A multi-design investigation of perfectionism risk profiles for traumatic injury in sport.

Every year, many university athletes find themselves experiencing sports injuries while practicing their sport. Not all athletes are equal to each other, and some get injured more often. Individual differences in personality could explain these differences. This study focuses on how within-person combinations of perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns are associated with the risk of traumatic injury in university athletes. Two most prominent person-oriented approaches of perfectionism (the tripartite and 2x2 models) were tested in a retrospective (N=143) and a prospective (N=98) sample. Cluster analyses identified perfectionism profiles consistent with the two theoretical models in both samples. Furthermore, the profile with high levels of perfectionistic strivings and concerns was found to be the most at risk of experiencing a traumatic injury using both designs. This study supports the tripartite model of perfectionism in recognizing the exacerbating role of perfectionistic strivings on the maladaptive effect of perfectionistic concerns. Coaches and sports specialists will need to consider monitoring athletes' levels of PC, especially in conjunction with high PS levels, to reduce the risk of injury in athletes.

Modulatory role of sport factors on amateur and competitive athletes' aggressive and antisocial behaviors.

Aggressiveness and unethical behaviors are an important problem in sports today. Understanding how to properly measure and manage an athlete's aggressive tendency is a crucial lesson to be learned within the rulesets of a sporting environment. This study aims at validating the Italian version of the Competitive Aggressiveness and Anger Scale (CAAS), specifically developed to measure aggressiveness and anger in athletes. The second aim is to investigate how aggressive and antisocial behaviors are modulated by sex, competitive level (i.e., amateur and competitive), sport contact (i.e., contact and no-contact), and sport type (i.e., team and individual). Two hundred and ninety-six athletes (mean age = 22.42 years, SD = 2.86) were asked to fill out a survey about sociodemographic variables, sport specific data, attitudes to moral decisions, past cheating behavior, and aggression. The Italian version of the CAAS presented a good fit of the data, adequate internal consistency and its construct validity was supported via convergent and discriminant validity. Both aggressiveness and anger dimensions of CAAS positively related with acceptance of cheating and gamesmanship, and past cheating behavior, while only the aggressiveness dimension of the CAAS negatively related with prosocial attitude. Competitive male athletes practicing contact sport showed the highest levels of aggressiveness, while competitive athletes practicing team sport showed the highest level of anger. This study represents the first empirical construct validity evidence of CAAS among Italian athletes and provides a deeper understanding of how athletes' aggressive tendencies and antisocial behavior differ across athlete populations.

"I Am on Top!": An Interactive Intervention Program to Promote Self-Regulation Processes in the Prevention of the Use of Doping in Sports High Schools.

The use of substances to improve sports performance is a widespread phenomenon among adolescents. Several anti-doping programs have been developed, mainly based on knowledge-based evidence. The main aim of the present study was to implement an anti-doping intervention in sports high school students, based on a psychological framework, such as Socio-Cognitive Theory, through the development of a Serious Game (SG), i.e., digital learning based on the game. The experimental design included an intervention group (n = 167; F = 37.7%; Meanage = 17.5 years; SD = 0.58) and a control group (n = 112; F = 42%; Meanage = 17.6; SD = 1). Both of the groups completed the same questionnaire on two different occasions (i.e., time 1 and time 2) for measuring doping intention, self-regulatory efficacy to resist social pressure for the use of substances, moral disengagement, and doping knowledge. Data were analyzed through repeated measures of Group X Time ANOVA, demonstrating some degree of efficacy of the intervention, in particular in terms of the decrease in doping intention and the strengthening of doping knowledge. Moreover, the study demonstrated that the score obtained during the implementation of the SG could partially represent a coherent measure of the participants' beliefs regarding doping. These results could be considered a starting point for future research to better develop technological anti-doping interventions.

