The Specificities of Elite Female Athletes: A Multidisciplinary Approach.

Female athletes have garnered considerable attention in the last few years as more and more women participate in sports events. However, despite the well-known repercussions of female sex hormones, few studies have investigated the specificities of elite female athletes. In this review, we present the current but still limited data on how normal menstrual phases, altered menstrual phases, and hormonal contraception affect both physical and cognitive performances in these elite athletes. To examine the implicated mechanisms, as well as the potential performances and health risks in this population, we then take a broader multidisciplinary approach and report on the causal/reciprocal relationships between hormonal status and mental and physical health in young (18-40 years) healthy females, both trained and untrained. We thus cover the research on both physiological and psychological variables, as well as on the Athlete Biological Passport used for anti-doping purposes. We consider the fairly frequent discrepancies and summarize the current knowledge in this new field of interest. Last, we conclude with some practical guidelines for eliciting improvements in physical and cognitive performance while minimizing the health risks for female athletes.

Attitudes to functional neurology and some other 'prescriptive' chiropractic techniques and their associations with chiropractic conservatism: a cross-sectional survey of chiropractic students.

BACKGROUND: Chiropractic technique systems ('prescriptive' techniques) might be interpreted as helpful guidelines. However, 'prescriptive' techniques, such as Functional Neurology (FN), Sacro-Occipital Technique, and Applied Kinesiology are more concerned with the 'technical' diagnosis than the condition and its symptoms and, thus, seem to provide easy solutions. DESIGN AND OBJECTIVES: In a voluntary anonymous questionnaire survey carried out late 2017, we explored interest in 'prescriptive' techniques, particularly FN, among French chiropractic students in grades 3-6, and the possible link with chiropractic conservatism. We investigated their: i) attitudes to the use of 'prescriptive' techniques, ii) awareness of FN, and iii) attitudes to FN. Further, if their attitudes to some conservative chiropractic concepts influenced their clinical approach on iv) some 'prescriptive' chiropractic techniques and v) attitudes to FN. METHOD: Data reported in tables illustrated the prevalence of the use of 'prescriptive' techniques, awareness of FN, and positive attitude to FN (i.e. interest in and acceptance of). Students were given a FN score based on five questions on their interest in and acceptance of FN (0 to 5), dichotomized into two groups: 'not positive attitude' (0 to 1) and 'positive attitude' (2 to 5). Chiropractic conservatism was graded from 1 to 4. Associations were tested between conservatism groups and i) interest in 'prescriptive' techniques and ii) FN attitudes groups. RESULTS: The response rate was 67% (N = 359), of which 90% were positive toward 'prescriptive' techniques. Only 10% had never heard about FN and in the 6th year all had heard about it. Only a minority, unrelated to the year of study, approved of the two examples given of FN concepts. Nevertheless, a majority were positive towards FN, more so in the higher grades. Students with the most conservative beliefs were 17 times more likely to want to use 'prescriptive' techniques and 11 times more likely to have a higher FN score. CONCLUSION: Although not taught in the curriculum, these students were attracted to 'prescriptive' techniques including FN, particularly in the higher grades. Curiously, despite this interest they do not generally agree with some key concepts within FN.

Effect of chiropractic treatment on primary or early secondary prevention: a systematic review with a pedagogic approach.

