A Retrospective Analysis of Southeastern U.S. Police Recruit Health and Fitness From 4 Points in Time Within a 16-Year Period: Implications for Physical Fitness Training.

ABSTRACT: Gonzales, SM, Orr, RM, Coburn, JW, Hoffmann, MD, Kennedy, K, Dawes, JJ, and Lockie, RG. A retrospective analysis of southeastern U.S. police recruit health and fitness from 4 points in time within a 16-year period: Implications for physical fitness training. J Strength Cond Res 38(6): 1118-1126, 2024-Drawing from the general population for its recruiting needs, police departments often employ academy curricula to improve a recruit's fitness so they can perform occupational tasks. Recently, obesity and physical inactivity have increased in the general population, potentially influencing the health and fitness of incoming recruits. This study involved a retrospective, cross-sectional analysis of health and fitness data of police recruits. Data from 1 police department in southeastern United States were analyzed at 4 specific time points, splitting the recruits into natural immerging groups; 2003 (n = 93), 2006 (n = 137), 2009 (n = 74), and 2019 (n = 242). Health and fitness data for all recruits included age, height, body mass, and body mass index (BMI); systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP); sit-and-reach; combined grip strength; push-ups and sit-ups completed in 60 seconds; physical ability test time; and 2.4-km run time. Several univariate analyses, with sex and age as covariates (analyses of covariance), and a Bonferroni's post hoc, determined whether there were significant between-group differences. Effect sizes (d) were also calculated. Key results demonstrated that 2019 recruits were heavier than the recruits in 2006 and 2009 (p ≤ 0.032; d = 0.14-0.38); had a greater BMI (p ≤ 0.028; d = 0.24-0.75) and systolic BP (p < 0.001; d = 0.47-0.65), and lesser sit-and-reach distance (p ≤ 0.020; d = 0.26-0.46), than all recruit groups; completed fewer sit-up repetitions than the recruits in 2006 and 2009 (p ≤ 0.025; d = 0.42-0.48); and were slower in the 2.4-km run than the recruits in 2006 (p = 0.009; d = 0.36). Police training staff may need to address lesser health (BMI, BP) and fitness (hamstring flexibility, abdominal endurance, aerobic fitness) in incoming recruits.

Athletes' Coping With the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Self-Compassion and Cognitive Appraisal.

Coping with the COVID-19 pandemic had implications for athletes' mental well-being. This mixed-methods study examined the influence of self-compassion on athletes' coping during the pandemic through the mediator of cognitive appraisal. The prospective design involved 90 athletes completing two online surveys 1 week apart measuring self-compassion, cognitive appraisal, and coping strategies. The PROCESS macro was used for the mediation analysis. A qualitative thematic analysis was used to explore athletes' responses to the pandemic during the second survey. Self-compassion had an indirect negative effect on avoidance-focused coping by appraising the pandemic as less of a threat (95% confidence interval [-0.20, -0.001]) and had a total effect on emotion-focused coping (95% confidence interval [0.02, 0.40]). Based on the thematic analysis, athletes described many raw emotions and a variety of coping strategies during the pandemic. Self-compassion demonstrated promising benefits to athletes who dealt with the challenging situation of the pandemic.

The Psychometric Properties of Two Brief Measures of Teamwork in Sport.

In the current study, the structural and external validity of data derived from two shorter versions of the Multidimensional Assessment of Teamwork in Sport (MATS) were examined using multilevel analyses. Evidence of model-data fit was shown for both a 5-factor model comprising 19 items (with subscales assessing teamwork preparation, execution, evaluation, adjustments, and management of team maintenance) and a single-factor model comprising five items (providing a global estimate of teamwork). In general, data from both versions were positively and significantly correlated with (and distinct from) athletes' perceptions of team cohesion, collective efficacy, performance satisfaction, enjoyment in their sport, and commitment to their team and their coaches' transformational leadership. The measures appear well suited to detect between-teams differences, as evidenced by intraclass correlation coefficients and acceptable reliability estimates of team-level scores. In summary, the 19-item Multidimensional Assessment of Teamwork in Sport-Short and five-item Multidimensional Assessment of Teamwork in Sport-Global provide conceptually and psychometrically sound questionnaires to briefly measure teamwork in sport.

Validating existing clinical cut-points for the parent-reported Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire in a large sample of Canadian children and youth. / Validation des seuils cliniques dans la version remplie par les parents du Questionnaire sur les points forts et les points faibles au sein d'un vaste échantillon d'enfants et de jeunes canadiens.

