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А global desire to achieve prosperity and economic growth has been especially heightened in recent decades, which has led to an increase in the use of natural resources and an increase in GHG emissions, especially carbon dioxide. Consequently, a decrease in energy security, growth and price volatility of natural resources and climate change has occurred. The academy, policymakers, industry and civil society representatives accept that economic well-being and human well-being must be an objective that is achieved without escalating the use of natural resources and negative environmental impacts. Although developed countries are well on their way to achieving these goals, great uncertainty lies with developing countries, as they do not have all the mechanisms and instruments that are needed. Research on the interdependence of environmental quality and economic growth is significant because it provides policymakers with a better understanding of environmental and economic interactions. All of the above provides context and additional information for policymakers to facilitate the selection, creation, and adoption of appropriate policies, pointing to economic and environmental relationships that are often not obvious or intuitive. With a comprehensive theoretical overview of the theories and factors of economic growth and development, as well as an analysis of the integration and interdependence of the economy and the environment, one of the most significant contributions of this doctoral dissertation is a detailed description of the methodology and results of the econometric analysis of the panel causality of the nine Southeast European countries from 1995 to 2015. Panel unit root testing and Johansen-Fisher and Pedroni cointegration tests preceded Granger's causality analysis based on the vector error correction model and the Wald test. The results of the research unequivocally point to the existence of a two-way long-run causal link between real gross domestic product, carbon dioxide emissions, energy use, electricity consumption, and gross fixed capital formation. The results of short-term causality analysis are that gross domestic product and gross fixed capital formation in the short run cause changes in all other variables. On the other hand, carbon dioxide emissions, electricity consumption, and energy use do not cause changes in other variables in the short term. Based on all the results, it can be concluded that economic variables in the short run affect all environmental pollution variables, while environmental variables in the short run do not cause changes in the economic variables of the model.

The aim of our study was to determine the relationship between perfectionism and perception of coaches' behavior in male adolescence athletes. The final sample of respondents (67 athletes, mean age 20.28±.92 years) is selected from the initial sample of 130 subjects, students at the Faculty of Sport and Physical Education in Nis. They completed the two questionnaires: Leadership scale for sport (LSS) and Competitive perfectionism Scale (CPS). The results showed a significant relationship between striving for perfection and training instructions (.47), social support (.44), and positive feedback (.46), and also negative striving for perfection and autocratic behavior (.40). This study provides valuable insight into understanding the dynamics of sports leadership and perfectionism in athletes. Research on the coach‐athlete interactions, and also perfectionism from the perspective of an athlete need to be continued.

The objective of this research was to examine and determine the degree of the specific stress coping strategies used by athletes; to determine if there are any differences in the prevalence of the specific strategies used for coping with stressful situations between more successful athletes, less successful athletes and non-athletes; and to determine whether at all, and to what extent, the prevalence of using different stress coping strategies is related to the notions of emotional competence, self-efficacy, dominant time perspective, achievement motivation and personality traits. Furthermore, one of the research objectives was to examine whether success in sports, not going in for sports, the type of sport one goes in for and the gender of the athlete play any moderator role in the correlation between emotional intelligence, selfefficacy, dominant time perspective, achievement motivation and personality traits, on one hand, and using different stress coping strategies, on the other hand. One general and seven specific hypotheses were defined based on these objectives. The hypotheses were verified on different examinee subsamples. The overall number of the examinees who took part in this research was 509 (340 athletes, 171 of whom belong to the subsample of more successful athletes, 169 to less successful athletes and 169 to the subsample of non-athletes). The research variables were adequately operationalised. The statistical techniques used for analysing the data were: the Pearson correlation coefficient, the t-test for independent samples, linear and hierarchical regression analysis (moderated multiple regression analysis). The most significant results obtained by this research are as follows: More successful athletes reveal statistical significance in the usage of problem-focused coping strategies in relation to less successful athletes; and an identical relation is revealed between athletes and non-athletes. Athletes in team sports are more prone to use avoidant coping strategies, just as women do in relation to men. Emotional intelligence, achievement motivation, self-efficacy, personality traits, conscientiousness and openness, are in a statistically significant and positive correlation to problem-focused strategies. Regarding the moderator effects that success in sport, type of sport, (not)going in for sports and gender have on the correlation between specific stress coping strategies and sociopsychological factors, the following conclusions may be reached: A) Success moderates the correlation between the emotion-focused strategy and self-efficacy, the correlation between the avoidant coping strategy and governing emotions, and the correlation between distraction as a coping strategy and governing emotions. B) Going in for sports moderates the correlation between avoidance and extraversions. C) The type of sport moderates the correlation between the problem-focused strategy and extraversion, between emotionality and social diversion, extraversion and social diversion. D) Gender moderates the correlation between conscientiousness and the problem-focused strategy, and the correlation between self-efficacy and the problem-focused strategy.