Introduction: The chiropractic vitalistic approach to the concept of 'subluxation' as a cause of disease lacks both biological plausibility and possibly proof of validity. Nonetheless, some chiropractors purport to prevent disease in general through the use of chiropractic care. Evidence of its effect is needed to be allowed to continue this practice. The objective of this systematic review was therefore to investigate if there is any evidence that spinal manipulations/chiropractic care can be used in primary prevention (PP) and/or early secondary prevention in diseases other than musculoskeletal conditions. Method: We searched PubMed, Embase, Index to Chiropractic Literature, and some specialized chiropractic journals, from inception to October 2017, using terms including: "chiropractic", "subluxation", "wellness", "prevention", "spinal manipulation", "mortality". Included were English language articles that indicated that they studied the clinical preventive effect of or benefit from manipulative therapy/chiropractic treatment in relation to PP and/or early treatment of physical diseases/morbidity in general, other than musculoskeletal disorders. Also, population studies were eligible. Checklists were designed in relation to the description of the reviewed articles and some basic quality criteria. Outcomes of studies were related to their methodological quality, disregarding results from those unable to answer the research questions on effect of treatment. Results: Of the 13.099 titles scrutinized, 13 articles were included (eight clinical studies and five population studies). These studies dealt with various disorders of public health importance such as diastolic blood pressure, blood test immunological markers, and mortality. Only two clinical studies could be used for data synthesis. None showed any effect of spinal manipulation/chiropractic treatment. Conclusion: We found no evidence in the literature of an effect of chiropractic treatment in the scope of PP or early secondary prevention for disease in general. Chiropractors have to assume their role as evidence-based clinicians and the leaders of the profession must accept that it is harmful to the profession to imply a public health importance in relation to the prevention of such diseases through manipulative therapy/chiropractic treatment.

Introduction: Une partie des chiropracteurs ayant une conception vitaliste fondent leur approche sur le diagnostic et le traitement des « subluxations ¼. Dans cette optique, ces dernières pourraient être à l'origine de troubles non musculo squelettiques. Ce postulat n'est. pas plausible et semble manquer de validité. Malgré cela, certains chiropracteurs proposent de prévenir certaines maladies à travers des soins chiropratiques. L'objectif majeur de cet article est. de recenser les preuves concernant la prévention primaire (PP) ou la prévention secondaire précoce des maladies (autres que les troubles neuro musculo squelettiques) en chiropraxie. Méthode: Une recherche bibliographique a été effectuée jusqu'en octobre 2017 via PubMed, Embase, Index to Chiropractic Literature, et d'autres journaux chiropratiques spécialisés. Les termes suivants ont été utilisés: « chiropractic ¼, « subluxation ¼, « wellness ¼, « prevention ¼, « spinal manipulation ¼, « mortality ¼. Les articles publiés en anglais et indiquant étudier les effets ou bénéfices des thérapies manuelles/de la chiropraxie dans le cadre de la PP/de la prévention secondaire précoce des maladies et/ou de la morbidité en générale ont été inclus, ainsi que les études effectuées sur des registres de populations. Des checklists ont été créées afin de décrire et de critiquer de manière simplifiée la qualité des études. Les résultats des études ont été pris en compte en fonction de leur qualité méthodologique. Ceux provenant des études ayant un design non adapté aux questions de recherche concernant les effets ou bénéfices du traitement chiropratique n'ont pas été pris en compte. Résultats: Sur les 13,099 titres recensés, 13 articles ont été retenus (huit études cliniques et cinq études sur des registres de populations). Ces études traitent de différents sujets d'importance en santé publique: hypertension artérielle, troubles immunologiques, mortalité, etc. Seulement deux études ont pu être utilisées pour l'analyse de leurs résultats. Aucunes d'entre elles n'objectivent un effet suite aux manipulations vertébrales/ traitements chiropratiques. Conclusion: Aucune preuve dans la littérature sur l'effet ou bénéfice des manipulations vertébrales/traitements chiropratiques dans le cadre de la PP ou de la prévention secondaire précoce des maladies en général n'a pu être mis en évidence. Les chiropracteurs doivent adopter une pratique evidence based, et les dirigeants de la profession devraient accepter qu'il soit dangereux d'affirmer avoir un rôle dans la prévention des maladies non musculo-squelettiques par la thérapie manuelle.

Protective Role of Recent and Past Long-Term Physical Activity on Age-Related Cognitive Decline: The Moderating Effect of Sex.

