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The article focuses on the extensive preparation required for athletes aiming to compete in the Olympic Games. Topics include the rigorous screening and medical assessments athletes undergo, the importance of injury prevention and management, and the role of sports psychology in enhancing athletic performance.

To develop health promotion (HP) in sports clubs (SCs), stakeholders need to know the HP expectations of sports participants. However, the literature does not provide information on these aspects, which exacerbates the difficulty for SCs to provide an environment, activities and organization that promote health and to play the role entrusted to them in the integration of vulnerable populations. To fill this gap, this study explores the HP expectations and perceptions of sports participants, with a particular focus on ethnocultural characteristics, and documents participants' understanding of HP. A descriptive qualitative study comprising semi-structured interviews was carried out with 22 French and Quebec sports participants. Because they have little experience with HP in their SC, participants do not seem to have many expectations of their SC in terms of HP. Nevertheless, they felt that SCs can play an important role in health and suggested several themes and types of action, such as seminars on nutrition, activities outside the SC to develop cohesion or health monitoring. Sports participants from ethnocultural minorities seem to appreciate the programs designed to integrate them. There is a predominantly physical conception of health and the contribution of SCs to health, and the relationship between the types of health determinants (economic, environmental, organizational and social) and health is not clear. This study shows that the idea of a health-promoting SC appeals to SC participants, but this approach has not yet taken root in this setting or in society as a whole., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact reprints@oup.com for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site—for further information please contact journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Although diverse European policy initiatives have been developed to integrate young NEETs – "Not in Employment, Education or Training", it is particularly relevant to question how NEETs are perceived by their counterparts who are actively engaged in society. For this reason, we aimed to examine the Social Representations (SRs) of NEETs in France, using the classic free evocation technique. French NEETs (n = 71) and matched controls (n = 66; people employed, in education or in training) were interviewed. Results showed the scope of SRs for the semantic field of the term NEET and its associated terms. The need to develop effective communication to talk about work, education, and training with NEETs and implications for career counselling are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Effectively managing their athletic and academic projects is a major challenge for student-athletes. The salience of the identity they develop in each of these contexts can affect their well-being and is therefore an important variable to consider. Examining these mechanisms in countries and student-athlete support systems other than the United States is also important., Aim: This study aims to both translate and evaluate the psychometric properties of a French version of the Academic and Athletic Identity Scale, the AAIS-FR, and to examine the additive and interactive relationships of the two identities with sport burnout and engagement., Methods: Participants were 359 French student-athletes (50.42% female) who were competing at various levels (ranging from regional to international)., Results: Results from analyses using a slightly modified version of the original scale provided evidence of construct (i.e., factor structure) and concurrent (i.e., expected relationships between both identities and several correlates identified in previous work) validity, as well as reliability (i.e., internal consistency) and invariance across gender and sport competition levels of the AAIS-FR. In addition, regression analyses revealed a favourable relationship between athletic identity and sport well-being (i.e., positive with engagement and negative with burnout), no relationship between academic identity and sport well-being, and no interaction between the two identities., Conclusion: While further research is needed to provide additional evidence for the validity of the AAIS-FR, researchers can still use this tool to measure the salience of the two identities of French-speaking student-athletes., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Lefebvre du Grosriez et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

This study presents a complete psychological skills training (PST) program with a wheelchair athlete and examines the program effectiveness using a mixed-method approach. After initial testing, the athlete followed a two-month program of self-confidence building, motivational, visualization/relaxation, and injury management techniques. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to examine the impacts on performance and psychological abilities. The triangulated results suggest that the PST program was perceived as effective by the athlete in terms of his sporting performances and mental skills. The characteristics and implications of a PST program with this wheelchair athlete are discussed, as well as the study limitations and the perspectives for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides organizational news related to sport psychology organizations. New Zealand has begun a sports psychology association and has held a first annual conference. The South American Society of Sport Psychology had its third annual conference in Belo, Horizonte, Brazil during September 1990. The 7th International Congress in Sport Psychology was held in Montpelier, France, on October 3-5, 1990.

The article discusses in the sociology of sport, on the role of family members in the socialization of young field athletes in France,. Topics discussed include a theoretical framework that focuses on the vital role familial networks as a key factor in the athletic success; to test the study and hypothesis survey was conducted for tracks and field athletes which showed that it is the closet family members, those who practiced the same sport, that made difference in the success of the athletes.

