How class cohesion and teachers' relatedness supportive/thwarting style relate to students' relatedness, motivation, and positive and negative outcomes in physical education.

The main goal of this study was to examine the links between class cohesion and teachers' relatedness teaching style with students' relatedness needs, motivation, and positive and negative outcomes in Physical Education. A total of 1294 students 10-18 years old (M = 14.40, SD = 1.99), 613 males (M = 14.48, SD = 1.95) and 681 females (M = 14.33, SD = 2.02), agreed to participate. They were enrolled in 88 classes belonging to 13 different primary and secondary schools in southwestern Spain. The study followed a correlational research design. Results of the multilevel path model showed a positive relationship between teachers' relatedness support and class cohesion and behavioral and emotional engagement through relatedness need satisfaction and autonomous and controlled motivation. Results also showed a positive relationship between teachers' relatedness thwarting and disruptive behaviors and problematic relationships through relatedness need frustration and amotivation. In conclusion, teachers' relatedness behaviors and class cohesion can significantly impact the students' relatedness and motivation, which in turn will affect their engagement and behaviors. A whole cascade of consequences begins with the way teachers teach and the cohesion generated in class. These first steps cannot be overlooked.

Teachers' Verbal and Nonverbal Communication, Students' Psychological Needs, and Positive and Negative Outcomes in Physical Education.

Focused on physical education (PE), this study examined the association between teachers' communication and students' psychological needs, enjoyment/boredom, PE usefulness, and students' grade perception. Participants were 1,000 students (572 girls; Mage = 14.58 ± 0.65) from 29 Spanish secondary schools. A path model including variables measured at three times was tested: teachers' verbal/nonverbal communication (Time 1), needs satisfaction/frustration (Time 2), and PE outcomes (Time 3). Verbal communication positively predicted needs satisfaction, which, in turn, positively predicted enjoyment, PE usefulness, and students' grade perception and negatively predicted boredom. Verbal communication negatively predicted needs frustration, which was a positive predictor of boredom. Multigroup analysis showed that gender did not moderate the associations in the path model, whereas mediating effects were found between teachers' communication and consequences via students' psychological needs. Teachers should improve their communicative capacities to satisfy students' psychological needs and promote positive PE  outcomes.

Effects of out-of-school physical activity interventions based on self-determination theory in children and adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to examine the effects of out-of-school physical activity (PA) interventions, based on Self-Determination Theory (SDT), on basic psychological needs (BPN), motivation toward PA, and PA levels in youths. DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-analyses. METHOD: We searched for intervention studies examining the effects of PA interventions based on SDT implemented outside the school published in English and Spanish in six electronic databases up to January 2022. RESULTS: Outcomes of interest were BPN, motivation, and PA levels. In total, nine studies were included in this review. Seven individual meta-analyses were conducted for each variable, revealing nonsignificant clustered effects for the outcomes autonomy satisfaction (g = 0.12, 95% CI [-0.31, 0.55]), competence satisfaction (g = 0.02, 95% CI [-0.28, 0.32]), relatedness satisfaction (g = 0.13, 95% CI [-0.43, 0.68]), autonomous motivation (g = 0.15, 95% CI [-0.38, 0.67]), controlled motivation (g = 0.12, 95% CI [-0.32, 0.55]), amotivation (g = -0.36, 95% CI [-0.88, 0.16]), and PA behavior (g = 0.02, 95% CI [-0.08, 0.12]). CONCLUSION: Meta-analyses suggest that out-of-school PA interventions based on SDT are not effective in increasing levels of needs satisfaction, types of motivation, and PA levels.

Is coaches' perceived team performance associated with their intentions to persist in coaching? The mediating role of coaches' psychological needs and motivation.