This study aimed to investigate if the impact of both recent and long-term physical activity on age-related cognitive decline would be modified by sex. One-hundred thirty-five men (N = 67) and women (N = 68) aged 18 to 80 years completed the Modifiable Activity Questionnaire and the Historical Leisure Activity Questionnaire. A composite score of cognitive functions was computed from five experimental tasks. Hierarchical regression analyses performed to test the moderating effect of recent physical activity on age-cognition relationship had not revealed significant result regardless of sex. Conversely, past long-term physical activity was found to slow down the age-related cognitive decline among women (ß = 0.22, p = .03), but not men. The findings support a lifecourse approach in identifying determinants of cognitive aging and the importance of taking into account the moderating role of sex. This article presented potential explanations for these moderators and future avenues to explore.

Primary prevention in chiropractic practice: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Chiropractors are primarily concerned with musculoskeletal disorders but have the responsibility to deal also with prevention in other areas. OBJECTIVES: To establish the prevalence of chiropractors who have a positive opinion on the use of primary prevention (PP), their actual use of PP, and the proportion of patients who consult for PP in relation to (i) musculoskeletal disorders, (ii) public health issues, or (iii) chiropractic treatment for wellness. METHOD: A systematic search for literature was done using PubMed, Embase, Index to Chiropractic Literature, and Google Scholar and updated on February 15th 2017. Inclusion criteria were: surveys on chiropractors and/or chiropractic patients, information had to be present on PP in relation to the percentage of patients who consult for PP in chiropractic practice or in a chiropractic student clinic, and/or the percentage of chiropractors who reported using PP, and/or information on chiropractors' opinions of the use of PP, in the English, French, or Scandinavian languages. The review followed the PRISMA guidelines. Articles were classified as 'good', 'acceptable' and 'unacceptable' based on scores of quality items. Results from the latter group were not taken into account. RESULTS: Twenty-five articles were included, reporting on twenty-six studies, 19 of which dealt with wellness. The proportion of chiropractors who stated that they had a positive opinion on PP was generally higher than the proportion of chiropractors offering PP. Most chiropractors offered some type of PP for musculoskeletal disorders and more than a half stated that they did so in the public health area but also for wellness. For all types of PP, however, it was rarely stated to be the reason for patients consulting. Regardless the type of PP, the proportion of patients who actually consulted specifically for PP was much smaller than the proportion of chiropractors offering PP. CONCLUSION: More research efforts have been put into wellness than into prevention of musculoskeletal disorders or public health-related disorders. It therefore seems that parts of the chiropractic profession are in search of an understanding of various aspects of clinical practice over and above its traditional musculoskeletal role. Interestingly, only a small proportion of chiropractic patients consult for PP, despite the readiness of the profession to offer such services.

Leisure-time sport and overuse injuries of extremities in children age 6-13, a 2.5†years prospective cohort study: the CHAMPS-study DK.

OBJECTIVES: It is not known which sports are most likely to cause overuse injuries of the extremities in children. In this study, we report on the incidence of overuse injuries of the upper and lower extremities in children who participate in various leisure-time sports and relate this to the frequency of sport sessions. DESIGN: Natural experiment including a prospective cohort study. SETTING: 10 state schools in 1 Danish municipality: Svendborg. PARTICIPANTS: 1270 children aged 6-13 years participating in the Childhood Health, Activity, and Motor Performance School Study Denmark. OUTCOMES MEASURES: Over 2.5 years, parents answered weekly SMS-track messages (a) on type and frequency of leisure-time sports undertaken by their child, and (b) reporting if their child had experienced any musculoskeletal pain. Children with reported pain were examined by a clinician and diagnosed as having an overuse injury of an extremity or not. The incidence of diagnosed overuse injury was calculated for each of the 9 most common sports in relation to 5-week periods. Incidence by frequency of sessions was calculated, and multivariable analysis was performed taking into account age, sex and frequency of physical education classes at school. RESULTS: Incidence of overuse injuries of the lower extremity ranged from 0.2 to 3.3 for the 9 sports, but was near 0 for overuse injuries of the upper extremities. There was no obvious dose-response. The multivariate analysis showed soccer and handball to be the sports most likely to result in an overuse injury. CONCLUSIONS: Among a general population of schoolchildren, overuse injuries of the lower extremities were not common and overuse injuries of the upper extremities were rare. Organised leisure-time sport, as practised in Denmark, can be considered a safe activity for children.

