Exploring the experiences and perceptions of coaches, athletes, and integrated support teams towards the management of three national Paralympic teams.

This study explored the experiences and perceptions of coaches, athletes, and integrated support teams towards the management of three Paralympic teams across North America and Europe. Six focus groups with athletes, three interviews with head coaches, and 10 interviews with support team members were conducted and analyzed using a reflexive thematic analysis. Our analysis resulted in three overarching themes to portray the coaches' role and behaviours in managing their (1) athletes, (2) integrated support teams, and (3) team as a collective unit. All teams were made up of a diverse group of athletes that required individualized considerations regarding age, finances, and disability. Coaches were successful when they fostered autonomy and managed interpersonal conflict by utilizing their integrated support teams to foster cohesiveness. This study provides an in-depth view of the role of the coach in managing national parasport teams by incorporating multiple perspectives from three teams around the world.

Monitoring mental distress in Para athletes in preparation, during and after the Beijing Paralympic Games 2022: A 22 week prospective mixed-method study.

It is common in elite sport to monitor athletes' training load, injuries and illnesses, but mental distress is rarely included. An improved understanding of the epidemiology of mental distress among elite Para athletes and how their coaches perceive such monitoring would allow us to better develop and implement preventive measures. The purpose of this study was therefore to (1) prospectively describe elite Para athletes' mental distress, before, during and after the Beijing Paralympic Games (Paralympics Games 22 = PG22); and to (2) gain a better understanding of if and potentially how awareness of athletes' mental distress changed, through weekly monitoring, and influenced how coachers perceive athletes' mental distress and if they accounted for this before, during and after PG22. A mixed-method study design was used, in which prospective mental distress (depression and anxiety) data were collected weekly from 13 [Swedish] elite Para athletes in preparation, during and after PG22. Data were screened and evaluated weekly by a physiotherapist and a sports psychologist, and coaches also received weekly reports. A focus-group interview with the coaches were conducted post Paralympics to address coaches' awareness about mental distress and athlete health monitoring in Parasport. For data analyses, descriptive statistics was used for the quantitative data and a content analysis was conducted for the qualitative data. The results reveled the following proportion of datapoints indicating symptoms of anxiety and depression: before PG22 (15.8 and 19.1%); during PG22 (47.6 and 38.2%); and after PG22 (0 and 11.8%). The qualitative results indicated that coaches perceived athlete health monitoring as helpful for increasing their awareness of mental distress, and as a useful tool to initiate support for their athletes as well as improving their coaching. In summary, this cohort of elite Para athletes reported a high proportion of mental distress during the Winter Paralympic Games in Beijing. The results also show that it is important and feasible to monitor Para athletes' mental distress to detect and manage early symptoms of mental distress.

Differences in participation across physical activity contexts between adolescents with and without disability over three years: a self-determination theory perspective.

PURPOSE: Meaningful participation is related to satisfaction of the psychological needs of competence, autonomy, and relatedness within Self-determination theory. The purpose of this study is to explore whether need satisfaction in physical education (PE), organized sport, and self-organized physical activity (PA) among adolescents with disability differs in relation to their peers without disabilities over a three-year period. METHODS: Participants were students of secondary or upper secondary school (T1: N = 2979), reporting either having a disability (n = 328) or not (n = 2651). The psychological needs were measured in the three PA contexts over three time-points. Differences between groups were assessed with t-tests and Cohen's d. RESULTS: Adolescents with disability reported: in PE, lower need satisfaction across all three time-points; in organized sport, lower levels on all needs at T1, and lower levels of autonomy and relatedness at T2; in self-organized PA, no differences between the groups across all three time points, except for lower autonomy at T2. CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicate that adolescents with disabilities are particularly vulnerable to reduced participation in PE and partly in organized sport. Rehabilitation institutions should collaborate closely with stakeholders in PA (e.g., PE teachers and coaches) in adolescents' municipalities to transfer knowledge about nurturing psychological needs in PA.Implications for rehabilitationMeaningful participation in physical activity (PA) for the individual can be related to their own perceptions of satisfaction of the three basic psychological needs of competence, autonomy, and relatedness.Findings from the current study indicate that adolescents with disabilities are particularly vulnerable to experiencing reduced participation in physical education (PE) and partly in organized sport.Health care practitioners working in rehabilitation should support adolescents' three psychological needs in PA while they are attending rehabilitation to give them valuable experiences with meaningful participation in PA, which could be transferred and useful for PA participation after rehabilitation.Health care practitioners at rehabilitation institutions should collaborate closely with stakeholders in the PA context of adolescents' local areas (e.g., PE teachers and coaches) to transfer knowledge about how to nurture psychological need fulfillment in PA.