Adolescents' Characteristics and Peer Relationships in Class: A Population Study.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate differences in adolescents' social relationships with classmates of diverse gender, socioeconomic status, immigrant background, and academic achievement. METHODS: A population of 10th-grade students (N = 406,783; males = 50.3%; Mage = 15.57 years, SDage = 0.75) completed the Classmates Social Isolation Questionnaire (CSIQ), an instrument specifically designed to measure two distinct but correlated types of peer relationships in class: peer acceptance and peer friendship. To obtain reliable comparisons across diverse adolescent characteristics, the measurement invariance of the CSIQ was established by means of CFAs and then latent mean differences tests were performed. RESULTS: Immigrant background, academic achievement, and socioeconomic status all proved to be important factors influencing relationships with classmates, while being a male or a female was less relevant. Being a first-generation immigrant adolescent appears to be the foremost risk factor for being less accepted by classmates, while having a low academic achievement is the greatest hindrance for having friends in the group of classmates, a finding that diverges from previous studies. CONCLUSIONS: This population study suggests that adolescent characteristics (especially immigrant background, socioeconomic status, and academic achievement) seem to affect social relationships with classmates.

The Psychometric Properties of the Behavioural Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire (BREQ-3): Factorial Structure, Invariance and Validity in the Italian Context.

BACKGROUND: Motivation to engage in physical activity plays a central role in ensuring the health of the population. The present study investigated the psychometric properties and validity in Italy of the Behavioral Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire (BREQ-3), a widely used instrument for assessing individuals' motivation to exercise based on self-determination theory (SDT). METHODS: A large sample (N = 2222; females = 55.4%; Mage = 36.4 years, SDage = 13.9, min = 20, max = 69) of young people, and middle aged and older adults completed the Italian translation of the BREQ-3, also indicating their intentions to exercise in the following weeks. RESULTS: Confirmatory factor analyses showed that the posited six-factor structure of the BREQ-3 fitted the data well (CFI = 0.96; RMSEA = 0.05; SRMR = 0.04) and provided evidence for full measurement invariance across gender and different age groups. The construct validity of the BREQ-3 was supported by the latent correlations among the subscales, which were consistent with the quasi-simplex pattern theorized by SDT. The overall level of self-determination and the intention to exercise were positively correlated, providing evidence for the criterion validity of the scale. CONCLUSIONS: The Italian version of the BREQ-3 has proved to be a reliable and valid instrument for measuring the behavioral regulation of exercise in individuals with different demographic characteristics.

High-Pressure Game Conditions Affect Quiet Eye Depending on the Player's Expertise: Evidence from the Basketball Three-Point Shot.

Research on attention in sport using eye-tracking methodology has highlighted that the highest levels of expertise and performance are characterized by a specific gaze behavior consisting of a perception-action variable named quiet eye. The present study aimed to understand the role of quiet eye during the three-point shot, especially in game conditions in which even a single point may determine victory or defeat. Twenty-one basketball players (twelve competitive elites and nine semi-elites) with a high-shooting style performed three-point shots in four game scenarios different from each other for the time available (time pressure) and the relevance of the score (performance pressure). The results showed that competitive elites performed a longer quiet eye online duration and a shorter QE preprogramming duration than semi-elites, especially in the highest-pressure condition. On the one hand, these results suggest that quiet eye during three-point shots could fulfill an online control function. On the other hand, the findings stressed the importance of implementing experimental conditions that can resemble as closely as possible actual sport situations. Finally, we suggest that sport professionals interested in administering to athletes a quiet eye training protocol in order to improve three-point shot performance consider the shooting style of the players.

The Short Forms of the Hewitt and Flett's Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale: Which Factor Structure Better Fits Italian Data?

One of the most used instruments to assess perfectionism is Hewitt and Flett's Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (HFMPS). This article reports result of two studies aimed at evaluating and comparing two short HFMPS versions provided by literature in Italian samples. In Study 1, two previously proposed short forms-Cox and colleagues' and Hewitt and colleagues'-were compared in terms of factor structure and concurrent validity in a community sample of 324 participants. In Study 2, validity and reliability of the two short scales in 102 university students and 58 patients with a primary diagnosis of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder were examined. Results revealed mixed findings concerning which of the two short form should be preferred.