Association between sports type and overuse injuries of extremities in adults: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Sports injuries are often described as overuse or traumatic. Little is known about the frequency of overuse injuries and, in particular, if they vary between different types of sporting activities. PURPOSE: To identify any differences between sports in relation to diagnoses of overuse injuries of the extremities (OIE) and anatomical areas most likely to be injured in adults and to compare these findings with those reported in youngsters, as identified in a previous review. METHODS: A search was made in May 2015 and again in April 2016 in PubMed, SportDiscus, PsycInfo, and Web of Sciences. Search terms were « overuse injuries OR cumulative trauma disorders OR musculoskeletal injuries ¼ AND « extremity OR limb ¼ AND « physical activity OR sport OR risk factor OR exercises ¼. Inclusion criteria were: 1) prospective, or cross-sectional study design; 2) at least 1/3 of the population should be ≥ 19 years; 3) articles must clearly state if reported cases were classified as traumatic or overuse injuries in relation to a particular sports type, 4) sample size >50, and 5) articles must not deal with specific occupational subpopulations nor with clinical populations. A blinded systematic review was conducted and results reported per anatomical site of injury and diagnosis for the different sports. RESULTS: In all, 10 of 1435 identified articles were included, studying soccer, beach-volleyball and triathlon. In general, the incidence estimates were low, never above 2.0/1000 h of practice, similar to results seen in children/adolescents. The incidence estimates and the diagnoses of OIE were given only in 4 articles on soccer, making comparisons between sports impossible. As in children/adolescents, the lower limb is more often affected than the upper but contrary to young people the injured site in adults is more often the knee and above, and there were also differences in the diagnoses for the two age groups. CONCLUSION: The literature does not permit to identify clearly the difference in the incidence of OIE for different sports showing that more but well-designed surveillance studies are needed.

A model-driven approach to studying dissociations between body size mental representations in anorexia nervosa.

This study compared dissociations between mental representations of current, ideal and normal body sizes (i.e., Current BS, Ideal BS and Normal BS) for women with anorexia nervosa (AN group, n=56) and healthy women (control group, n=56). Along the lines of the single channel model of Cornelissen et al. (2013), the discrepancy between Current BS and BMI for both groups was adequately described along a common linear continuum of Current BS (mis)perception. Body size mental representations were ranked similarly (Ideal BS

Association between sports type and overuse injuries of extremities in children and adolescents: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Sporting activities can cause injuries and overuse injuries of the extremities (OIE) in children have been shown to be more common than injuries caused by trauma. The lower extremity is more frequently affected than the upper extremity in OIE, but it is not known whether injury site and diagnosis vary in different sporting activities. PURPOSE: To identify any differences between sports in relation to diagnoses and anatomical areas most likely to be injured. METHODS: A search was made in November 2014 and again in June 2016 in PubMed, SportDiscus, PsycInfo and Web of Sciences. Search terms were: « overuse injuries OR cumulative trauma disorders OR musculoskeletal injuries ¼ AND « extremity OR limb ¼ AND « physical activity OR sport OR risk factor OR predictors OR exercises ¼ AND « child OR adolescent OR young adults ¼. Inclusion criteria were: 1) prospective, retrospective, or cross-sectional study design; 2) age ≤19 years; 3) the articles must clearly state if reported cases were classified as traumatic or overuse injuries; 4) reporting on OIE in relation to a particular sports type, and 5) sample size >50. A blinded systematic review was conducted. RESULTS: In all, nine of the 736 identified articles were included, studying soccer, handball, orienteering, running, dance, and gymnastics. The incidence of OIE was given only in a few articles but at least the site and diagnosis of OIE were identifiable. The lower limb is more often affected than the upper in all sports covered, and, in general, the lower leg and knee are the two most often affected areas. However, in handball, the elbow was the second most often reported area, and in gymnastics injuries of the foot appeared to be more frequent than in the other sports. No differences in diagnoses were observed between sports types. CONCLUSION: Our work contributes new information, namely that the site of OIE in children and adolescents appears to vary only somewhat between different types of sports. Further well-designed surveillance studies are needed to improve knowledge that can help prevent injuries in children and adolescents participating in sports activities.