INTRODUCTION: The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), for assessing behavioural and emotional difficulties, has been used internationally as a screening measure for mental health problems. Our objective was to validate the existing (British) SDQ cut-points in a sample of Canadian children and youth, and develop new Canadian SDQ cut-points if needed. METHODS: This study includes data from children and youth aged 6 to 17 years from the Canadian Health Measures Survey (n = 3435) and outpatient records from the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (n = 1075). The parent-reported SDQ data were collected. We adjusted the existing SDQ cut-points using a distributional and receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve approach. We subsequently calculated the sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic odds ratio of the existing and new SDQ clinical cut-points to determine whether the new cut-points had better clinical utility, using both analytic approaches. RESULTS: Our data show differences in the screening effectiveness between the existing British and the Canadian-specific clinical cut-points. Specificity is maximized using the Canadian distributional cut-points, improving the likelihood of identifying true negative results. The total SDQ score met the threshold for clinical utility (diagnostic odds ratio > 20) using both the existing and new cut-points; however, the individual scales did not reach clinical utility threshold using either cut-points. CONCLUSIONS: Future Canadian SDQ research should consider the new cut-points derived from our study population and the existing British cut-points to allow for historical and international comparisons.

Associations between organized sport participation and mental health difficulties: Data from over 11,000 US children and adolescents.

The purpose of this study was to explore the association between participation in organized sport and a broad array of mental health difficulties among US children and adolescents. The data (cross-sectional) were from Data Release 3.0 (one-year follow-up visits on the full cohort) of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study-a broadly representative sample of 11,235 US children and adolescents aged 9 to 13 years. Parents/guardians provided self-reports of their child's mental health difficulties using the Child Behavior Checklist. To assess participation in organized sport, children and adolescents were categorized into one of four groups: 1) participation in team sport, 2) participation in individual sport, 3) participation in team and individual sport, and 4) non-sport participation. Participation in team sport compared to non-sport participation was associated with 10% lower anxious/depressed scores, 19% lower withdrawn/depressed scores, 17% lower social problems scores, 17% lower thought problems scores, and 12% lower attention problems scores. Participation in team sport compared to non-sport participation was also associated with 20% lower rule-breaking behavior scores for females (compared to males). Conversely, participation in individual sport compared to non-sport participation was associated with 16% higher anxious/depressed scores, 14% higher withdrawn/depressed scores, 12% higher social problems scores, and 14% higher attention problems scores. Participation in both team and individual sport compared to non-sport participation was associated with 17% lower rule-breaking behavior scores for females (compared to males). Results indicate that team sport participation was associated with fewer mental health difficulties, whereas individual sport participation was associated with greater mental health difficulties. The findings complement previous research suggesting that team sport participation may be a vehicle to support child and adolescent mental health. Additional research is needed to determine to what extent, and under what circumstances, participation in individual sport may be problematic for younger cohorts.

Home Team (Dis)Advantage Patterns in the National Hockey League: Changes Through Increased Emphasis on Individual Performance With the 3-on-3 Overtime Rule.

Past research examining National Hockey League (professional ice hockey; NHL) data from the 4-on-4 overtime era (seasons between 2005-06 and 2013-14) revealed an inconsistent home team (dis)advantage pattern such that home teams that were superior to their visiting counterparts had slightly greater odds of winning during regulation play compared to overtime (demonstrating home crowd advantages for team performance during regulation); in contrast, home teams experienced lower odds of winning in the shootout period than in overtime regardless of team quality (thereby demonstrating risks for individual choking from home crowd pressures). In this study, we explored the NHL home (dis)advantage pattern during four more recent seasons (2015-16 through 2018-19) in which the league instituted 3-on-3 play during overtime (perhaps increasing individual pressure for athletes competing in the 3-on-3 overtime period). We used archival data from the regular season (N=5,002 games) to compare home teams' odds of winning in regulation (with 5-on-5 skaters per team) to overtime (with 3-on-3) and in the shootout, adjusting for the quality of home and visiting teams. We conducted fixed-effects and multi-level logistic regression modeling. Evenly matched home teams were 1.66 times more likely to win than inferior home teams when games concluded in regulation versus overtime. Superior home teams were 4.24 times more likely to win than inferior home teams when games concluded in regulation rather than overtime. Thus, it is apparently more difficult for superior and evenly matched home teams to win in overtime than during regulation, suggesting that such home teams may be susceptible to choking in overtime. In contrast to the earlier 4-on-4 overtime era, home teams did not have lower odds of winning in the shootout compared to overtime. These results may have implications for NHL coaches' and players' tactical decision-making.