Objectives Grounded in Basic Psychological Needs Theory (Ryan & Deci, 2002), this study examined the temporal relationships between perception of coaches' autonomy support and different facets of controlling behaviors, the satisfaction-frustration of athletes' basic needs, and subjective vitality, self-esteem and burnout in elite sportsmen. Methods Participants (N = 110 males) from three elite youth soccer academies in northwest France completed a questionnaire on three occasions during the last three months of the competitive season. Results Linear mixed models revealed that perceptions of coach-autonomy support and only two facets of controlling coach behaviors (excessive personal control and negative conditional regard) were related to basic need satisfaction-frustration, which in turn were related to the indices of well- and ill-being. In most cases, the relationships were observed both at the within- and between-person levels, but some were observed only at one level. Conclusions The findings highlight the importance of considering the different facets of controlling coach behaviors separately and disaggregating the between-person and within-person effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of symptoms of common mental disorders (CMD) (distress, anxiety/depression, sleeping disturbance, adverse nutrition behaviour, adverse alcohol behaviour and smoking) among retired professional Rugby Union players. The secondary aim was to explore the associations between stressors (life events, Rugby Union career dissatisfaction) and the health conditions under study. Therefore, cross-sectional analyses were conducted on baseline questionnaires from an ongoing prospective cohort study of retired professional Rugby Union players. An electronic questionnaire was established using validated questionnaires to assess symptoms of CMD and stressors. The electronic questionnaire was subsequently distributed to retired players by the national Rugby Union players' associations in France, Ireland and South Africa. Among 295 retired professional Rugby Union players (mean age of 38 years), prevalence rates were 25% for distress, 28% for anxiety/depression, 29% for sleeping disturbance, 62% for adverse nutrition behaviour, 15% for smoking and 24% for adverse alcohol behaviour. A higher number of life events were associated with distress (OR = 1.2; 95% CI 1.1-1.4), anxiety/depression (OR = 1.6; 95% CI 1.2-2.1), sleeping disturbance (OR = 1.6; 95% CI 1.2-2.1) and adverse nutrition behaviour (OR = 1.8; 95% CI 1.3-2.5). A higher level of dissatisfaction of the player's Rugby Union career was associated with distress (OR = 0.9; 95% CI 0.8-1.0), sleeping disturbance (OR = 0.9; 95% CI 0.9-1.0), smoking (OR = 0.9; 95% CI 0.9-1.0) and adverse nutrition behaviour (OR = 0.9; 95% CI 0.8-0.9). In conclusion, our study suggests that prevalence of symptoms of CMD is high among retired professional Rugby Union players, being associated with both a higher number of life events and a higher level of Rugby Union career dissatisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to (a) identify motivational profiles among a sample of 141 young table-tennis players involved in intensive training settings; (b) examine the consistency or change of motivational profiles for the same athlete over time; and (c) investigate differences between these profiles on burnout, coping, stress, and recovery. Latent profile transition analysis revealed 2 or 3 distinct profiles that are similar for the 3 measurement occasions: self-determined profile, moderate profile, and low profile. Motivational profiles exhibited both stability and changes over time from an intraindividual perspective. Athletes from the self-determined profile were characterized by the best psychological adjustment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the effects of combined sleep deprivation and strenuous exercise on cognitive and neurobehavioral performance among long-distance runners completing one of the most difficult ultramarathons in the world. Seventeen runners participated. Each had a wrist-worn actigraph throughout the race to record their sleep time. In addition, each individual’s performance in 10-min response-time tests before and after the race was recorded and a questionnaire enabled participants to report any difficulties they experienced during the competition. During race completion times of 27 to 44 h, combined acute lack of sleep (12 ± 17 min of rest during the race) and strenuous exercise (168.0 km) had marked adverse effects on cognitive performances ranging from mere lengthening of response time to serious symptoms such as visual hallucinations. This study suggests that regardless of rest duration and time in race, cognitive performances of ultramarathoners are adversely affected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objectives: The goal of these studies was to provide validity and reliability evidence of a modified Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) including a direction scale (PANAS-D). Study 1 tested the validity and reliability of the PANAS-D to measure both intensity and direction of affects. Study 2 examined the relationships between direction of affects and selected variables (i.e., coping, attainment of achievement goals and sport satisfaction) by controlling for intensity of affects. Method: A total of 306 and 296 athletes (studies 1 and 2) completed the PANAS-D and other self-report questionnaires. Data were analysed with reliability, confirmatory factor analyses (study 1) and correlational analyses (studies 1 and 2). Design: Cross-sectional with self-reported questionnaires. Results: In study 1, the 4-factor structure of the