Is back pain during childhood or adolescence associated with muscle strength, muscle endurance or aerobic capacity: three systematic literature reviews with one meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Back pain is a common condition during childhood and adolescence. The causes of back pain are largely unknown but it seems plausible that some physical factors such as back muscle strength, back muscle endurance and aerobic capacity may play a role in its development, in particular in the early years. OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this review were to investigate in childhood and adolescence 1) if muscular strength in trunk extension is associated with back pain, 2) if muscular endurance in trunk extension is associated with back pain and 3) if aerobic capacity is associated with back pain. DESIGN: Three systematic critical literature reviews with one meta-analysis. METHODS: Systematic searches were made in June 2014 in PubMed, Embase and SportDiscus including longitudinal, retrospective or cross-sectional studies on back pain for subjects <20 years. Articles were accepted if they were written in French or English. The review process followed the AMSTAR recommendations. The possibility of conducting a meta-analysis was assessed for each research question. RESULTS: Four articles were included for the first objective, four for the second and three for the last. None of the included articles found an association between back muscle strength in extension and back pain. For the second objective, a protective association between back muscle endurance in extension and back pain was found, later confirmed in a meta-analysis (OR = 0.75, 95 % CI 0.58-0.98). The association between aerobic capacity and back pain is not clear. CONCLUSIONS: High back muscle endurance in extension appears protective of back pain in youngsters, but the roles of high back muscle strength in extension and aerobic capacity are less clear.

Dietary Intake, Eating Behaviors, and Diurnal Patterns of Salivary Cortisol and Alpha-Amylase Secretion Among Professional Young Adult Female Tennis Players.

PURPOSE: The aims of study were to examine the eating behaviors among 26 professional female tennis players and to assess the diurnal patterns of stress hormones through the measurement of awakening and diurnal profiles of salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) and cortisol concentrations. METHODS: Eating behaviors were assessed through three questionnaires (Eating Attitudes Test-26; Eating Disorders Inventory 2; and Body Shape Questionnaire), food intake by a 7-day diet record, and menstrual status by questionnaire. Perceived stress scale and anxiety state were also evaluated. Saliva samples were collected at awakening, 30 min, 60 min, and 12 hr post awakening after 6-days' rest. RESULTS: Forty-six percent of tennis players presented Disordered Eating attitudes (DE) (n = 12) with a lower body mass index, and higher state anxiety as compared with the group without DE. No differences in the Perceived Stress Scale scores were noted. Mean energy intake, protein and carbohydrates intakes were lower (p < .05) in the DE group as compared with the group without DE. Although in both groups, sAA concentrations presented a decrease in the first 30 min after awakening, and then progressively rose toward the afternoon, DE players exhibited reduced concentrations of the sAA with a decrease in its overall day secretion. Moreover, they showed a higher overall day secretion of salivary cortisol and a higher Cortisol Awakening Response. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the activity of the sympathetic nervous system is impaired whereas the cortisol awakening response is enhanced. The long-term consequences of these modifications on health remain to be elucidated.

Is puberty a risk factor for back pain in the young? a systematic critical literature review.

BACKGROUND: Back pain is a common condition that starts early in life and seems to increase markedly during puberty. A systematic review was performed in order to investigate the link between puberty and back pain, using some Bradford Hill criteria for causality. OBJECTIVES: We sought to obtain answers to the following questions: 1) Is there an association between puberty and back pain? If so, how strong is this association? And do the results remain unchanged also when controlling for age and sex? 2) Are the results of the studies consistent? 3) Is there a dose-response, showing a link between the increasing stages of puberty and the subsequent prevalence of back pain? 4) Is there a temporal link between puberty and back pain? DESIGN: A systematic critical literature review. METHODS: Systematic searches were made in March 2014 in PubMed, Embase, CINAHL and PsycINFO including longitudinal or cross-sectional studies on back pain for subjects <19 years, written in French or English. The review process followed the AMSTAR recommendations. Interpretation was made using some of the Bradford-Hill criteria for causality. RESULTS: Four articles reporting five studies were included, two of which were longitudinal. 1) Some studies show a weak and others a strong positive association between puberty and back pain, which remains after controlling for age and sex; 2) Results were consistent across the studies; 3) There was a linear increase of back pain according to the stage of puberty 4) Temporality has not been sufficiently studied. CONCLUSION: All our criteria for causality were fulfilled or somewhat fulfilled indicating the possibility of a causal link between puberty and back pain. Future research should focus on specific hypotheses, for example investigating if there could be a hormonal or a biomechanical aspect to the development of back pain at this time of life.