Analyzing the Perceived Utility of Covid-19 Countermeasures: The Role of Pronominalization, Moral Foundations, Moral Disengagement, Fake News Embracing, and Health Anxiety.

An online survey (N = 210) is presented on how the perceived utility of correct and exaggerated countermeasures against Covid-19 is affected by different pronominalization strategies (impersonal form, you, we). In evaluating the pronominalization effect, we have statistically controlled for the roles of several personal characteristics: Moral Disengagement, Moral Foundations, Health Anxiety, and Embracing of Fake News. Results indicate that, net of personal proclivities, the you form decreases the perceived utility of exaggerated countermeasures, possibly due to simulation processes. As a second point, through a Structural Equation Model, we show that binding moral values (Authority, Ingroup, and Purity) positively predict both fake news embracing and perceived utility of exaggerated countermeasures, while individualizing moral values (Harm and Fairness) negatively predict fake news embracing and positively predict the perceived utility of correct countermeasures. Lastly, fake news embracing showed a doubly bad effect: not only does it lead people to judge exaggerated countermeasures as more useful; but, more dangerously, it brings them to consider correct countermeasures as less useful in the struggle against the pandemic.

Staying Active under Restrictions: Changes in Type of Physical Exercise during the Initial COVID-19 Lockdown.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the associated governmental restrictions suddenly changed everyday life and potentially affected exercise behavior. The aim of this study was to explore whether individuals changed their preference for certain types of physical exercise during the pandemic and to identify risk factors for inactivity. An international online survey with 13,881 adult participants from 18 countries/regions was conducted during the initial COVID-19 related lockdown (between April and May 2020). Data on types of exercise performed during and before the initial COVID-19 lockdown were collected, translated, and categorized (free-text input). Sankey charts were used to investigate these changes, and a mixed-effects logistic regression model was used to analyze risks for inactivity. Many participants managed to continue exercising but switched from playing games (e.g., football, tennis) to running, for example. In our sample, the most popular exercise types during the initial COVID-19 lockdown included endurance, muscular strength, and multimodal exercise. Regarding risk factors, higher education, living in rural areas, and physical activity before the COVID-19 lockdown reduced the risk for inactivity during the lockdown. In this relatively active multinational sample of adults, most participants were able to continue their preferred type of exercise despite restrictions, or changed to endurance type activities. Very few became physically inactive. It seems people can adapt quickly and that the constraints imposed by social distancing may even turn into an opportunity to start exercising for some. These findings may be helpful to identify individuals at risk and optimize interventions following a major context change that can disrupt the exercise routine.

Perfectionism and Eating Behavior in the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) represents a massive global health crisis leading to different reactions in people. Those reactions may be adaptive or not depending on situational or psychological processes. Disordered eating attitudes and behaviors are likely to be exacerbated by the pandemic through multiple pathways as suggested by Rodgers et al. (2020). Among the psychological variables that may have increased dysfunctional eating attitudes and behaviors as a consequence of the social distancing and isolation, we looked at perfectionism. Perfectionism is a well-recognized risk and maintaining factor of eating-related symptoms and interact with stress increasing the probability of dysfunctional reactions (e.g., Wang and Li, 2017). The present study investigated the relationship between multidimensional perfectionism and eating behaviors by considering the mediating role of psychological distress. Data were collected from two countries (Italy and Spain) by means of an online survey. The samples included 465 (63.4% female) participants from Italy and 352 (68.5% female) from Spain. Participants completed the short form of the Hewitt and Flett Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (Lombardo et al., 2021) to assess self-oriented, other-oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism, as well as the short form of Three Factors Eating Questionnaire (Karlsson et al., 2000) and the Italian version of Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 (Bottesi et al., 2015), respectively used to assess restrictive, emotional and uncontrolled eating on one hand, and depression, anxiety and stress on the other. Multigroup analysis was performed to test the hypothesized model. Results showed that other-oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism were indirectly related to most of the dysfunctional eating aspects through the mediation of psychological distress, and the pattern obtained was consistent in both countries. These findings evidence that the psychological distress potentially related to the COVID-19 disease mediates the negative impact of interpersonal perfectionism and the tendency to eat in response to negative emotions.