Changes in physical activity and basic psychological needs related to mental health among people with physical disability during the COVID-19 pandemic in Norway.

BACKGROUND: People with a physical disability are more inactive than the general population. Due to the positive effects of physical activity (PA) on physical and mental health, maintaining a physically active lifestyle is important especially during challenging periods of life. OBJECTIVE: Explore whether people with a physical disability experienced changes in PA, health status, and psychological need satisfaction (autonomy, competence and relatedness) during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Norway. Further, explore whether changes in psychological need satisfaction were associated with changes in PA level and mental health. METHODS: Cross-sectional retrospective study using an online self-reported questionnaire after the first wave during the COVID-19 pandemic. RESULTS: Of the 298 participants with physical disabilities (AgeM = 49yr; 62% females; 66% using mobility aids), 66% reported decreased PA compared to the same period in the previous year, 45% reported declined health status due to increased pain and reduced physical functioning. Regarding psychological need satisfaction, it was primarily the change in need for autonomy and competence for PA that were associated with change in PA and mental health. CONCLUSIONS: Most of the participants indicated decreased PA and about half decreased Health status during the COVID-19 pandemic. Further, the results indicated that it is important to nurture the basic psychological needs of autonomy and competence for PA when aiming to maintain or increase PA levels and mental health for this population living under restrictions of a pandemic.

What Do We Know About Research on Parasport Coaches? A Scoping Review.

The purpose of this scoping review was to provide a broad overview of the literature pertaining to parasport coaches, including information regarding the size and scope of research, the populations and perspectives obtained, and the type of methods used to conduct the research. Data were collected and analyzed using a six-stage framework for conducting scoping reviews. The results revealed that the majority of articles were based on interviews, and an overwhelming majority of the participants were men coaching at the high-performance level in North America. Three of the most frequent topics were becoming a parasport coach, being a parasport coach, and having general parasport coaching knowledge. Articles ranged in date from 1991 to 2018, with 70% of empirical articles published from 2014 onward, indicating an emerging interest in this field of research. This review has the potential to advance the science and practice of parasport coaching at all levels.

Trajectories of Physical Activity Among Adolescents in the Transition From Primary to Secondary School.

Research on physical activity (PA) behavior reveals an overall decrease worldwide from early childhood and throughout adulthood. The ability to illuminate which factors promote activity for whom and in which phase of life, therefore, becomes a key concept in extending our understanding of individuals' physical activity trajectories. Accordingly, this study investigates latent trajectories of objectively measured PA in adolescents (n = 306) over 3 years from ages 13 to 15. Further, it was tested whether eagerness for physical activity, perceived athletic competence, and parental support were associated with the different trajectories of PA. Latent class growth analysis revealed two PA trajectories (trajectory 1: "decrease from very high" and trajectory 2: "steeper decrease from high"). Trajectory 1 had a higher PA level at baseline and less PA decline than trajectory 2. Trajectory 1, "decrease from very high," was associated with higher levels of eagerness for physical activity and perception of competence at all three time points. Furthermore, the effect size of differences between trajectory 1, "decrease from very high," and trajectory 2, "steeper decrease from high," increased from baseline (age 13, seventh grade) to posttest (age 15, ninth grade). This finding indicates a stronger experience of PA as enjoyable, personally relevant, and self-confirming behavior (i.e., "I regard myself as a person who exercises") within the most active adolescents and even stronger as they get older. Consistent with previous research, the PA level declined from seventh to ninth grade. Being more eager for PA and perceiving oneself more as athletically competent is related to higher levels of PA. This highlights the importance of optimizing environmental factors that increase adolescents' experience of eagerness for physical activity and physical athletic competence.

Impact of Job Insecurity on Psychological Well- and Ill-Being among High Performance Coaches.

BACKGROUND: The evaluative nature of high performance (HP) sport fosters performance expectations that can be associated with harsh scrutiny, criticism, and job insecurity. In this context, (HP) sport is described as a highly competitive, complex, and turbulent work environment. The aim of this longitudinal, quantitative study was to explore whether HP coaches' perceptions of job insecurity and job value incongruence in relation to work would predict their psychological well- and ill-being over time. METHODS: HP coaches (n = 299) responded to an electronic questionnaire at the start, middle, and end of a competitive season, designed to measure the following: job insecurity, values, psychological well-being (vitality and satisfaction with work), and psychological ill-being (exhaustion and cynicism). Structural equation model analyses were conducted using Mplus. RESULTS: Experiencing higher levels of job insecurity during the middle of the season significantly predicted an increase in coaches' psychological ill-being, and a decrease in their psychological well-being at the end of the season. However, value incongruence did not have a significant longitudinal impact. CONCLUSIONS: These findings cumulatively indicate that coaches' perceptions of job insecurity matter to their psychological health at work. Consequently, it is recommended that coaches and organizations acknowledge and discuss how to handle job security within the HP sport context.

