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Introduction: Academic performance is favored in students who practice sports with body contact and develops an increasing value in self-concept when a comparison is established with those who don’t are engaged in sports without body contact. Methods: This study aimed to analyze and relate variables of self-concept, self-esteem and other variables such as aerobic capacity (VO2 max), handgrip strength and academic achievement, within the modalities that they practiced, with and without body contact. 132 middle-school students between 10 and 11 years old (69 boys and 63 girls) who attended the 5th and 6th grades participated. Results: It was found a mean level of behavior, physical appearance, school competence, social acceptance and higher academic performance in the group without body contact. A T-test was applied on self-concept variables, self-esteem, aerobic capacity (VO2 max) and academic performance, and the Mann-Whitney test on physical appearance variables and handgrip strength, finding only differences in the behavior variable, with a value of α = 0.014. A linear regression analysis was also presented in order to identify the best predictors of academic performance Conclusions: The practice of sports with body contact promotes a significant increase in behavior levels, compared to students without body contact, however the practice of this type of sports doesn’t show higher levels of self-esteem and academic performance, once compared to other students practicing sports without body contact. The best predictors identified were global self-concept, school competence and aerobic capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The regular practice of physical exercise has a positive role on mental health and a positive contribution to the development of cognitive function, considered beneficial to academic performance. The present study aimed to analyse the impact of physical exercise on students' academic performance. 227 students participated, of which 112 (49.3%) were male and 115 (50.6%) were female, aged between 10 and 13 years old, from 5th and 6th grades in a Portuguese public school. The Susan Harter Self-Concept Scale validated for the Portuguese population was used, and a descriptive and inferential analysis of the data was conducted to analyse the levels of handgrip strength, aerobic capacity and academic performance. Linear regression analysis was used to interpret the predictive variables and we calculated the magnitude of the effect. The results suggest that the practice of physical exercise enhances the levels of aerobic capacity, handgrip strength and academic performance of students. In addition to physical education classes, the individual sports combined with the team sports present very positive values in relation to the variables described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anxiety has long been considered as one of the most harmful psychological factors for sports performance, and in this context, the focus in terms of intervention has always been the search for the best strategies and techniques and the development or adaptation of the best programs in trying to lower those anxiety levels (Carvalho, 2007). The objective of this study was to evaluate the psychological abilities of the U18 and U20 elite athletes of the National Portuguese Rugby Team, who participated respectively in the U18 Elite European Championships (2016) and in the U20 World Rugby Trophy (2016), comparing the defenders with the forward players. The three psychological skills under study were basic psychological skills, psychosomatic psychological skills and cognitive psychological skills. Regarding the age groups, the U18 presented better results in the basic psychological skills and in the cognitive psychological skills. The U20 presented better indicators in the parameters of psychosomatic psychological skills. According to the player's positions, forward players had better results in all psychological skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine whether regular physical activity influences the prevalence of obesity in children. Methods: This study includes a sample of 239 students representing 32.16% of the population of 743 students of 1st Cycle of Entroncamento city (public education). Ages ranging between 6 and 12 years and 50.6% belong to the female gender. Body composition was assessed (Height, Weight, Skinfold, Body Mass Index and Percent Fat Mass); Results: The results, when compared with previous studies in the same county, seem to indicate that this population has evolved positively in regard to the prevalence of obesity and the prevalence of overweight, as well as indicate lower values than those presented by international studies specifically WHO (2002) and (2009). Conclusions: most individuals do regular physical activity within or outside the school, and 14.5% are those who never practice it. It can be said that all the students say make a conscious power, preferring the "good food" as opposed to those that can be considered harmful to health, and rarely eat ice cream, fries and opposed eat fruit and vegetables several times a day. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Subjective well-being has numerous indicators of global well-being, however, the most important are life satisfaction and attachments, which can be both positive and negative. The leadership of the coach is an integral part of the process that cares for the relationship of the athlete and coach, where the coach has a fundamental role on the athlete, and consequently on his subjective well-being. Objective: The study has the purpose to analyse if and in what way the Basic Psychological Needs—relationship, autonomy and social relationship (mediator 1, M1) and the autonomous motivation (mediator 2, M2) mediate the relationship of the variables of democratic style (independent variable, X) with subjective well-being–life satisfaction and positive attachment (dependent variable, Y). Methods: In this cross-sectional study, participated 94 athletes with Intellectual and Developmental Difficulty (IDD), aged between 11 and 63 years (ẋ = 32.6 ± SD = 13.8 years) of both genders. Statistical analysis was performed using multiple serial mediation models, using the macro PROCESS for SPSS, version 3 (model 6), using the bootstrap method with 10000 samples. Results and Conclusions: There is a mediation effect between those of basic psychological needs and autonomous motivation, exercised between the democratic leadership profile of the coach and the subjective welfare of the athlete. On the other hand, autocratic style has a significant direct effect on the increase in basic psychological needs and controlled motivation. However, the democratic style is more consistent in this type of analysis. Our results reinforce the importance of promoting a democratic leadership style on the part of the coach in their athletes, enhancing a direct effect on life satisfaction and positive attachment in athletes adapted with IDD members of the Special Olympics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies have highlighted the benefits of regular practice of exercise and a positive contribution in the development of cognitive function. Psychological benefits of exercise have been noticed in the academic performance increasing, the self-trust, the emotional stability, the memory and positive body image and well-being. This study had as main objective to analyse the impact of physical exercise in academic performance of middle-school students of a Portuguese public school. The number of participants consisted of a total of 107 students. Of these 107 students, 55 (51.4%) were males and 52 (48.6%) were female, aged between 10 and 12 years and mean ages =11.19 ± 0.81. A total of 41 children (38.3%) from the fifth grade and 66 children (61.7%) from the sixth grade were randomly selected. For data collection instrument, the scale of Selfconcept of Susan Harter validated for the Portuguese population was used, where it was proceeded to a descriptive and inferential statistics data analysis to confront the mean levels of self-concept, in the fields of competence, social competence, athletic competence, physical appearance, behaviour conduct and global self-esteem. Results suggest that the practice of physical exercise for students increases the levels of self-concept, self-esteem and school performance of the students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]