PANAS-D (intensity and direction of positive affect and negative affect) fitted the data adequately. Multiple-group CFAs showed that PANAS-D was partially invariant across the two measurement occasions (before and after competition). The patterns of relationships between PANAS-D, attainment of achievement goals and coping provided evidence for the criterion-related validity of the PANAS-D. In study 2, direction of positive affect and negative affect were associated with selected outcomes (i.e., coping, attainment of sport achievement goals, and/or sport satisfaction) after intensity of these affective states were held constant. Conclusions: This study provided support for the reliability and validity of the PANAS-D (study 1) and the incremental validity of the direction of affective states (study 2), supporting the distinction between athletes' intensity and direction of affective states. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Résumé: La motivation est une variable qui influence et détermine l’implication dans les jeux de hasard et d’argent. L’objectif de cette étude est de mettre en évidence les motivations chez les joueurs d’Île-de-France et de faire une comparaison de la motivation chez les joueurs récréationnels et les joueurs problématiques. Notre recueil de données s’est effectué auprès de 283 joueurs recrutés dans les points jeux (Française des Jeux et le Pari Mutuel Urbain) et dans les gares de Paris et de la région parisienne. Les résultats montrent que la pratique de jeux de hasard et d’argent est motivée par : gagner de l’argent, se changer les idées, se détendre, les amis/collègues font la même chose, par ennui, pour se défouler, avec des différences significatives entre les joueurs récréationnels et les joueurs problématiques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is now ample evidence that motor imagery (MI) contributes to enhance motor performance. Previous research also demonstrated that directing athletes' attention to the effects of their movements on the environment is more effective than focusing on the action per se. The present study aimed therefore at evaluating whether adopting an external focus during MI contributes to enhance tennis serve performance. Twelve highlevel young tennis players were included in a test-retest procedure. The effects of regular training were first evaluated. Then, players were subjected to a MI intervention during which they mentally focused on ball trajectory and specifically visualized the space above the net where the serve can be successfully hit. Serve performance was evaluated during both a validated serve test and a real match. The main results showed a significant increase in accuracy and velocity during the ecological serve test after MI practice, as well as a significant improvement in successful first serves and won points during the match. Present data therefore confirmed the efficacy of MI in combination of physical practice to improve tennis serve performance, and further provided evidence that it is feasible to adopt external attentional focus during MI. Practical applications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study we investigated the representation of countries and continents in the publication of six English language journals of sport and exercise psychology from 1997 until 2011. We selected all articles (N = 2093) published in theJournal of Sport and Exercise Psychology,The Sport Psychologist,Journal of Applied Sport Psychology,Journal of Sport Behavior,Psychology of Sport and Exercise, andInternational Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychologyduring 1997–2011 and all proceedings (N = 2034) in the last four World Congress of Sport Psychology (1997, 2001, 2005, and 2009). Then, we classified them by country and continent where the first author's institution was located. Five English-speaking countries (USA, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand) represented 82% of the total publications in the six journals and 38.5% of congress proceedings. These were followed by five European countries (France, Germany, Greece, Norway, and Belgium) accumulating 10% of the total publications. The continents of Asia, Africa, and Latin America represented less than 4% of the publications but 28.2% of congress proceedings. There was a very high correlation between continents' representation in journal editorial boards and journal publications. Reviewers and readers should be aware of systematic errors that might happen in the review process of submitted manuscripts describing studies which have been conducted in non-English-speaking countries but which are eventually rejected in English language journals of sport and exercise psychology. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: In training centers, the demonstration of high competence is essential and there is considerable emphasis placed on sporting achievement. Athlete burnout can be a consequence of such pressures and expectations. More information is needed regarding the social, environmental and individual differences in achievement-related characteristics which are relevant to the occurrence of burnout in this context. Objectives: To examine the relationships among the coach-created climate, perceived competence, achievement goals and burnout in elite adolescent-age athletes. Design: Prospective six-month-follow-up. Methods: Data were collected from a sample of 309 young French handball players participating in elite training centers. Cluster analysis and structural equation modeling procedures were employed to evaluate the hypotheses. Results: Comprised of differential scores on the dimensions of burnout, four distinct clusters were