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The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of submaximal isometric neck muscle fatigue and manual therapy on wrist joint position sense (JPS) within healthy individuals and individuals with subclinical neck pain (SCNP). Twelve healthy participants and 12 participants with SCNP were recruited. Each group completed 2 sessions, with 48 hours between sessions. On day 1, both groups performed 2 wrist JPS tests using a robotic device. The tests were separated by a submaximal isometric fatigue protocol for the cervical extensor muscles (CEM). On day 2, both groups performed a wrist JPS test, followed by a cervical treatment consisting of manual therapy (SCNP) or neck rest (20 minutes, control group) and another wrist JPS test. Joint position sense was measured as the participant's ability to recreate a previously presented wrist angle. Each wrist JPS test included 12 targets, 6 into wrist flexion and 6 into wrist extension. Kinematic data from the robot established absolute, variability, and constant error. Absolute error significantly decreased (P =.01) from baseline to post-fatigue in the SCNP group (baseline = 4.48 ± 1.58°; post-fatigue = 3.90 ± 1.45°) and increased in the control group (baseline = 3.12 ± 0.98°; post-fatigue = 3.81 ± 0.90°). The single session of manual cervical treatment significantly decreased absolute error in participants with SCNP (P =.004). This study demonstrated that neck pain or fatigue can lead to altered afferent input to the central nervous system and can affect wrist JPS. Our findings demonstrate that acute wrist proprioception may be improved in individuals with SCNP by a single cervical manual therapy session. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mental Health Literacy (MHL) refers to an individual's knowledge and beliefs regarding mental health. MHL is related to a variety of important variables (e.g., help seeking and stigma) and has tremendous applied potential in a variety of contexts. The history of research on MHL has been characterized by challenges in developing valid and reliable measurement. Various concise, close-ended surveys have been created but concerns still exist regarding the generalizability of these scales. Thus, it has been recommended that testing take place within specific populations. The current study was designed to test the psychometric properties of the Multicomponent Mental Health Literacy Measure (MMHLM) with a sample of university student athletes and student athletic trainers. A total sample of 444 participants completed the MMHLM via a secure on-line survey site. A Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) showed that, with revisions, the 3-factor MMHLM was an excellent fit to the data (CFI =.931, RMSEA = 0.023, SRMR= 0.052). Subsequent analyses revealed that the level of MHL in this sample was roughly equivalent to the normative levels found in previous research; significant differences existed between genders, but not between student athletes and student trainers. The authors conclude that the revised version of the MMHLM possesses strong psychometric properties and can be used for future research with intercollegiate athletes and student athletic trainers. Lay Summary: This study assessed the psychometric properties of The Multicomponent Mental Health Literacy Measure with a sample of collegiate student-athletes and student trainers. The revised MMHLM includes 14 items and can be used within sports contexts to measure mental health literacy of athletes and athletic trainers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Background: Exercise can improve body composition in adolescents and adults with overweight/obesity. Consumption of dairy foods, as part of a healthy lifestyle program, can also promote favourable body composition changes in adults with overweight/obesity. However, the few studies examining these combined effects on body composition in adolescents are inconclusive. Objective: To determine whether increased dairy product consumption, as part of a lifestyle modification program featuring exercise training and dietary guidance promotes favourable body composition changes in adolescent females with overweight/obesity. Methods: Fifty‐four participants (age: 14.8 ± 2.2y; BMI percentile: 95th ± 6) assigned to three groups completed the study. There were two experimental groups: recommended dairy (RDa; n = 24) and low dairy (LDa; n = 22), and a no‐intervention control group (Con; n = 8). RDa and LDa participated in a 12‐week, eucaloric, lifestyle modification intervention consisting of mixed‐mode exercise (3x/week), and nutritional counselling. RDa was provided 4 servings/day of dairy foods, while LDa and Con maintained habitually low intakes (0‐2 servings/day). Body weight/composition, waist/hip circumference, cardiovascular fitness and food intake were assessed at weeks 0 and 12. Results: Weight did not significantly change in any group. RDa significantly decreased fat mass (FM) and increased lean mass (LM) more than LDa and Con (FM: −1.3 ± 2.1 kg, −1.1 ± 2.0 kg, 0.8 ± 1.8 kg; LM: 1.5 ± 1.9 kg, 0.7 ± 1.6 kg, 0.5 ± 1.4 kg, respectively). LDa also significantly decreased FM and increased LM more than Con (P <.005; all interactions). Conclusion: The inclusion of dairy foods in the diet of adolescent females with overweight/obesity, as part of a diet and exercise intervention, favourably improves body composition in the absence of weight loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Research on the relationship between self-efficacy beliefs and subsequent performance on a task has typically supported a positive linear model. However, these results typically excluded a moderate level of self-efficacy as an independent variable nor used quadratic regression analyses to test for a curvilinear relationship. There are reasons to believe that a more accurate relationship between self-efficacy and performance is curvilinear (i.e., that some self-doubt of self-efficacy may predict optimal effort) under certain circumstances. Design The current study examined this relationship with the muscular endurance task of a plank exercise. Methods Seventy-five participants participated in two trials of the exercise. Self-efficacy was recorded prior to each trial and performance in the plank exercise was used as an indicator of motivational effort. Results There was a significant curvilinear relationship between efficacy and performance on the first trial and a significant linear relationship between the two on the second trial. Further analyses showed that individuals who substantially over or underestimated their abilities on the first trial did not significantly alter their effort on the second trial. Conclusions The current study provides some support for the possibility that some self-doubt can be a motivating factor for individuals to exert maximal effort when initially attempting an exercise endurance task. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Although coaches recognize their role in preventing doping, research has shown that they lack self-confidence in how to deal with athletes whom they suspect of doping. Considering the importance of this efficacy, the current study was designed to develop and validate a measure of coaches' efficacy to confront doping athletes. Coaches' perception of motivational climate (i.e., ego- or task-oriented) was used to provide evidence for the predictive validity of coaches' doping confrontation efficacy. Design A survey-based study was conducted to develop a theoretically-based, psychometrically-sound scale. The scale was designed according to Bandura's (1997) guidelines for efficacy measures, and based in the conceptual framework of Newell and Stutman's (1991) Social Confrontation Model. A sample of 560 coaches of high school athletes completed the Doping Confrontation Efficacy Scale (DCES) and a modified version of the Perceived Motivation Climate in Sport Questionnaire-2 (Newton, Duda & Yin, 2000). Results A 21-item version of the DCES showed acceptable psychometric properties, including a good fit of the data to the proposed five-factor model of the construct (CFI = .967, TLI = .962, RMSEA = .040, SRMR = .037). Structural equation modeling revealed that coaches' confrontational efficacy is significantly predicted by coaches' perceptions of motivational climate, specifically, that it is positively related to task-involving climate and negatively related to ego-involving climate.. Conclusion The DCES is a valid and reliable measure of a very specific domain of coaching efficacy. This measurement can be useful in helping address significant gaps in both basic and applied research in the field.. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although studies have shown that the self-efficacy–performance relationship can be studied within performances (LaForge & Sullivan, 2010), no studies have directly compared noncontinuous (i.e., between performances) and continuous (i.e., within performances) conditions. The present study examined the efficacy–performance relationship within a continuous task and between a noncontinuous sport conditions. Path analyses revealed reciprocal efficacy–performance relationships in both the continuous and noncontinuous conditions, with higher goodness of fit indicators in the noncontinuous condition and a higher number of significant pathways in the continuous condition. These results imply potential differences in the cognitive processing of efficacy information between and within sport performances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Coaching Behavior Scale for Sport (CBS-S) is an athlete-centered measure of coaching behavior designed specifically for youth sport. Research has supported the psychometric properties and construct validity of the scale, however there has not been a published confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the CBS-S. The current study was designed to confirm the factor structure of the CBS-S, as well as to examine any potential invariance of this factor structure by gender. A sample of 346 youth sport athletes were administered the scale. The sample comprised relatively equal numbers of males (n = 193 male) and females (n = 152) who ranged in age from 13-18 years (M = 15.17, SD = 1.28), and represented the sports of basketball (n = 124), ice hockey (n = 114), and soccer (n = 99). A CFA (heterogeneous kurtosis method) revealed that the model showed an excellent fit to the data (CFI = .985, RMSEA = .044). An analysis of invariance by gender showed that the measurement model did not vary between male and female youth sport participants. These results offer strong support to the factor structure of the measurement model of the CBS-S, and, in context with the previous research, suggest that the scale is a valid and reliable measure for coaching effectiveness in youth sport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]