Global stress response during a social stress test: impact of alexithymia and its subfactors.

OBJECTIVES: Alexithymia is a personality trait characterized by difficulties in identifying, describing and communicating one's own emotions. Recent studies have associated specific effects of this trait and its subfactors with hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis markers during stress. The aim of this study was to analyze the association between alexithymia and its subfactors with HPA and sympatho-adrenal medullar (SAM) activity. Stress was induced experimentally using a public-speaking paradigm. Salivary cortisol, alpha-amylase (AA), chromogranin A (CgA) and heart rate (HR) were collected during the defined periods of baseline, stress, and recovery in 19 males and 24 female healthy university students. RESULTS: Subjects reacted to the stressor with a significant cortisol and SAM response. Subjects scoring high on alexithymia reacted significantly more intensely than low scorers in basal anticipatory as well as peak cortisol and area under the curve. Regression analyses revealed that the increased HPA activity was related to only one alexithymia subfactor, the difficulty in differentiating feelings and distinguishing them from bodily sensations and emotion arousal. CONCLUSION: Alexithymia and its subfactors were specifically related to cortisol responses. This research should be replicated with more subjects and should take into account more parameters reflecting sympathetic and/or parasympathetic activation, as well as HPA axis. Factors such as coping strategies and the perception of the situation as a challenge have also to be explored.

Attachment and alcohol use amongst athletes: the mediating role of conscientiousness and alexithymia.

OBJECTIVE: The present study aims to explore the mediating effects of conscientiousness and alexithymia in the relationship between parental attachment style and alcohol use in a large sample of athletic young people. METHOD: Participants included 434 French sport sciences students. Alcohol use, parental attachment style, conscientiousness and alexithymia were assessed. The hypotheses were tested by using regression and bootstrapping mediation analyses. RESULTS: Maternal insecure attachment style is positively associated with alcohol use. The current study highlights a multiple pathway in this relationship. The results reveal the mediating effect of low conscientiousness and alexithymia between maternal insecure attachment and alcohol use. CONCLUSION: Athletes' alcohol use seems to be the result of a complex association of underlying psychological factors.

Subjective age and social-cognitive determinants of physical activity in active older adults.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the current study was to examine the mediating role of self-efficacy in the relationship between subjective age and intention to engage in physical activity (PA) among active older adults. It was expected that subjective age would be positively related to PA intention because it is positively associated with self-efficacy. METHOD: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 170 older adults age 60-80 years (M = 66.10, SD = 4.78) who completed measures of subjective age, self-efficacy, behavioral intention, self-rated health, and past PA. RESULTS: Bootstrap procedure revealed that self-efficacy partially mediated the positive relationship between feeling younger than one's age and PA intention, while chronological age, self-rated health, and past PA were controlled. DISCUSSION: These results emphasize the need to consider both subjective and objective components of age as correlates of social-cognitive determinants of health behavior.

Psychological mediators of the sport injury--perceived risk relationship.

Drawing upon both heuristic- and threat-based approaches, we sought to examine whether perceived similarity with injury-prone people and perceived control over injury occurrence would directly contribute to perceived risk and whether these variables would mediate the previous injury-perceived risk relationship. Judokas (n = 207) reported the number of injuries experienced in the past year and then completed measures of perceived similarity, perceived control, and injury risk perception. Analyses revealed that perceived similarity and perceived control directly contributed to perceived risk of injury; only perceived similarity acted as a partial mediator of the injury-perceived risk relationship. These findings are discussed in relation to the potential influence of the sport context, which universally involves the acceptance of a high risk of injury.