One Does Not Fit All: European Study Shows Significant Differences in Value-Priorities in Clean Sport.

Doping violates the Spirit of Sport and is thought to contradict the values which underpin this spirit. Values-based education (VBE) has been cited as a key element for creating a clean sport culture across age groups. Culturally relevant VBE requires understanding of the values that motivate athletes from different countries to practice their sport and uphold clean sport values. WADA's new International Standards for Education makes this study both needed and timely. Overall, 1,225 athletes from Germany, Greece, Italy, Russia, and the UK responded to measures assessing their general values, Spirit of Sport values, and their perceived importance of "clean sport". MaxDiff analysis identified the most important values to participants based on their respective country of residence. Correlation analysis was conducted to assess the relationship between importance of clean sport and Spirit of Sport values. There were significant differences between participant nationality and their perceived importance of clean sport [F (4, 1,204) = 797.060, p < 0.000], the most important general values (p < 0.05), and Spirit of Sport values (p < 0.05). Moderate positive correlations were observed between the perceived importance of clean sport and honesty and ethics (r = 0.538, p < 0.005) and respecting the rules of sport (r = 0.507, p < 0.005). When designing the values-based component of anti-doping education programs, athletes' different value-priorities across countries should be considered.

The Motivational Underpinnings of Intentions to Use Doping in Sport: A Sample of Young Non-Professional Athletes.

Doping use is considered as a deviant behavior in sport contexts, and it is necessary to recognize preventive factors to shut down the negative consequences. We proposed that athletes experiencing loss of personal significance would be more prone to doping use intentions. This pathway should occur through the effect of the enhanced predominance of obsessive (vs. harmonious) passion that such athletes experience concerning their sport activity, which, in turn, facilitates the adoption of moral disengagement strategies to find justifications for it, when they perceive that significant others approve their intention. The study relied on a cross-over design, with a convenience sample of 437 athletes recruited at four sports sciences Universities evenly distributed in Italy. Questionnaires administered contained a validated tool based on Kruglanski's theorizing on radical and deviant behavior (e.g., Loss of Significance, Obsessive, and Harmonious passion) and deriving from social cognitive theory (e.g., Moral disengagement). Results of the study tested a serial mediation moderated model, which links the different variables to explain the influence they have on the intentions to use doping. Overall, this research suggests a motivational dynamic that may be at the heart of illicit behaviors in sport, such as using drugs-enhancing performance potentially among athletes of all kinds.

Promoting Media Literacy Online: An Intervention on Performance and Appearance Enhancement Substances with Sport High School Students.

The outbreak of coronavirus required adjustment regarding the delivery of interventions. Media literacy interventions are necessary to help people acquire relevant skills to navigate the complexities of media communications, and to encourage health-promoting behaviors. The present study aimed to promote a media literacy intervention regarding performance and appearance enhancement substances use in sports high school students. The COVID-19 contingency allowed us to evaluate whether online sessions can effectively promote greater awareness of media influence, a stronger sense of confidence in persuading others to deal with media messages, and healthier attitudes about PAES use among high school students. The study relied on an "intervention group" comprising 162 students (31.5% female) and a "control group" comprising 158 students (42% female). Data were analyzed through repeated measures of Group X Time MANOVA and ANOVA, demonstrating some degree of efficacy of the media literacy intervention. The "intervention group" reported higher awareness of potential newspapers' influence and a significant increase in their sense of confidence in dealing with media influence compared to the "control group". Findings support the efficacy of online media literacy programs to prevent doping consumption in adolescents.

The Personal and Interpersonal Components of Perfectionism: The Italian Validation of "Multidimensional Inventory of Perfectionism in Sport".

The present research focused on the general theme of perfectionism in the sport domain, and it provided the first empirical validation of the original 72-item "Multidimensional Inventory of Perfectionism in Sport" (MIPS) among Italian athletes. The study, specifically, also focused on the relations linking personal and interpersonal components of perfectionism to athletes' competitive anxiety. The research overall relied on data from 644 Italian sport science students and professional athletes and included both cross-sectional and longitudinal designs. Data analyses primarily focused on structural equation modeling, and the findings overall supported the psychometric and construct validity of the Italian version of the MIPS, also highlighting the key role of the personal components of perfectionism.