The aim of the research was to determine whether there is any connectedness between different strategies of facing stress situations and subjective feeling of welfare, and whether there are any differences in the levels of expressiveness of the cited variables between the students of different university departments. The research included 357 second-year students: 38 students of the Faculty of Sport and Physical Education, 118 students of psychology, 100 students of the Faculty of Law, and 81 students of electronic engineering. We used the following instruments: Short Scale of Subjective Welfare - SSSW (Jovanović and Novović, 2008) and The questionnaire for testing facing stress situations (Endler & Parker, 1990, adapted by: Sorić i Proroković, 2002). The results revealed positive correlation between subjective welfare and its sub-dimensions and facing directed at a task, as well as facing by avoiding, i.e. social diversions. Negative bond was found between facing directed at emotions and subjective welfare, as well as its individual aspects. The comparison between the students of different departments shows that the students of sport and physical health approach stress situation in the most constructive way and focus on the problem which is the source of stress. This group of students shows also the highest level of welfare and its sub-dimensions.

This research aims to determine the effects of different 12-weeks physical exercise programs on motor status and cognitive abilities of preschool children. The study involved 91 respondents, preschool children who attend the preschool "Ljubica Vrebalov" in Pozarevac. The sample was divided into four groups, three experimental: EG1 (n-25, 6,35 ± 0,32 years), EG2 (n-21, 6,29 ± 0,39 years), EG3 (n-23,5 , 82 ± 0,23 years), and one control group CG (n-22, 5,90 ± 0,27 years). EG1 group conducted aerobic training, EG2 - phonetic gymnastics, EG3 - yoga program, while CG group conducted regular activities. All experimental programs lasted 12 weeks. Four subtests from the Bruinkins-Oseretsky Test (BOT-2) battery were used to evaluate motor skills: fine motor integration, manual dexterity, bilateral coordination, and balance. The test of gross motor skills, second edition (Test of Gross Motor Development, TGMD-2) was used to evaluate movement skills, and it was used to assess locomotor and manipulative skills. While the "Maturity Test for School" (TZŠ+) was used to test cognitive abilities, more precisely its three subtests: visual memory, stacking cubes, and code. At the beginning the initial testing was performed, and after treatments, the final testing. The results of the two measurements were compared. Multivariate analysis of covariance identified positive effects of aerobic training on motor skills (bilateral coordination, balance, and body coordination) and movement skills (locomotor skills, manipulative skills, and overall gross motor skills). Also, the positive effects of yoga training on balance and body coordination, as well as on cognitive parameters: visual memory and overall cognitive abilities were determined. The phonetic gymnastics program did not achieve any positive effects.

The aim of this study was to determine whether physical activity as a moderator significantly affects the relationship between health and quality of life parameters of respondents of different ages, and to determine whether physical activity as a moderator in respondents of different ages affects the relationship of self-assessed health status, BMI, body image, self-esteem, life satisfaction and quality of life. In addition, the aim was to determine the consistency of statistical significance of differences in quality of life in subjects of different levels of physical activity, also of different ages. Based on these aims, one general and six specific hypotheses were defined. Hypotheses were tested on different subsamples of respondents. The total number of respondents who participated in the research was 1.500 (500 university students, 500 adult high-school students, and 500 full-time employees). The research variables were operationalized with adequate instruments. Statistical techniques for data processing used in the research were descriptive statistics (AS, SD, MIN, MAX, RANGE, SKEWNESS, KURTOSIS), Pearson's correlation coefficient, linear and hierarchical regression analysis (moderating multiple regression). The results show that physical activity of different levels of intensity is a statistically significant moderator of certain relations of health parameters and domains of quality of life. When considering the domains of quality of life, in the domain of physical health, high-intensity physical activity moderated the largest number of achieved moderating effects (60%). In the domain of mental health, high-intensity physical activity also achieved the highest number of moderating effects (75%). In the domain of the social relation, high-intensity physical activity and low-intensity physical activity achieved the same number of moderating effects (44.5%). In the environmental domain of quality of life, the highest number of moderating effects was recorded by low-intensity physical activity (41.7%), followed by high-intensity physical activity (33.3%). If all the observed parameters of health are taken into account, physical activity has proven to be the most important moderator of the relationship between body image and all domains of quality of life. This effect of physical activity is most pronounced in the sub-sample of students. When analyzing the relations between self-esteem and quality of life, physical activity is a moderator only in the domain of physical health, among students and the working population, while in other domains it is not. When observing the relationship between life satisfaction and quality of life, high-intensity physical activity moderates statistically significantly their relations only in a subsample of students, while in students and the working population there is no moderating effect of physical activity. If subsamples of respondents are observed, physical activity of all levels of intensity has the greatest impact on the relationship between all individual parameters of health and quality of life in the working population, and least in the sample of students. From all the above, it can be concluded that high-intensity physical activity moderates almost half of the achieved moderating effects, in relation to different parameters of health and the domain of life. Exercising high- intensity physical activity in adults of different ages can significantly affect their quality of life.