This study examined the association between team performance perceived by coaches, coaches' basic psychological needs, motivation, and their intentions to persist in coaching. Participants were 719 coaches (80 females, M = 33.49 years, SD = 10.27, range = 18-67) of different team sports (soccer = 514; basketball = 165; volleyball = 23; handball = 14; and hockey = 3) who completed questionnaire measures at the end of the season. Structural equation modelling adjusted for sex, coaches' experience, age categories, and type of sport revealed that coaches' perceptions of team performance were positively related to their need satisfaction and negatively to their need frustration. In turn, coaches' need satisfaction was positively associated with their autonomous motivation, whereas their need frustration was positively related to controlled motivation and amotivation. Finally, coaches' autonomous motivation was a positive predictor of their intentions to persist, and conversely, coaches' amotivation was a negative predictor of their intentions to persist. We found a significant positive and indirect effect between team performance perceived by coaches and their intention to persist through their need satisfaction and autonomous motivation. These findings represent the first quantitative insight into how coach-perceived team performance could function as a new antecedent relevant to coaches' motivational processes and persistence.

An intervention program based on team building during tactical training tasks to improve team functioning.

The study aimed to analyze the effects of an intervention program based on team building developed in technical-tactical training tasks in football. Specifically, it examined the benefits of the intervention in variables related to the conceptual model of team building: role clarity, team identification, intra-team communication, cohesion, intra-group conflict, commitment to the team, inside sacrifice, transactive memory systems, collective efficacy, and perceived performance. The participants were 51 young elite footballers divided into an experimental group (n = 27) and a control group (n = 24). The methodological design was quasi-experimental with a duration of 8 weeks. The data were collected three times: pretest, posttest, and follow-up. The results showed differences favoring the experimental group compared to the control group after the implementation of the intervention program in the following variables: team identification (p < 0.001), role clarity (p < 0.001), intra-team communication (p < 0.001; except distinctiveness), group cohesion (p < 0.05), social conflict (p = 0.001), commitment to the team (p < 0.001), inside sacrifice (p < 0.001), transactive memory systems (p < 0.01; except coordination), collective efficacy (p = 0.02) and team performance (p = 0.001). Consequently, the application of team-building strategies incorporated into specific technical-tactical training tasks in football seems to improve group dynamics in sports teams.

Do sport teams with greater team resilience perceive higher performance at the end of the season? A multilevel analysis.

A team's ability to respond positively to adversities, problems, and obstacles during their season is an essential part of success in collective sports. Grounded in team resilience theory and using a multilevel analytical approach, this study examined the relationship of the characteristics of resilience and vulnerability under pressure with perceived individual and team performance. Participants were 676 soccer players (530 males and 146 females) aged 15-42 years (M = 21.40, SD = 5.38), who played on 64 senior and under-18 soccer teams of several national leagues in Spain. In the final month of the season, factors related to team resilience and individual and team performance were analyzed. We estimated multilevel models by including perceived individual and team performance as dependent variables. Characteristics of resilience and vulnerability under pressure were considered as fixed and random effects (i.e., individual- and team-level intercepts and slopes). At the individual level, results showed that characteristics of resilience were positively associated with subjective individual and team performance, whereas vulnerability under pressure was negatively related to perceived team (but not individual) performance. At the team level, only characteristics of resilience positively predicted team performance. These findings suggest that more resilient teams report more successful performance from an individual and team perspective, whereas teams that are more vulnerable under pressure report poorer team performance. Taken together, the study underscores the importance of practitioners to develop strategies that improve their teams' resilience, given that team resilience helps to achieve positive subjective individual and team outcomes.

The relationship among intra-group communication, transactive memory systems, collective efficacy and team performance: A structural equation model analysis with Elite Footballers.

We explored the relationship among intra-group communication, collective efficacy, transactive memory systems and team performance. One hundred and seventy soccer players, aged between 14 and 38 years (M = 18.35, SD = 4.71), from eight national teams participated in this study. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. First, our analysis revealed that intra-group communication was positively related to transactive memory systems. Second, transactive memory systems was positively associated with collective efficacy and team performance. Third, our analysis revealed that collective efficacy mediated the relationship between transactive memory systems and performance. Altogether, our findings advance the literature by highlighting the relationship among intra-group communication, collective efficacy, transactive memory systems and team performance team processes. From an applied perspective, our findings suggest that systemic interventions simultaneously targeting various team constructs are important to enhance team functioning.Highlights The relationship among intra-group communication, collective efficacy, transactive memory systems and team performance were examined in national football teams.A cross-sectional design was developed and the data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.Players perceptions of high intra-group communication were positively associated with the development of transactive memory systems.Higher levels of transactive memory systems and collective efficacy were associated with better team performance.

