweight or obesity, and 34% (n = 144) believed they had a high risk of developing T2DM. Within the Theoretical Domains Framework, barriers to weight loss were prominently related to Environmental Context and Resources, Beliefs about Capabilities, and Behavioural Regulation. Exercising was the most tried method of weight loss over other diet strategies (71%, n = 234) and weight loss support by a dietician was appealing as individual appointments (65%, n = 242) or an online program (54%, n = 200). Most women (73%, n = 284) had heard of IER (the “5:2 diet”), but only 12% (n = 34) had tried it. Open comments (n = 100) revealed mixed views of IER. Women in Australia with previous GDM were found to lack a self-perceived high risk of developing T2DM and expressed barriers to weight loss related to their family environment, beliefs about their capabilities and behavioural regulation. IER is appealing for some women with previous GDM; however, views vary.

Etapas de cambio y regulación en usuarios de servicios deportivos. Relación con la satisfacción y la lealtad (Stages of change and regulation in users of sports services. Relationship with satisfaction and loyalty)

La actividad física y su práctica regular contribuyen a mantener un estilo de vida activo y saludable. Los responsables de las organizaciones deportivas deben comprender el comportamiento de los usuarios actuales y potenciales para establecer estrategias de promoción y consolidación de la actividad física. El objetivo de este trabajo es averiguar si en usuarios de servicios deportivos se encuentran asociaciones entre etapas de cambio y tipos de regulación, así como diferentes niveles de satisfacción, lealtad y cantidad de práctica de actividad física realizada en relación a las etapas de cambio. La población objeto de estudio fueron 4236 usuarios inscritos en centros deportivos públicos municipales de Monterrey (México). La edad media es 19.30±12.65, siendo el 55.7% hombres. Se utilizaron varios instrumentos para la investigación: el Behavioural Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire, Cuestionario de etapas de cambio, cuatro ítems del EPOD2, y cuatro ítems de una escala de intenciones futuras de usuarios servicios deportivos. Todos ellos contaban con la validez y fiabilidad necesarias. Se realizaron pruebas de comparación de medias, tablas de contingencia y correlaciones. Los resultados ponen de manifiesto que existe una asociación entre etapas de cambio, regulación, satisfacción, lealtad, tiempo medio de la sesión y frecuencia semanal de práctica, que los responsables de organizaciones, programas y actividades deportivas, deben conocer y utilizar para incrementar las tasas de práctica de actividad física y la consolidación del hábito entre los diferentes grupos poblacionales. Son los usuarios que se encuentran en las etapas de acción y mantenimiento los más satisfechos, los más leales y los que más actividad física realizan. Abstract. Physical activity and regular practice help to maintain an active and healthy lifestyle. Sport organization leaders are to understand the behaviour of current and potential users to establish strategies for promoting and consolidating physical activity. The objective of this project is to discover whether sports service users find associations between stages of change and types of regulation, as well as different levels of satisfaction, loyalty and amount of physical activity practices completed out in relation to the stages of change. The population under study was 4236 users registered in municipal public sports centers in Monterrey (Mexico). The average age is 19.30±12.65, with 55.7 %males. Several instruments were used for the research: the Behavioural Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire, Stages of Change Questionnaire, four items from EPOD2, and four items from a scale of future intentions of users of sports services. All of them had the necessary validity and reliability. Mean comparison tests, contingency tables and correlations were performed. The results show that there is a partnership between stages of change, regulation, satisfaction, loyalty, average session time and weekly frequency of practice, which those responsible for organizations, programs and sports activities, should be aware of and use to increase rates of physical activity practice and the consolidation of habit among different population groups. It is the users who are in the stages of action and maintenance the most satisfied, the most loyal and the ones that perform the most physical activity.

How and why a multifaceted intervention to improve adherence post-MI worked for some (and could work better for others): an outcome-driven qualitative process evaluation

ObjectivesTo explore (1) the extent to which a multicomponent intervention addressed determinants of the desired behaviours (ie, adherence to cardiac rehabilitation (CR) and cardiovascular medications), (2) the associated mechanism(s) of action and (3) how future interventions might be better designed to meet the needs of this patient population.DesignA qualitative evaluation embedded within a multicentre randomised trial, involving purposive semistructured interviews.SettingNine cardiac centres in Ontario, Canada.ParticipantsPotential participants were stratified according to the trial’s primary outcomes of engagement and adherence, resulting in three groups: (1) engaged, adherence outcome positive, (2) engaged, adherence outcome negative and (3) did not engage, adherence outcome negative. Participants who did not engage but had positive adherence outcomes were excluded. Individual domains of the Theoretical Domains Framework were applied as deductive codes and findings were analysed using a framework approach.ResultsThirty-one participants were interviewed. Participants who were engaged with positive adherence outcomes attributed their success to the intervention’s ability to activate determinants including behavioural regulation and knowledge, which encouraged an increase in self-monitoring behaviour and awareness of available supports, as well as reinforcement and social influences. The behaviour of those with negative adherence outcomes was driven by beliefs about consequences, emotions and identity. As currently designed, the intervention failed to target these determinants for this subset of participants, resulting in partial engagement and poor adherence outcomes.ConclusionThe intervention facilitated CR adherence through reinforcement, behavioural regulation, the provision of knowledge and social influence. To reach a broader and more diverse population, future iterations of the intervention should target aberrant beliefs about consequences, memory and decision-making and emotion.Trial registration numberClinicalTrials.gov registry; NCT02382731

‘21st Century Welfare’ in Historical Perspective: Disciplinary Welfare in the Depression of the 1930s and Its Implications for Today

Since 2010, UK governments have intensified conditionality as part of a programme of ‘welfare reform’. Social scientists have undertaken much critical analysis but less attention has been paid to possible historical parallels. This article sheds new light on welfare reform through comparison with the depression of the 1930s. It undertakes a documentary analysis of policy in the 1930s informed by a governmentality perspective. In both periods, governments committed to liberal orthodoxies and feared the unemployed would become vulnerable to ‘demoralization’ and ‘dependency’; their behaviour and character were determinant of their rights to support. However, there are notable differences in what interventions have been considered appropriate. The article assesses the significance of continuities and contrasts, and argues in particular that the severity and ubiquity of behavioural regulation employed today is even greater than that seen in the ‘dark decade’ of the great depression.