ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: Flannery, L, Secomb, JL, West, MA, Compton, HR, and Dascombe, BJ. The strength and power profile of junior and senior female rugby league athletes. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000-000, 2024-The purpose of this study was to compare the lower-body strength and power profiles of the various female rugby league (RL) competition levels, thereby establishing normative data for these athletes. Seventy-nine female RL athletes from 3 different competition levels: junior-state (n = 45, age: 17.5 ± 0.6 years), senior-state (n = 15, age: 24.3 ± 3.7 years), and senior-national (n = 19, age: 25.4 ± 4.0 years) participated in this study. All testing was completed in a single session at the beginning of preseason, with the following assessments performed: countermovement jump (CMJ), isometric mid-thigh pull (IMTP), and bilateral and unilateral isometric hip adduction and abduction strength. One-way analyses of variance with Bonferroni post hoc analyses, revealed that junior-state athletes exhibited significantly lower IMTP peak force (PF) and relative PF (rPF), and CMJ height compared with the senior-state and senior-national athletes. Importantly, senior-national athletes demonstrated significantly greater body mass (80.9 ± 14.6 kg) than senior-state athletes (70.9 ± 8.1 kg), but no significant differences were identified between these athletes for any IMTP or CMJ measure. Finally, the senior-national athletes possessed significantly lower unilateral hip adduction rPF (0.13 ± 0.04 N·BW-1) and adduction to abduction strength ratio (0.92 ± 0.14) than senior-state athletes (0.17 ± 0.03 N·BW-1 and 1.04 ± 0.13, respectively), which may have implications for noncontact lower-body injury risk. This study highlights the importance of practitioners prescribing training to increase the lower-body strength and power of junior-state RL athletes. Whereas, for senior-state athletes progressing to senior-national levels, the focus should on maintaining or improving relative strength and power, while increasing their body mass to enhance preparedness for the greater contact demands at that level.
ABSTRACT
LAY ABSTRACT: Gender diversity broadly refers to the way in which an individual experiences (expressions and/or identities) their gender distinctly to that which would be expected based upon social norms for their gender assigned at birth. Recent research has shown a higher representation of gender diversity among autistic youth. Previous research in this area has relied on parent-report based on a single question from the Child Behavior Checklist Item-110, asking whether their child "Wishes to be the opposite sex." The Gender Diversity Screening Questionnaire Self-Report and Parent-Report were used to assess the experience of gender diversity in 244 children (140 autism spectrum disorder and 104 typically developing) between 10 and 13 years. The Item-110 was also collected. Results showed that autistic children endorsed much higher rates of Binary Gender Diversity (less identification with their designated sex and more with the other binary sex) and Nonbinary Gender Diversity (identification as neither male nor female) than typically developing children. Similarly, parents of autistic children reported significantly more gender-body incongruence experienced by their child than parents of typically developing children. Specifically, parents of autistic females-assigned-at-birth reported significantly more gender-body incongruence than autistic males-assigned-at-birth. Parent- and self-report measures were largely related. Moreover, statistical comparisons between and within the groups revealed associations between gender profiles and symptoms of anxiety, depression, and suicidality. Results extend previous reports showing increased rates of gender diversity in autistic children, now based on both self-report and parent-report, and highlight the need to better understand and support the unique and complex needs of autistic children who experience gender diversity.