KIDMED 2.0, An update of the KIDMED questionnaire: Evaluation of the psychometric properties in youth.

Background and aims: As children and adolescents' eating patterns have changed over the last few years, researchers have found inconsistencies in the current questionnaires. Therefore, this research aims to (i) update the 2019 KIDMED questionnaire; and (ii) test the psychometric properties of this new questionnaire. Method: A study with 419 children and adolescents in southwestern Spain was conducted in 2021. The new version of the KIDMED 2.0 was tested, which measures adherence to the Mediterranean diet through 16 items, of which 12 are positive, and 4 are negative. Content validation involved consultation with nutritionists, experts, and adolescents to assess whether the questionnaire was reliable and valid regarding dietary patterns associated with the Mediterranean diet. The expert assessment provided content validity indices for the clarity and representativeness of the questionnaire. Construct validity and test-retest reliability involved 419 students (M age = 14.40 ± 2.00) from southwestern Spain. Students responded twice (one week apart) to the KIDMED developed in the previous stage and completed a 7-day dietary record. Results: Regarding validity, results show a moderate agreement for 10 items (ranging between 0.21 and 0.47) of the KIDMED and the 7-day dietary record. Concerning Items 3, 4, 5, and 6, the agreement was slight (ranging between 0.08 and 0.17), whereas the agreement for Item 8 was low. Cohen's kappa showed that most items had moderate to substantial test-retest reliability. Also, kappa showed significant test-retest values for all items (p < 0.001). Conclusion: The new version of the KIDMED 2.0 was shown to be a reliable and valid instrument to measure adherence to the Mediterranean diet in children and adolescents.

Are Teams Whose Players Are More Committed To the Team More Resilient? the Role of Intra-Group Conflict.

The study aimed to analyze the relationship between commitment to the team and team resilience factors (characteristics of resilience and vulnerability under pressure), and to examine whether the task and social intra-group conflict act as mediators between commitment to the team and team resilience factors. One hundred seventy (170) male soccer players (16-38 years; M = 18.35; SD = 4.72) of the national teams of Argentina, Costa Rica, and Mexico participated in the study. The path analytic model was used to test mediating pathways. First, the results revealed that commitment to the team was positively related to characteristics of resilience and negatively to vulnerability under pressure. Second, bootstrap mediation analysis showed that athletes' perceptions of the task and social intra-group conflict mediated the association between their perception of commitment to the team and team resilience factors. Findings provide initial evidence for a link between commitment to the team and team resilience in national teams and also suggest that intra-group conflict can improve the association between commitment to the team and team resilience. Therefore, the main conclusion of this study is that practioners should promote players' commitment to the team and avoid intra-group conflicts within teams to have a resilient team that copes with problems more easily.

Does coaches' satisfaction with the team determine their interpersonal style? The mediating role of basic psychological needs.

The purpose of the present study was to examine how coaches' satisfaction with the team could be related to their reported interpersonal style towards young athletes, and to analyze the mediating role of basic psychological needs (i.e. need satisfaction and need frustration) in this relationship. Participants were 352 coaches (16-67 years old; Mage = 32.88, SD = 11.14) from 48 clubs, who had between 1 and 52 years of training experience (M = 23.23, SD = 15.02). Structural equation modelling (SEM) was employed to test the relationships between variables. Results showed that satisfaction with the team is positively related to coaches' need satisfaction, and negatively to their need frustration. Need satisfaction positively predicted coaches' need-supportive style, and need frustration predicted their need-thwarting style. Regarding indirect effects, need satisfaction positively mediated the relationship between coaches' satisfaction with the team and their need-supportive style, and need frustration negatively mediated the relationship between coaches' satisfaction with the team and their need-thwarting style. These findings are a first step to highlight satisfaction with the team as an antecedent of coaches' self-reported need-supportive and need-thwarting behaviours towards athletes, and the mediating role of coaches' psychological needs (need satisfaction and need frustration) in this relationship.HighlightsWe examined the satisfaction of the team as antecedent of coaches' interpersonal style.We tested the mediating role of coaches' psychological needs in this relationship.Satisfaction with the team was positively related to need-supportive style.Satisfaction with the team was negatively associated with need-thwarting behaviors.Coaches' psychological needs mediated the relationship between team satisfaction and their interpersonal style.

