Connections between caring climate, self-compassion, self-pity, and reactions to an emotionally difficult sport situation.

Multiple variables influence athletes' ability to cope with the challenges of sport participation including self-compassion, self-pity, and emotional regulation. Yet, the role of coach and teammates in nurturing self-compassion (SC), reducing self-pity (SP), and helping to regulate emotions (RESE) has not been fully investigated. Therefore, this study explored the interrelationships between perceptions of the caring climate (CC), SC, SP, RESE, and reactions to an emotionally difficult sport scenario (REs) and specific ways coaches and teammates helped or hindered SC. 224 predominately White (79%), female (69%), male (30%), and non-binary (1%) undergraduate students (Mage = 18.44, SD = 0.66) involved in a high school sport the previous year, participated in an online survey. The survey included measures of CC, SC, SP, RESE, and REs along with four open-ended questions asking participants to reflect on how coaches and teammates helped or hindered development of SC. Correlations revealed CC was positively related to RESE and SC and negatively related to SP. Further, CC was positively associated with constructive REs and negatively associated with deconstructive REs. To test whether RESE, SC, and SP mediated the relationship between the CC and REs, a path analysis was conducted. A partially mediated model emerged, ꭓ2(11) = 22.10, p = .02, CFI = 0.99, TLI = 0.93, RMSEA = 0.07 (CI = 0.02-0.11), SRMR = 0.04, with CC positively predicting positive and negative RESE, positive RESE positively predicting SC, and negative RESE positively predicting SC and negatively predicting SP. Additionally, SC, SP, and RESE differentially predicted REs. Thematic analysis of the open-ended questions revealed higher order themes of emotional, esteem, informational, and conditional support with a variety of supports being used by coaches and teammates. These findings provide insight into how coaches may be able to support athletes' SC and RESE to navigate challenges within sport.

The Influence of Climate on Flourishing and Motivational Outcomes for U.S. Masters Swimmers.

The climate in which older adults exercise and participate in sport may play a role in promoting a lifetime commitment to exercising. However, little research has examined the relationship of caring (C) and task-involving (TI) climates, motivation, and well-being with respect to older adult athletes. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between Masters swimmers' perceptions of the climate, effort, enjoyment, and flourishing as well as explore the mediating effects of effort and enjoyment on the relationship between climate and flourishing. U.S. Masters swimmers (n = 294; Mage = 63.57 years; 84.40% White) with 1-80 years of swimming experience (M = 34.54 years) participating in coach-led programs completed an online survey. The results of latent variable, multiple-mediator analyses via structural equation modeling revealed two important contributions to the literature: (1) when Masters swimmers perceived that they were in C and TI climates, they were more likely to report higher levels of effort and greater enjoyment and flourishing; (2) the Masters swimmers' effort levels directly influenced their flourishing, mediating the relationship between climates and flourishing. This research has important implications for practice and policy, as U.S. Masters Swimming appears to be a fruitful avenue for promoting an enjoyable physical activity that can be experienced throughout a lifetime.

50 Million StrongTM: The Contribution of Sports Coaching.

In 2015, the Society of Health and Physical Educators of America (SHAPE America) launched 50 Million StrongTM with goals of improving physical literacy, increasing physical activity levels, and encouraging lifelong physical activity among children by the year 2029. Not only are youth sports programs crucial to meeting 50 Million StrongTM goals, but it also requires the purposeful efforts of sport coaches, program administrators, researchers, coach educators, and coach developers. While it is encouraging that research on sport coaching topics appears to be growing, there is still much to learn about how to prepare coaches to provide quality sport experiences for their athletes. Consequently, to further this call, it is crucial to understand the current state of sports coaching research and propose future research needs in the discipline. The purpose of this paper is to identify research needs in sports coaching and coach education/development that assists in achieving the 50 Million StrongTM goals of SHAPE America. Throughout the paper, critical research questions are identified in two main areas: 1) coaches' roles in developing physically literate athletes, and 2) developing coaches in regards to coach learning, the efficacy of coach education, and coach health and well-being. Furthermore, commensurate with other papers in the series commissioned by the SHAPE America Research Consortium, we discuss these areas within a social ecological model to understand the impact of the bi-directional interactions between environmental factors and individual behaviors.

