The temperament of pre-teens at risk of educational and social exclusion.

Introduction: Vulnerability and poverty increase the educational and social exclusion of pre-teens. The goal of the present study was to identify the temperamental characteristics of pre-teens at risk of educational and social exclusion, depending on type of vulnerability and gender. Methods: For the study, 329 students (167 boys and 162 girls) at risk of early school leaving were involved and grouped into four categories: preadolescents from single-parent families, students with an absent parent (for example, is working abroad), socially assisted students, and Roma pre-teens (socially assisted). To assess temperament the Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire (EATQ-R) was used. Results: The results underline that in the case of the four super factors and for the two behavioral scales investigated, the scores (at group level) are, generally, within the average limits. The study highlights the importance of specialists to increase, in the case of pre-teens at risk of early school leaving, Effortful Control, and to decrease Negative Affectivity (which includes frustration and fear) and Depressive Mood. Significant differences between vulnerable boys and girls were observed, in the case of Surgency, Affiliation, and Depressive Mood. Also, using the Mann-Whitney (U) test and an independent sample t-test, gender-dependent differences were highlighted (considering the EATQ-R scales), in the case of each type of vulnerability. Using single-factor multivariate analysis of variances, the differences between preadolescents, depending on the type of vulnerability, were presented. Discussion: In the case of Surgency, boys registered significantly higher scores than girls, while in the case of Affiliation and Depressive Mood girls obtained higher values. Gender- and type of vulnerability-dependent differences in temperament were discussed in the case of pre-teens, and showed a temperament-conscious education is necessary in future parental education and teacher training.

Psychometric Assessment of the Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale with Professional Romanian Athletes.

BACKGROUND: Although athletes' experiences of autonomy, competence, and relatedness play in key role in their motivation, performance-related outcomes, and wellness, there is no evidence to date on measures of autonomy, competence, and relatedness in the Romanian sport context. Building upon self-determination theory, the objective of this research was to adapt the Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale and analyze its psychometric properties in the Romanian sport context. METHODS: The participants were 642 professional athletes (354 males and 288 females; Mage = 22.81, SD = 5.78) who competed at the international and/or national level. RESULTS: The results from confirmatory factor analyses psychometrically supported a six-factor correlated model, which was invariant across gender, age, and sport. Convergent validity was met by average variance extracted values between 0.60 and 0.74. Discriminant validity was underpinned by values from -0.72 to 0.72 for a heterotrait-monotrait ratio of correlations among the six factors. Reliability was endorsed by Cronbach's alpha scores between 0.75 and 0.89, and between 0.76 and 0.89 for Raykov's composite reliability coefficient. Criterion validity was supported by positive relationships of autonomy, competence, and relatedness satisfaction to autonomous motivation, and positive associations of autonomy, competence, and relatedness frustration with controlled motivation and amotivation. CONCLUSIONS: The Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale is shown to be a valid and reliable measure of need satisfaction and frustration in professional Romanian athletes.

Identification of Perception Differences in Personality Factors and Autonomy by Sporting Age Category in Competitive Bodybuilders.

Knowing the personality and autonomy factors of bodybuilders is a necessity in order to improve sports training, which would lead to the development of mental skills specific to competitive bodybuilding. The purpose of the study was to identify perception differences in personality and autonomy factors for three age categories of competitive bodybuilders in order to optimize the sports training process. The secondary purpose of the study was to identify perception differences in the characteristics of personality and autonomy in relation to the increase in the sporting age category of the competitive bodybuilders. The research sample included 30 competitive bodybuilders aged between 18 and 53 years, of which 21 were male and 9 were female, who were divided into three groups according to the sporting age category: G1-junior (18-23 years old), 10 athletes (33.3%); G2-senior (24-35 years old for female and 24-40 years old for male), 12 athletes (40%); G3-masters (over 35 years old for female and 40 years old for male), 8 athletes (26.7%). In the precompetitive stage, three standardized questionnaires were applied to the study participants, namely, two personality questionnaires (CP5F and ZKPQ) and a personal autonomy questionnaire (PAQ), which provided us with useful information for understanding the psychological profile of bodybuilding athletes. The results of the study were statistically significant, with Cronbach's Alpha coefficient indicating high internal consistency of the three questionnaires for all three sporting age groups, with higher values than the selected reference threshold of 0.700. According to the results of our study, the following personality and autonomy factors recorded higher and higher scores in direct relation with the increase in sporting age: extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, autonomy, impulsive sensation seeking, value autonomy, behavioral autonomy, and cognitive autonomy. The personality and autonomy factors of which the scores did not increase directly proportionally to the sporting age category were sociability, activity, aggression-hostility, neuroticism-anxiety, and emotional autonomy. Competitive bodybuilders perceive the factors of personality and autonomy differently in relation to particularities of age and sports experience, and knowledge of these changes can contribute to the improvement of the sports training process.