Is Perceived Athlete Leadership Quality Related to Inside Sacrifice and Perceived Performance in Team Sports? The Mediating Role of Team Identification.

The study aimed to analyze the relationship between athletes' perceptions of athlete leadership quality, team identification, inside sacrifice, and performance. A total of 299 players of collective sports (soccer, beach soccer, basketball, volleyball; M age 19.05, SD = 5.10) participated through a cross-sectional design survey. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results highlight the positive relationships between perceived quality of athlete leaders, inside sacrifice, and perceived performance, and between inside sacrifice and perceived performance. Furthermore, inside sacrifice perceived by the athletes was a positive mediator between perceived athlete leadership quality and perceived performance. Also, team identification was a positive mediator in the association between inside sacrifice and perceived performance. These findings extend knowledge about the athlete leadership quality context. These results can also be useful for further research and implications in team sports' performance, as coaches and sports psychologists would have more information about their teams' perceptions of leadership quality to achieve positive outcomes in players' inside sacrifice and performance. The findings also highlight the importance of developing team identification to improve the relationships between perceived athlete leadership quality, inside sacrifice, and perceived performance.

Understanding Physical Activity Intentions in Physical Education Context: A multi-level Analysis from the Self-Determination Theory.

Using self-determination theory as a framework, we aimed to study the relationships between perceived need support and need satisfaction with self-determined motivation and extracurricular physical activity intentions in the physical education (PE) classroom, including sex and out-of-school sport participation as moderators. Additionally, we aimed to test whether a need-supportive classroom environment in PE moderates these associations. Participants were 1259 students (556 males) aged between 12 to 16 years (Mage = 13.46 years; SD = 0.74) from 77 PE classes. At the student level we found (a) need satisfaction to predict positively autonomous motivation and negatively amotivation, and (b) autonomous motivation to predict positively and amotivation to predict negatively intentions to undertake extracurricular physical activities. At the classroom level, in need-supportive classes males benefit more than females in terms of increased autonomous motivation while females benefit more than males in terms of decreased amotivation. Finally, class-level perceived need support moderated (i.e., attenuated) the negative association between need satisfaction and amotivation and between amotivation and intentions. These results suggest a buffering role that a need-supportive classroom environment may have on students' motivation and behavior.

How many leaders does it take to lead a sports team? The relationship between the number of leaders and the effectiveness of professional sports teams.

This study aimed to analyze the number of task, social and external athlete leaders within sports teams, and to examine the effectiveness of different leadership structures in male and female teams. The participants were 317 male and 214 female soccer players belonging to 18 teams playing in the third highest male division and to 13 teams playing in the highest female division in Spain, respectively. First, we identified the leadership structure in each team (i.e., having zero, one, two or three leaders); second, we grouped the teams according to these leadership structures; and third, MANOVA was used to compare different leadership groups in terms of their effectiveness. The results demonstrated that: (a) the most common structure within the teams was to have one task leader, one social leader, and two external leaders; (b) shared leadership across and within leadership roles was seen as the most effective leadership structure for male and female teams; and (c) male teams showed more benefits when having more task and external leaders, while female teams experienced more benefits when having more task and social leaders on the team. Based on these findings, coaches can optimize their team's functioning by implementing a structure of shared leadership within their teams, both across and within the different leadership roles.

Effects of an intervention with teachers in the physical education context: A Self-Determination Theory approach.

Framed within Self-Determination Theory, the purpose of the present study was to test the effects of a training program with physical education (PE) teachers. Participants were 21 high school PE teachers (experimental group, n = 10; control group, n = 11), and their 836 students, aged 12 to 16 years. Teachers in the experimental group received a training program consisting of strategies to support autonomy, competence, and relatedness need satisfaction. A repeated measures ANCOVA was carried out for each dependent variable. After the intervention, students in the experimental group significantly increased their scores on autonomy support, relatedness support, autonomy satisfaction, autonomous motivation, controlled motivation, and intention to be physically active, as compared to the control group. These findings emphasize the utility of a training program with PE teachers to promote the students' psychological need satisfaction, and hence, self-determined motivation toward PE classes.