The Adult-Oriented Sport Coaching Survey: An Instrument Designed to Assess Coaching Behaviors Tailored to Adult Athletes.

Adult sportspersons (Masters athletes, aged 35 years and older) have unique coaching preferences. No existing resources provide coaches with feedback on their craft with Masters athletes. Three studies evaluated an Adult-Oriented Coaching Survey. Study 1 vetted the face validity of 50 survey items with 12 Masters coaches. Results supported the validity of 48 items. In Study 2, 383 Masters coaches completed the survey of 50 items. Confirmatory factor analysis and exploratory structural equation modeling indicated issues with model fit. Post hoc modifications improved fit, resulting in a 22-item, five-factor model. In Study 3, 467 Masters athletes responded to these 22 items reflecting perceptions of their coaches. Confirmatory factor analysis (comparative fit index = .951, standardized root mean square residual = .036, and root mean square error of approximation = .049) and exploratory structural equation modeling (comparative fit index = .977, standardized root mean square residual = .019, and root mean square error of approximation = .041) confirmed the model. The resultant Adult-Oriented Sport Coaching Survey provides a reliable and factorially valid instrument for measuring adult-oriented coaching practices.

Evaluating the psychometric properties of the parent-rated Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire in a nationally representative sample of Canadian children and adolescents aged 6 to 17 years.

BACKGROUND: The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is a brief measure of children's and adolescents' mental health. There are different versions of the questionnaire: a version for children and adolescents to complete by self-reporting, a version for parents and guardians to complete ("parent-rated"), and a version for teachers to complete. The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the parent-rated SDQ with a nationally representative sample of Canadian children and adolescents. DATA AND METHODS: Data are from cycle 1 (2007 to 2009), cycle 2 (2009 to 2011), cycle 3 (2012 to 2013) and cycle 4 (2014 to 2015) of the Canadian Health Measures Survey. Data include 7,451 Canadian children and adolescents aged 6 to 17 years (49.3% female). Parents and guardians completed the SDQ by reflecting on their child's behaviour over the past six months. Factorial validity was examined via confirmatory factor analysis, which included testing the original five-factor SDQ model and alternative three-factor and higher-order models. Reliability was assessed through composite reliability scores. Measurement invariance across subgroups was also assessed. RESULTS: The original five-factor (i.e., emotional symptoms, conduct problems, peer problems, hyperactivity and prosocial behaviour) SDQ fit the data satisfactorily, demonstrated evidence of reliability, and was invariant across sex (male vs. female), age (children vs. adolescents) and survey language (English vs. French). The higher-order solution fit the data acceptably, and the three-factor solution did not fit the data well. DISCUSSION: The original five-factor, parent-rated SDQ demonstrates evidence of factorial validity and reliability as a population measure of mental health difficulties among Canadian children and adolescents.

Establishing modified Canadian Aerobic Fitness Test (mCAFT) cut-points to detect clustered cardiometabolic risk among Canadian children and youth aged 9 to 17 years.

The objective of this study was to establish cut-points to identify potential clustered cardiometabolic risk among children (aged 9-13 years) and youth (aged 14-17 years) using the modified Canadian Aerobic Fitness Test (mCAFT). Nationally representative cross-sectional data were obtained from cycles 1 and 2 (2007-2011) of the Canadian Health Measures Survey. Cardiorespiratory fitness was measured using the mCAFT, which was used to estimate peak oxygen consumption. Clustered cardiometabolic health was identified as the mean of 4 standardized variables: sum of 4 skinfolds; total cholesterol-to-high-density lipoprotein ratio; and systolic and diastolic blood pressure. In total, 2106 (49% female) participants were retained for this analysis. The optimal mCAFT cut-point for males was 49 and 46 mL·kg-1·min-1 among children and youth, respectively. Among females, the mCAFT cut-point was 46 and 37 mL·kg-1·min-1 among children and youth, respectively. In 2016-2017, 83% of females and 71% of males met the new mCAFT cut-points. The mCAFT cut-points can help identify children and youth at potential risk of poor cardiometabolic health in public health surveillance, clinical, and school-based settings. Novelty We developed new mCAFT cut-points to identify potential clustered cardiometabolic risk among Canadian children and youth. These mCAFT cut-points can be used to inform national health surveillance efforts.

Normative-referenced percentile values for physical fitness among Canadians.