Psychometric Properties and Reliability of the Referee Self-Efficacy Scale (REFS) in Volleyball Referees.

BACKGROUND: Volleyball officials require a combination of qualities, e.g., confidence, decisiveness, courage and mental toughness as very important attributes for their performance. Measurement of the self-efficacy of volleyball referees has not been studied with large samples; therefore, the aim of this study was to fill this gap in the research. METHODS: Four-hundred and forty-five international volleyball referees participated in the study fulfilling the referee self-efficacy scale in the English version. RESULTS: The confirmatory analysis verified the four-factor structure of the scale and its reliability in this specific sample of international volleyball referees. ANCOVA revealed a significant effect of the covariate "level of education" for all four dimensions of referees' self-efficacy. CONCLUSIONS: Although English was not the mother tongue for most of the subjects in the sample, the scale was statistically reliable, and the items were easy to understand, thus making the tool very suitable to use for further studies on multilingual referees. The study also suggests enhancing the level of education of the officials because of its significant effect on the perceived self-efficacy during refereeing.

The Implementation and Evaluation of a Media Literacy Intervention About PAES Use in Sport Science Students.

With respect to both competitive and amateur/fitness sports, media may strongly influence young people's opinions and behaviors concerning the use of PAES (Performance and Appearance Enhancing Substances). The present investigation addressed this topic by focusing on sport sciences students' beliefs concerning the possible role of media related to the implementation and evaluation of a PAES-focus media literacy intervention conducted with sport science students. This study relied on a sample of 521 students (attrition rate 10.3%) (45.1% female, mean age = 22.6, SD = 2.20), which provided baseline data on students' levels of media literacy concerning the use of PAES (i.e. "descriptive sample"), and a sample of 248 students, who participated in and provided data on the media literacy intervention. This latter sample included a group of 128 students (44.5% female, mean age = 23.03, SD = 3.76) who actively participated in the intervention (i.e. "intervention group"), and a group of 120 students who did not (i.e. "control group", 53.3% female, mean age = 22.25, SD = 2.47). All students filled out media literacy questionnaires targeting students' awareness of media influence, their views about the realism of media content, their sense of confidence in dealing with media messages, and their positive attitudes toward PAES use. Analyses of questionnaire data showed that students are relatively aware of media influence on people's views and behaviors with respect to PAES use. At the same time, students also believed that young people do not consider media as "realistic sources" of information; nonetheless, they also did not consider themselves entirely capable of dealing effectively with media messages. With respect to the intervention, students overall appreciated and greatly welcomed the educational program on media literacy, and the analyses of intervention data across intervention and control groups showed that key media literacy variables changed over time, attesting to the overall effectiveness of the intervention.

Actigraphic Sleep Pattern of Preschoolers With ADHD.

Objective: To assess the features of sleep in preschoolers with ADHD by means of questionnaire and actigraphy. Method: Twenty-five ADHD and 21 age-matched typically developing (TD) preschool children underwent the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) for ages 1½ to 5 and Pre-School-Age Psychiatric Assessment interview. Sleep was assessed by means of a modified Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children and wrist actigraphy for at least 5 days. Results: Children with ADHD, compared with TD, showed higher scores in CBCL Withdrawal (58.83 vs. 51.15, p < .0001), Attention Problems (69.88 vs. 51.54, p < .0001), and Aggressive Behavior (59.46 vs. 51.08, p < .0001) dimensions; they also showed increased actigraphic nocturnal activity (activity index 31.57 vs. 25.74, p < .05); and night-to-night variability for sleep minutes (56.44 vs. 32.79, p < .01), mean wake episodes (1.34 vs. 0.98, p < .05), mean activity (2.64 vs. 1.71, p < .05), and activity index (5.15 vs. 3.77, p < .05). Conclusion: This pilot study in preschoolers with ADHD showed increased motor activity during sleep and night-to-night variability for sleep duration and motor activity.