Effects of an Interpersonal Style Intervention for Coaches on Young Soccer Players' Motivational Processes.

The main goal of the study was to assess the effects of an intervention programme developed with soccer coaches, based on promoting strategies to optimise the satisfaction of the basic psychological needs of athletes. Eight soccer coaches, aged between 19 and 50 years (M = 32.5; SD = 14.34), participated in the study. They were selected intentionally (without academic or federative training) and divided equally into a control and an experimental group by random peer selection. Also, 109 soccer players, aged between 11 and 15 years (M = 13.78; SD = 1.38), divided into a control group (CG; n = 56) and an experimental group (EG; n = 53), participated in the experiment. The training programme (12 hours) was aimed to develop methodological and motivational strategies to promote autonomy, competence and relatedness need satisfaction among the players. The results showed that the participants in the EG decreased competence and relatedness control, while significantly increased (post-intervention) competence and relatedness needs satisfaction. Moreover, values for the EG did not decrease for autonomy, competence frustration and amotivation, while they increased for the sport commitment. Also, intrinsic motivation decreased in both groups (greater decrease in the CG). In conclusion, we can affirm the effectiveness of the training programme to create an environment of "bright side" motivation, and reduce thwarting styles, needs frustration and low self-determination levels.

The Importance of Parents' Behavior in their Children's Enjoyment and Amotivation in Sports.

The main aim of the research was to examine the relationship between motivational orientations and parents' behavior with regard to the players' motivational orientation, motivational climate, enjoyment and amotivation. The sample comprised 723 athletes (M = 12.37, SD = 1.48) and 723 parents (M = 46.46, SD = 2.56). Players were male and female who belonged to federative basketball, handball, football and volleyball teams. Parents and athletes completed questionnaires that assessed motivational orientations, parents' involvement in the practice as well as enjoyment and motivation in the sport. Results showed a positive relationship between parents' support of the sport and players' enjoyment and a negative relationship with players' amotivation. Moreover, in players who perceived more pressure from their parents, there was a positive association with amotivation and a negative one with enjoyment. Lastly, it was emphasized that appropriate parental participation can promote an increase of players' enjoyment of and motivation for sport.

Analysis of cohesion and collective efficacy profiles for the performance of soccer players.

The principal aims of the study were to define different profiles of cohesion and perceived efficacy in soccer players and to measure their differences in performance. The subjects were 235 soccer players in the under-18 category who played in the National League in Spain and 15 coaches whose ages ranged from 29 to 45 years. Diverse instruments to assess cohesion, perceived efficacy, and expectations of success were used in the study. Moreover, we measured playing time and performance. The results of the study proved the existence of four cohesion and efficacy profiles that presented significant differences in expectations of success, playing time, and performance. Furthermore, significant differences were found in the distribution of players in the teams as a function of performance. The main conclusion of this study is that soccer players with higher cohesion and collective efficacy levels belonged to teams that completed the season at the top-level classification. In contrast, athletes with low cohesion and collective efficacy usually played in unsuccessful teams. Coaches and sports psychologists are encouraged to promote both social and task cohesion and collective efficacy to enhance team performance.

An analysis of home advantage in the top two Spanish professional football leagues.

This study examines the effect of the points system on home advantage in the two top Spanish professional football divisions between the 1980-1981 and 2006-2007 seasons. From 1980-81, teams were awarded 2 points for a win. This was increased to 3 points starting in 1995-1996. Lower home advantage was expected with the 3-point system as a consequence of encouraging more attacking play from away teams. The results of an analysis of 20,992 games showed no significant differences in home advantage values between the First Division (66.3% before and 62.1% after the 3-point system) and the Second Division (65.6% before and 59.5% after). Nevertheless, there was a significant decrease in home advantage in both the First and Second Divisions after the introduction of the 3-point system. The results were compared with two similar studies of professional football in England.