Ankle Sprains Risk Factors in a Sample of French Firefighters: A Preliminary Prospective Study.

CONTEXT: Firefighters participating in mandatory physical exercise sessions are exposed to a high risk of ankle sprain injury. Although both physiological and psychological risk factors have been identified, few prospective studies considered the complex interaction of these factors in firefighters. OBJECTIVE: To prospectively determine whether intrinsic physical risk factors and work-related environments predict ankle sprains occurring during on-duty physical exercise in firefighters during an 8-month follow-up period. DESIGN: Prospective. SETTING: Fire Department and Rescue Service. PARTICIPANTS: Thirty-nine firefighters were selected based on convenience sampling. INTERVENTION: Participants performed physical tests and completed questionnaires. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Lower Quarter Y-Balance Test, Weight-Bearing Lunge Test, anthropometric measures, postural stability, chronic ankle instability (Cumberland Ankle Instability Tool) scores, previous injuries, and perceived psychosocial work environment (Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire [COPSOQ]). RESULTS: During the follow-up, 9 firefighters sustained an injury. Lower Quarter Y-Balance Test and Weight-Bearing Lunge Test performances, Cumberland Ankle Instability Tool scores, history of previous ankle sprain, and specific dimensions of the COPSOQ significantly differed between injured and uninjured firefighters. Lower-limbs asymmetries of the Lower Quarter Y-Balance Test (ie, anterior, posteromedial, and posterolateral directions) and the Weight-Bearing Lunge Test were predictors of ankle sprains. CONCLUSIONS: These findings originally provide evidence that intrinsic factors mainly contribute to ankle sprains, although psychosocial work environment assessment could also characterize firefighters at risk.

Effects of implicit theories of ability and stereotype-inconsistent information on handgrip strength in older adults: A regulatory fit perspective.

This study examined whether stereotype-inconsistent information interacts with implicit theories of ability to affect handgrip strength in older adults. Eighty-two retired older adults (13 men and 69 women) from 61 to 89 years old (Mage = 75.8 years; SD = 6.9) performed maximum voluntary contractions (MVC) during a handgrip task in a design manipulating implicit theories of ability and stereotype-inconsistent information related to physical decline with aging. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: incremental condition, entity condition, or control group. The results showed that in the incremental condition the stereotype-inconsistent information improved the peak MVC, the average MVC, the peak rate of force development (RFD), and RFD in the initial 50 ms of the MVC. This study therefore demonstrated that individuals with an incremental mindset who are exposed to stereotype-inconsistent information can boost their physical performance. These findings are discussed from the perspective of regulatory fit (i.e., when task framing is congruent with the individual's goal).

The Big Five Personality Traits and French Firefighter Burnout: The Mediating Role of Achievement Goals.

OBJECTIVES: We investigated the associations between the Big Five personality traits and occupational burnout in firefighters and the mediating role of achievement goals in this relationship. METHODS: Two hundred twenty male firefighters from 20 to 62 years old participated and mediation analyses were performed. RESULTS: The results showed that neuroticism was positively related to the three dimensions of burnout, both directly and through mastery avoidance goals. Mastery approach goals mediated the relationships between conscientiousness and physical fatigue and between openness to experience and physical fatigue. CONCLUSION: Three of the Big Five personality traits, neuroticism, conscientiousness and openness to experience, and achievement goals, may be important factors in understanding and preventing firefighter burnout.

Physical exercise and burnout facets predict injuries in a population-based sample of French career firefighters.

Although firefighting is known to engender a high rate of injury, few studies have examined the contribution of physical exercise, burnout and coping strategies to firefighting-related injuries. Data were collected from a population-based sample of 220 male firefighters. In a descriptive study, the nature and site of the injuries and the relationships among firefighter injuries, physical exercise, burnout and coping strategies were examined. Sprains were the most prevalent type of injury (98%), followed by tendinitis (40%) and muscle tears (30%). More than two thirds of these injuries were located at the ankle. Weekly hours of physical exercise, cognitive weariness at work, social support seeking, problem-focused coping and emotional exhaustion were significantly related to these injuries. The findings suggest that physical exercise and cognitive weariness can be considered as risk factors for French firefighter injuries, whereas problem-focused coping can be seen as a protective factor. More research is needed to explain the relationship between social support seeking and injury.

An Ego Depletion Account of Aging Stereotypes' Effects on Health-Related Variables.

OBJECTIVES: This study examined whether stereotypes may predict health outcomes independently from their internalization into the self. Specifically, we tested whether endorsement of negative age stereotypes in the physical activity (PA) domain is related to decreased subjective vitality among active older adults, illustrating ego depletion. METHOD: This longitudinal study included 192 retired individuals aged 60-92 years who regularly participated in organized PA, and who completed the measures on three occasions (9-month period). RESULTS: Multilevel growth models tested whether within-person variation in age stereotypes endorsement across waves predicted subjective vitality, after controlling for self-perceptions of aging and relevant covariates. Results showed that (a) within-person increases in endorsement of age stereotypes of self-efficacy (b = 0.17, p < .01) were associated with increases in subjective vitality, (b) between-person mean difference in endorsement of age stereotypes of PA benefits (b = 0.21, p < .05) positively predicted subjective vitality, and (c) subjective vitality mediated the relationship between endorsement of self-efficacy stereotype and self-rated health. DISCUSSION: This study confirmed that endorsement of age stereotypes of PA predicted subjective vitality among active older adults. These results suggest that stereotypes may be related to health-related outcomes notably through ego depletion effects.

Development and validation of the aging stereotypes and exercise scale.

This article presents the development and validation of the aging stereotypes and exercise scale (ASES), which measures different dimensions of aging stereotypes in the exercise domain. Drawing on past research on older adults' perceived barriers to exercise, these dimensions include stereotypes about positive and negative exercise outcomes for older adults and about older adults' psychological barriers to exercise (i.e., lack of self-efficacy and motivation). Four studies involving 714 participants examined the factorial structure and invariance, temporal stability, and external validity of the scale. The results supported a 3-factor model that was invariant across age. Age differences in stereotype content appeared, with older adults holding more positive stereotypes than younger adults. Also as predicted, the more older adults endorsed negative stereotypes, the lower their physical self- worth, self-rated health, and subjective age. Last, responses to the ASES appeared to be stable over a 6-wk period.