BACKGROUND: This study developed age- and sex-specific normative-referenced percentile values for five physical fitness tests across a wide age range of Canadians, using a nationally representative sample. DATA AND METHODS: The data are from 5,188 Canadians (50.1% female) and were collected as part of cycle 5 of the Canadian Health Measures Survey (2016 to 2017). RESULTS: Males had slightly better cardiorespiratory fitness and substantially better grip strength, jumping height and jumping power scores than females, whereas females had better sit-and-reach flexibility. Among females, there were pronounced increases in jumping height (P50: 25%) and jumping power (P50: 58%) between ages 8 and 13, and in grip strength (P50: 193%) between ages 6 and 19. Performance gradually declined with age, beginning in adolescence for jumping ability and at approximately age 35 for grip strength. Among males, there were pronounced increases in jumping height (P50: 69%) and jumping power (P50: 233%) between ages 8 and 20, and in grip strength (P50: 365%) between ages 6 and 20. Performance gradually declined with age, beginning immediately after adolescence for jumping ability and at approximately age 30 for grip strength. Sit-and-reach flexibility remained relatively stable with age in both sexes. Cardiorespiratory fitness scores in both sexes declined steadily with age beginning (generally) at age 8, with a larger decline evident in females until age 18. DISCUSSION: These normative-referenced values for physical fitness could be useful for screening in public health and clinical practice.

Children's Experiences Wearing Pedometers in a Telephone-Delivered Imagery Intervention Aimed at Increasing Active Play.

PURPOSE: Much of what we know about pedometer interventions and imagery interventions with children is grounded in quantitative data. The general purpose of the present study was to qualitatively explore the experiences of children who had participated in a 4-week imagery intervention designed to increase active play. Specifically, the current study investigated children's experiences with (a) wearing pedometers and (b) listening to audio recordings (imagery scripts and short stories) via an automated telephone system. METHOD: Two focus-group interviews were conducted with a subsample of children (aged 9-10 years) who had completed the imagery intervention: 1 interview with children from the imagery group (n = 7) and 1 with children from the control group (n = 5). RESULTS: Findings indicated that children enjoyed wearing pedometers. At the same time, children reported some complaints about wearing these devices (e.g., they are uncomfortable). Children also described that the automated telephone system was fun to use, despite the fact that it was difficult to remember to call the system 3 times each week. Finally, children in the imagery group noted that the imagery scripts were easy to imagine and motivated them to engage in active play, while children in the control group found the short stories interesting. CONCLUSION: The results of the current study can help researchers and practitioners develop and implement effective pedometer and imagery interventions with children.

An examination of the relationship between athlete leadership and cohesion using social network analysis.

Two studies investigated the structure of different athlete leadership networks and its relationship to cohesion using social network analysis. In Study 1, we examined the relationship between a general leadership quality network and task and social cohesion as measured by the Group Environment Questionnaire (GEQ). In Study 2, we investigated the leadership networks for four different athlete leadership roles (task, motivational, social and external) and their association with task and social cohesion networks. In Study 1, the results demonstrated that the general leadership quality network was positively related to task and social cohesion. The results from Study 2 indicated positive correlations between the four leadership networks and task and social cohesion networks. Further, the motivational leadership network emerged as the strongest predictor of the task cohesion network, while the social leadership network was the strongest predictor of the social cohesion network. The results complement a growing body of research indicating that athlete leadership has a positive association with cohesion.

A comparison of well-peer mentored and non-peer mentored athletes' perceptions of satisfaction.

The purpose of the present study was to compare well-peer mentored and non-peer mentored athletes' perceptions of satisfaction. A total of 444 intercollegiate athletes (272 well-peer mentored and 172 non-peer mentored) from a variety of sport teams participated in the study. Athletes from both well-peer mentored and non-peer mentored groups reported their satisfaction levels using the Athlete Satisfaction Questionnaire. The results of a MANOVA and follow-up post hoc ANOVAs showed that well-peer mentored athletes were significantly more satisfied than their non-peer mentored counterparts in terms of individual performance, personal dedication, team task contribution, team social contribution, team integration, ethics, ability utilisation and training and instruction. Overall, the findings suggest that athletes who are well-peer mentored by a teammate perceive higher satisfaction levels with various aspects of their athletic experience than athletes who are not peer mentored by a teammate. Given these positive findings, practitioners (i.e., coaches, sport psychology consultants) should inform athletes on the benefits of peer-to-peer mentoring. The practical implications of the results and strategies to promote peer athlete mentoring relationships in sport are highlighted.