Personal and situational factors that influence coaches' ability to care.

The purpose of this study was to explore how personal and situational factors may influence sport coaches' caring practices. 130 youth sport coaches completed an online survey including perceptions of caring, emotional intelligence, and leadership behaviours. Additionally, coaches were prompted to consider a situation when it was easy or hard to care while also identifying influencing factors. Results revealed coaches' awareness of others' emotions, coaches' ability to use their emotions, and coaches' lower use of autocratic behaviours significantly predicted their perceptions of caring on their teams. Open-ended findings revealed that having a core value/philosophy centred on caring, maintaining a collaborative and welcoming culture, engaging in relationship building, using empathy and listening skills, possessing personal experiences/expertise, encountering advantageous situations, or having positive athlete behaviour made it easier to care. It was more difficult for coaches to care when they experienced poor athlete or parent behaviour, unhelpful situational factors, lack of team culture, differing opinions among staff, or personal factors. These findings provide coaches insight into factors that may influence their ability to care.

Exploring the connections between caring and social behaviors in physical education.

PURPOSE: This study explored the relationship between the caring climate, empathy, prosocial behaviors, and antisocial behaviors, like bullying, in physical education, plus investigated whether empathy mediated the possible relationships between caring and social behaviors for boys and girls. METHOD: Middle school physical education students (N = 528) completed measures assessing a caring climate, empathy, social behaviors, and bullying. RESULTS: A partial mediation model was supported, chi2(94) = 206.82, p < .001, comparative fit index = .97, Tucker-Lewis index = .96, root mean square error of approximation = .05, standardized root mean squared residual = .04, which was also invariant across sexes. A perceived caring climate positively predicted prosocial behavior and cognitive empathy and negatively predicted antisocial behavior, like bullying. Cognitive empathy mediated the relationship between caring and prosocial behavior. CONCLUSIONS: Collective findings suggest that creating a caring climate is one tool that physical education teachers may use to promote positive behavior.

Influence of caring youth sport contexts on efficacy-related beliefs and social behaviors.

Understanding what factors influence positive youth development has been advocated by youth development researchers (P. L. Benson, 2006; J. S. Eccles & J. A. Gootman, 2002). Consequently, the purpose of this study was to examine whether perceptions of a caring youth sport context influenced prosocial and antisocial behavior through efficacy-related beliefs, that is, positive and negative affective self-regulatory efficacy (ASRE) and empathic self-efficacy (ESE). Multiethnic youths taking part in summer sport programs (N = 395) completed a questionnaire that measured perceptions of the caring climate, ESE, ASRE, and social behavior. Structural equation modeling was used to test whether ASRE and ESE mediated the relationship between caring and social behaviors. Findings revealed that perceptions of caring positively predicted ASRE and ESE. In turn, positive ASRE positively predicted ESE. Prosocial behaviors were positively linked to ESE, whereas antisocial behaviors were negatively predicted by positive ASRE. The results suggest that caring influences prosocial and antisocial behavior because such contexts develop youths' ability to monitor, manage, and control positive affect, which in turn enhances their belief in their ability to empathize.

A longitudinal perspective of the relationship between perceived motivational climate, goal orientations, and strategy use.

Achievement goal theory suggests that goal orientations and the perceived motivational climate may influence one another and other motivational variables over time. Therefore, the purpose of this study was threefold: (a) to examine the relationship between perceived motivational climate and goal orientations over time (b) to investigate how goal orientations may fluctuate when the climate was in opposition to the initial goal orientation, (c) to determine how the climate may impact practice strategies. A set of inventories was administered to 162 college students at preselected times throughout several 16-week physical activity classes. Changes occurred in students' goal orientations, particularly when the perceived motivational climate was in opposition to their goal orientation. Aspects of the task-involving climate positively predicted practice strategies.