Divergent Perspectives: Post-Title IX Sportkids’ Views of Female Athletes

Previous research suggests that sport media provide one avenue for boys and girls to learn what and who is valued in sport. We explored girl and boy athletes’ perceptions of photographs of female college athletes, which provided insight into young athletes gendered perceptions of athletes and sport. Sixty-nine sportskids participated in focus group interviews where they discussed what they liked and disliked about a series of photographs of college female athletes. Framed by feminist cultural studies, the authors situated their analysis within the current historical moment bounded by young athletes’ post-Title IX and postfeminist sensibilities. The authors present their appraisals of a few exemplar images that characterize themes that appeared across the whole photo collection. Emergent themes included gendered sport terrain, which situates their comments within the gendered milieu of their sport experiences. Data also revealed themes associated with the select images: female athleticism, inspiration versus objectification, transgressing heteronormative femininity, and sporty cute. Overall, both girls and boys struggled with images that were interpreted as too feminine or too muscular/masculine. These data also point to how little has changed in the past 50 years regarding how female athletes are culturally constructed. While the borders of acceptability may have shifted, female athletes continue tenuous navigation of socially acceptable boundaries of athleticism, femininity, and muscularity while masculine privilege in sport continues and the presence of females in sport is framed by a heterosexual male gaze.

Prevalence and Predictors of PTSD during the Containment Stage of COVID-19 Epidemic among College Female Students in China

Background College students are a uniquely vulnerable group and may experience high stress levels due to COVID-19, especially for girls. This study aims to identify the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and related factors among the target population during the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods A cross-sectional online survey was conducted during the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic in China. A total of 2205 college female students from six provinces enrolled in this study and completed the questions about cognitive status of COVID-19, the Impact of Event Scale-6 (IES-6), the Multidimensional Perceived Social Support Scale (MPSSS) and a self-developed 10-item Perceived threat scale. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression were performed by SPSS software to explore the determinants of PTSD symptoms.Results PTSD symptoms were prevalent in this sample of college female students, and 34.20% met the cut-off for PTSD. Self-reported fair or poor health (AOR=1.78, 95%CI: 1.22-2.59), high concern about COVID-19 (AOR=1.66, 95%CI: 1.35-2.03), beliefs that 'COVID-19 can cause a global outbreak' (AOR=1.26, 95%CI: 1.02-1.56), the perception of ‘risk of infection’ (AOR=2.46, 95%CI: 2.16-2.81), beliefs that ‘closed management’ and ‘COVID-19 as a public health emergency of international concern’ would have an impact, and the fear of ‘impact on life planning’ were all positively associated with PTSD (AOR=1.37, 1.22 and 1.29, respectively), whereas perceived social support from family (AOR=0.81, 95%CI: 0.70-0.93) was negatively associated with PTSD. Among the significant variables at the bivariate level, multivariate logistic regression revealed that the greatest protector for PTSD was the high knowledge score (AOR=0.73, 95%CI: 0.60-0.90), while had confirmed cases among relatives and friends (AOR=7.70, 95%CI: 1.28-46.25) was the strongest predictor of PTSD.Conclusions In summary, PTSD symptoms were prevalent among college female students in China during the COVID-19 epidemic. Targeting vulnerable populations to improve their knowledge of COVID-19 and create an atmosphere of social support would be beneficial to improve the mental health of the female students during the COVID-19 epidemic.

Social and Ecological Barriers of Sports Participation by College Female Student Athletes

The present research was aimed to determine the contribution of social and ecological barriers of the sports participation by female student athletes of Southern Punjab, Pakistan. The research was purely quantitative. Population was all female students studying in 1st year to 4th year grades. Systematic random sampling was applied to select the respondents. Initial sample size consisted of 500 female student athletes through ‘K’ value of systematic sampling belonging to 17 women colleges of Southern Punjab districts. Therefore, from the 500 survey questionnaires distributed to the female athletes, 365 were correctly completed and returned. Descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis were employed on collected data to test the hypotheses. The findings of the research indicated that social and ecological barriers had significantly and positively contributed to the outcome variable (sports participation of female student athletes). All hypotheses were accepted at a highly significant level (0.01). It was concluded that social barriers have greater significant effects on sports participation of university female student athletes than ecological barriers.

Knowledge, Attitude, and Associated Factors towards Safe Abortion among Private College Female Students in Gondar City, Northwest Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background. Women die from complications of unsafe abortion in developing countries because most have little knowledge about how to safely access to abortion care. Studies on knowledge, attitude, and associated factors towards safe abortion are limited in general and particularly among private college students. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess knowledge, attitude, and associated factors towards safe abortion among private college female students in Gondar City, Northwest Ethiopia. Methods. An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted from April 30, 2019, to May 30, 2019, among private college students in the Gondar town. Data were collected from 633 female students using self-administered questionnaires by a simple random sampling technique. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to identify association of dependent and independent variables using SPSS, version 20. Results. A total of 633 respondents participated in this study with the response rate of 97.7%. The majority (433 (68.4%)) of students had good knowledge about safe abortion. Older age (AOR = 2.79, 95% CI: 1.16, 7.29), urban residence (AOR = 2.42, 95% CI: 1.26, 4.35), family education (AOR = 3.18, 95% CI: 1.32, 7.06), and ever having heard about safe abortion (AOR = 4.36, 95% CI: 1.89, 10.83) were factors associated with knowledge of students on safe abortion. Regarding attitude, 361 (57%) of students had favorable attitude towards safe abortion. Age (AOR = 6.58, 95% CI: 2.71, 11.21) and urban residence (AOR = 1.51, 95% CI: 1.09, 2.21) were factors significantly associated with attitude towards safe abortion. Conclusion. More than half of the participants have good knowledge and attitude towards safe abortion, but still a significant proportion of students have poor knowledge and unfavorable attitude. Information, education, and communication programs on youth reproductive health should be provided to address topics on safe abortion for students. Forums and panel discussions on safe abortion need to be undertaken especially, among youths and students who come from rural area.

College Athletes Under Pressure: Eating Disorders Among Female Track and Field Athletes

Eating disorders are a widespread problem for college female athletes. This article builds on this research by collecting survey data from female college track and field athletes at 30 universities. Results find that the division level is not a significant driver of eating disorders. Another significant finding comes from breaking out the pressures into its team-related and social causes. Results find that team-related pressures lead to more vomiting behavior, while social pressures impact dieting. Previous studies which aggregate pressures, rely on one eating disorder, or focus on a single university for their sampling may not reflect these complex relationships. Even after controlling for individual factors, competition level, and team nutritionists, the pressures still impact these athletes. This suggests a need for additional screenings and counselors to address pressures occurring both on and off the track. While difficult to achieve, there needs to be a change in team cultures across all divisions. JEL Classifications: I1, Z2

Correlation between Blood Pressure and Skin Health in Korean College Female Students

There is no abstract available.