Attentional patterns involved in coping strategies in a sport context.

We investigated the relationship between coping strategies and attentional bias after a sport competition. We administered the Ways of Coping Checklist (Paulhan, Nuissier, Quintard, Cousson, & Bourgeois, 1994) to 145 athletes immediately after they had participated in a sport competition. We also assessed attentional bias using a dot probe detection task. Results revealed that emotion-focused coping strategies led athletes to orient their attention away from threat, whereas athletes who adopted problem-focused coping strategies focused their attention toward threat. More precisely, problem-focused coping strategies are related to a facilitated detection of threat, not to disengagement difficulties. The vigilance attentional bias seems to be a compensatory strategy to cope with a stressful situation, such as sport competition.

Where's the emotion? How sport psychology can inform research on emotion in human factors.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to demonstrate how research on emotion in sport psychology might inform the field of human factors. BACKGROUND: Human factors historically has paid little attention to the role of emotion within the research on human-system relations. The theories, methods, and practices related to research on emotion within sport psychology might be informative for human factors because fundamentally, sport psychology and human factors are applied fields concerned with enhancing performance in complex, real-world domains. METHOD: Reviews of three areas of theory and research on emotion in sport psychology are presented, and the relevancy of each area for human factors is proposed: (a) emotional preparation and regulation for performance, (b) an emotional trait explanation for risk taking in sport, and (c) the link between emotion and motor behavior. Finally, there are suggestions for how to continue cross-talk between human factors and sport psychology about research on emotion and related topics in the future. RESULTS: The relevance of theory and research on emotion in sport psychology for human factors is demonstrated. CONCLUSION: The human factors field and, in particular, research on human-system relations may benefit from a consideration of theory and research on emotion in sport psychology. APPLICATION: Theories, methods, and practices from sport psychology might be applied usefully to human factors.

Social cognitive determinants of physical activity among retired older individuals: an application of the health action process approach.

OBJECTIVE: The identification of the determinants of physical activity (PA) among older adults is an important avenue of research. To date, although the health action process approach (HAPA) has proven to be a valid framework for the prediction of PA among heterogeneous sample of both middle-aged and older adults in rehabilitation and work settings, no studies have specifically considered its predictive value among older adults in their retirement years. Therefore, drawing upon the HAPA, the present study aimed to identify the social cognitive determinants of PA involvement among retired older adults. DESIGN: A 6-month prospective design was employed. METHOD: Participants were retired older individuals (N= 120), members of a French university-based organization, aged from 53 to 83 years (Mean = 65.38 years; SD= 5.63). They were administrated measures of risk perception, action self-efficacy, outcome expectancies, and PA intention at baseline (T1) and of planning, coping self-efficacy, and PA behaviour 6 months later (T2). RESULTS: Path analyses revealed that, in the motivational phase, action self-efficacy and risk perception, but not outcome expectancies, were positively related to PA intention. In the volitional phase, PA intention and coping self-efficacy, but not planning, were positive predictors of PA behaviour. CONCLUSION: The present study contributes to existing knowledge as the first to apply the HAPA for the prediction of PA among retired older adults. It confirms that it provides a useful framework for the understanding of the social cognitive processes underlying this behaviour for this age group.

Motivational predictors of coping with academic examination.

The present study focused on the motivational predictors of coping with academic examination through the test of the contribution of self-determination for academic studies and achievement goals. Coping strategies, academic motivation and achievement goals were assessed among 199 undergraduate students. Regression analysis revealed that problem-focused coping is positively predicted by identified regulation and negatively by amotivation, whereas emotion-focused coping is positively predicted by introjected regulation and amotivation. Mastery approach goals contributed positively to problem-focused coping. Identified regulation and mastery approach goals made a unique positive contribution to problem-focused coping, and amotivation was negatively related. Students' coping actions may vary according to both the reasons why they engage in academic studies and the goals they pursue in this setting.