Reliability of a musculoskeletal profiling test battery in elite academy soccer players.

The study aimed to quantify the measurement error / reliability of a musculoskeletal profiling test battery administered in young, elite academy soccer players, and to examine if the order in which the test battery was administered, and who it was administered by, influenced reliability. Players (n = 75; age 12-20 years; stature 1.47-1.95 m; body mass 36-89 kg) from U-12 to U-23 age groups were assigned to either: 1) intra-rater-fixed order; 2) intra-rater-non-fixed order; 3) inter-rater-fixed order; or, 4) inter-rater-non-fixed order groups. On two separate occasions separated by 3 to 7 days, 12 raters conducted a musculoskeletal profiling test battery comprising 10 tests (Supine Medial Hip Rotation, Supine Lateral Hip Rotation, Hamstring 90/90, Prone Medial Hip Rotation [degrees]; Combined Elevation, Thoracic Rotation, Weight-Bearing Dorsiflexion, Y-Balance [centimetres]; Beighton, Lumbar Quadrant [categorical]). The measurement error / reliability for tests measured in degrees and centimetres was evaluated using the intraclass correlation (relative reliability), coefficient of variation and ratio limits of agreement (absolute reliability). Intraclass correlations varied from 0.04 ("poor") to 0.95 ("excellent"), coefficient of variation from 2.9 to 43.4%, and the ratio limits of agreement from 1.058 (*/÷ 1.020) to 2.026 (*/÷ 1.319) for the tests measured in degrees and centimetres. The intraclass correlation, coefficient of variation and ratio limits of agreement were smallest for five out of eight tests measured in degrees and centimetres when the tests were administered in an intra-rater-fixed test order. These findings emphasise that different testing methods, and the administration of a musculoskeletal profiling test battery using a less than optimal design, will influence measurement error and hence test reliability. These observations need to be considered when investigating musculoskeletal function and age, injury, training or asymmetry in young, elite academy soccer players.

The Leader Ship Is Sinking: A Temporal Investigation of Narcissistic Leadership.

Individuals higher in narcissism have leader emergent tendencies. The characteristics of their personality suggest, however, that their leadership qualities will decrease over time as a function of group acquaintance. We present data from two studies that provide the first empirical support for this theoretical position within a transformational leadership framework. In Study 1 (N = 112), we tested narcissistic leadership qualities in groups of unacquainted individuals over a 12-week period. In Study 2 (N = 152), we adopted the same protocol with groups of acquainted individuals. In Study 1, narcissism was positively associated with peer-rated leadership during initial group formation but not later. In Study 2, narcissism was not significantly associated with peer-rated leadership during initial group formation and was negatively associated with peer-rated leadership later. In Study 1, transformational leadership mediated the relationship between narcissism and leadership initially but not later on. In Study 2, transformational leadership failed to mediate the relationship between narcissism and leadership throughout the study. Despite enjoying a honeymoon period of leadership, the appeal and attractiveness of the narcissistic leader rapidly wane. This decline is explained in part by their changing transformational leadership qualities.

The role of athlete narcissism in moderating the relationship between coaches' transformational leader behaviors and athlete motivation.

Leadership research that examines follower characteristics as a potential moderator of leadership effectiveness is lacking. Within Bass's (1985) transformational leadership framework, we examined follower narcissism as a moderator of the coach behavior-coach effectiveness relationship. Youth athletes (male = 103, female = 106) from the Singapore Sports Academy (mean age = 14.28, SD = 1.40 years) completed the Differentiated Transformational Leadership Inventory (Callow, Smith, Hardy, Arthur, & Hardy, 2009), the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (Raskin & Terry, 1988), and indices of follower effort. Multilevel analyses revealed that athlete narcissism moderated the relationship between fostering acceptance of group goals and athlete effort and between high performance expectations and athlete effort. All the other transformational leader behaviors demonstrated main effects on follower effort, except for inspirational motivation.