Relations Between Sleep and Temperament in Preschool Children With ADHD.

Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the links between temperament and sleep in a group of preschoolers with ADHD. Method: Twenty-five ADHD (M = 5.37 years, SD = 1.09) and 22 typically developing (TD; M = 5.10, SD = 1.18) preschoolers participated in the study. Sleep was assessed with the Sleep Disturbance Scale and wrist actigraphy. The Preschool Temperament and Character Inventory (PsTCI) was used to evaluate the child temperament. Results: ADHD children showed a temperamental profile characterized by higher novelty seeking, lower persistence, self-directness, and cooperativeness and marginally lower harm avoidance (HA) compared with controls. HA was associated negatively to wakefulness after sleep onset and sleep fragmentation and positively with sleep efficiency and sleep time. Reward dependence was negatively associated with wake episode length. Conclusion: Sleep and temperament are correlated in preschoolers with ADHD and temperament might represent an intermediate endophenotype underlying the relation between ADHD and sleep disorders.

Psychometric properties of the FertiQoL questionnaire in Italian infertile women in different stages of treatment.

BACKGROUND: Reliable Fertility-specific QoL measures can be obtained through the FertiQoL, a questionnaire with six-subscales that consider different core aspects of the person's wellbeing and way of behaving during treatment. OBJECTIVE: Examine the psychometric properties of all six-subscales of the Italian FertiQoL in a sample of infertile women and explore the effects of the ART treatment phases. METHOD: 323 women, in three different treatment stages (Diagnostic, Stimulation, Transfer), completed the FertiQoL. Raw data were subject to Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), and a structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to validate the hypothesised model. RESULTS: CFA shows a good fit of the data to the FertiQoL hierarchical model (chi-square/df = 1.989, CFI = 0.88, RMSEA = 0.055). After the deletion of 2 items, all FertiQoL scales have good internal consistency. SEM showed that the ART treatment phase was positively associated with fertility-related QoL scores both in the Relational (ß = 0.14, p < 0.05) and in the Tolerability (ß = 0.17, p < 0.05) subscales. CONCLUSION: All scales of the Italian FertiQoL version maintain good psychometric characteristics; Tolerability and Relational subscales are sensitive to the treatment stage and thus providing relevant information for the medical staff.

Personality Traits and Attitudes Toward Traffic Safety Predict Risky Behavior Across Young, Adult, and Older Drivers.

In the last few decades, several studies have investigated the role of personality traits and attitudes toward traffic safety in predicting driving behaviors in diverse types of drivers across several countries. However, to the best of our knowledge, no studies so far have investigated the possible moderating role played by age in relation to predictors of accident risk. Answering this open question would provide information about the generalizability of the model across different subpopulations and would make possible the tailoring of the interventions to specific target groups. The study involved 1,286 drivers from three different age groups (young: n = 435; adult: n = 412; old: n = 439) which completed a questionnaire measuring drivers' personality traits (i.e., anxiety, hostility, excitement seeking, altruism, normlessness), positive attitudes toward traffic safety, risky driving behaviors (i.e., errors, lapses, and traffic violations), accident involvement and number of traffic fines issued in the last 12 months. Multi-group Variance Based Structural Equation Modeling (VB-SEM) across the three age groups showed that the hypothesized model had a good fit with the data in all the three age groups. However, some pattern of relationships between the variables varied across the three groups, for example, if considering the direct effects of personality traits on risky driving behaviors, anxiety, altruism, and normlessness predicted violations only in young and adult drivers, whereas excitement seeking was associated with lapses only in young drivers; anxiety was a positive predictor of drivers' errors, both in adult and older drivers, whereas excitement seeking predicted errors in adult and young drivers. On the other hand, attitudes significantly and negatively predicted violations and errors in all the three age groups, whereas they significantly and negatively predicted lapses only in young and older drivers. The results of the present study provided empirical basis to develop evidence-based road safety interventions differently tailored to the specific life's stage of the drivers.