Elite Football Coaches Experiences and Sensemaking about Being Fired: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Chronic job insecurity seems to be a prominent feature within elite sport, where coaches work under pressure of dismissals if failing to meet performance expectations of stakeholders. The aim of the current study was to get a deeper understanding of elite football coaches' experiences of getting fired and how they made sense of that process. METHOD: A qualitative design using semi-structured interviews was conducted with six elite football coaches who were fired within the same season. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was chosen as framework to analyze the data. RESULTS: The results reflected five emerging themes: Acceptance of having an insecure job, working for an unprofessional organization and management, micro-politics in the organization, unrealistic and changing performance expectation, and emotional responses. CONCLUSION: All coaches expressed awareness and acceptance regarding the risk of being fired. However, they experienced a lack of transparency and clear feedback regarding the causes of dismissal. This led to negative emotional reactions as the coaches experienced being evaluated by poorly defined expectations and by anonymous stakeholders. Sports organizations as employers should strive to be transparent during dismissal. In addition, job insecurity is a permanent stressor for coaches and should be acknowledged and targeted within coach education.

Benefits of Psychological Detachment From Work: Does Autonomous Work Motivation Play a Role?

Research has shown that psychological detachment from work during non-work time is beneficial for various aspects of employee well-being and job performance. However, it is uncertain whether psychological detachment is equally important to all. The purpose of the current study was to examine whether psychological detachment is less important for employees who experience autonomous motivation for their job. The study was conducted in two different samples of knowledge workers in Norway. Latent profile analysis was used to identify different subgroups within the samples. In addition, the BCH method was used to examine possible differences between the profiles on distal outcomes. In both samples, two distinct profiles were found: "Lower involvement employees" (Low-IE; higher detachment and lower autonomous regulation) and "Higher involvement employees" (High-IE; lower detachment and higher autonomous regulation). The results revealed that the High-IE profile was significantly higher in positive affect, life satisfaction, work effort, and work quality, while significantly lower on emotional exhaustion compared with Low-IE. These results indicate that being low in detachment from work does not seem to be detrimental when combined with high levels of autonomous motivation. The study contributes to knowledge about the benefits of unwinding from work for employees with different motivational profiles.

Lessons Learned From a Physical Activity Intervention in Psychiatric Treatment: Patient, Staff, and Leader Perspectives.

OBJECTIVE: To explore how the implementation of a motivational physical activity (PA) intervention for inpatients with severe mental illness was experienced by patients, staff, and leaders at a psychiatric institution. METHOD: After the intervention individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with patients (n = 6) and staff (n = 6), and a focus group interview was conducted with the leaders (n = 4). RESULTS: All had a positive view on PA as part of psychiatric treatment, thinking it would benefit the patients' health. There were some differences among the groups as to the importance of PA relative to traditional treatments. Positive outcomes were reported from all three groups, but with different foci. The patients and the staff underscored the importance of PA professionals in order to achieve high quality activities, whereas the leaders, due to restraints in resources, could not prioritize to hire PA professionals. CONCLUSION: PA was considered a positive part of treatment. Ideas about what it takes to obtain the potential physical, mental, and social benefits of PA differed between patients, the staff involved, and the leaders. Having staff with PA as a primary responsibility and with sufficient competence as PA instructors seems to be important.

Does Eagerness for Physical Activity Matter? The Association Between Eagerness and Physical Activity Among Adolescents.

This study investigated the association between perceived parental support and eagerness for physical activity (EPA) among adolescents, and the association between EPA and physical activity. We further examined whether perceived athletic competence (PAC) mediates a presumed association between EPA and physical activity level, when controlling for gender. This study included 320 adolescents (aged 12-13) from 18 schools in two medium-sized Norwegian municipalities. Questionnaires and accelerometers were assessed during spring 2017. Structural equation modeling was applied to examine the associations. Standard regression coefficients are presented. Data demonstrated that perceived parental support was positively associated with EPA (ß = 0.52), and eagerness was positively associated with PAC (ß = 0.52). Both EPA (ß = 0.20) and PAC (ß = 0.24) were also positively associated with moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). When mediating the relationship between EPA and MVPA, through PAC, the effect on MVPA increased (from ß = 0.20 to ß = 0.32). Analysis revealed that 87% of the adolescents fulfilled the national health recommendations for physical activity. This study highlights the relevance of EPA and PAC in studies of physical activity among adolescents, and the impact of perceived parental support for adolescents' EPA and physical activity level.