identified. Athletes in these cluster groups varied in perceptions of the motivational climate, goal orientations, and perceived competence. The structural model regarding the hypothesized relationships between perceived coach climate, perceived competence, achievement goals and athlete burnout, offered good fit to the data. Conclusions: Findings indicated that young talented athletes perceiving an ego-involving climate and emphasizing mastery avoidance goals at the beginning of the season had a higher risk of experiencing burnout symptoms at the season''s end. In contrast, players perceiving a high task-involving climate and emphasizing mastery approach goals at the beginning of the season had lower burnout scores when the season concluded. Moreover, players with high feelings of competence, who also report higher scores on performance approach and avoidance goals, higher scores on mastery approach goals and lower scores on mastery avoidance goals, are less likely to experience burnout. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Following on from previous qualitative studies conducted on the nature of children and young people's experience of sport clubs (see for example, Kirk & MacPhail, 2003; MacPhail, Gorley & Kirk, 2003; Light, 2006) this paper reports on a study conducted in a French swimming club that inquired into the factors shaping children's decisions to join it and the aspects of their experiences that kept them in their club. Adopting a qualitative approach the first author spent three months in a French swimming club generating data through noted observations, questionnaires and interviews with swimmers and coaches. In contrast to studies that look into barriers and reasons for drop out in junior sport (see for example, Butcher Lindner & Johns, 2002; Dwyer, Allison, Goldenberg, Fein, Yoshida & Boutler, 2006) it focuses on what attracted the participants to their swimming club and the positive aspects of being in it that keep them in it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Televised sport offers a rich context for investigating the processes that influence particular uses of language. Here, the authors consider how pressure on sport commentators to connect with audiences results in reliance on preestablished narratives that draw heavily on stereotypes. They investigate how television sport commentators negotiate tensions between stereotypes of a particular country's playing style and on-field action that challenges those stereotypes. Their interdisciplinary approach-drawing from social psychology, communication, media studies, sport studies, and cultural studies-provides a textual analysis of New Zealand commentary in a pivotal Rugby World Cup game between France and New Zealand. The authors identify three different ways in which national stereotypes lead commentators to produce interpretations that do not always accurately represent the action on the field. They conclude that sport commentary in an international context operates to create and reinscribe symbolic differences between nations, even in the face of visual evidence that is ambiguous or actively contradicts the words used to describe it. The analysis demonstrates how powerfully national stereotypes influence commentators' representational choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objectives: The Physical Self-Inventory (PSI)—a French adaptation of the Fox and Corbin''s [1989. The Physical Self-Perception Profile: Development and preliminary validation. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 11, 408–430] Physical Self-Perception Profile—was originally developed for use with adults and no study has systematically verified its psychometric properties in adolescent populations. Additionally, this instrument remains too long to be efficiently completed in combination with multiple other instruments within extensive longitudinal or idiographic studies. The purpose of the present investigation was thus threefold: (a) testing the factor validity and reliability of the original PSI in a sample of adolescents; (b) developing and testing the factor validity and reliability of a very short (i.e., two items per scale) form of the PSI in a sample of adolescents; and (c) testing the equivalence of the factor pattern, structural parameters, latent mean structure, and criterion-related validity of both forms of the PSI. Design: Structural equation modeling approach. Method: Two samples participated in this series of studies. In Study 1, a sample of 1018 adolescents completed the adult PSI (25 items) and was randomly split in two sub-samples. In Study 2, a new sample of 320 adolescents completed a very short form of the PSI (PSI-VSF). Factorial validity and gender and multigroup invariance of these instruments (PSI, PSI-VSF) were tested using confirmatory factorial analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM). Results: In Study 1, CFA and SEM analyses provided evidence for the factor validity and reliability of a short (PSI-SF: 18 items) and very short (PSI-VSF: 12 items) form of the PSI for adolescents. In Study 2, CFAs and SEMs supported the equivalence of the factor pattern, structural parameters, latent mean structure, and criterion-related validity of both forms of the PSI (i.e., PSI-SF, PSI-VSF). Conclusion: The present results thus provide preliminary evidence regarding the reliability and validity of a short and a very short form of the PSI for French adolescents. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

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Two complementary studies were conducted to explain the dropout phenomenon with French female handball players, utilizing the tenets of social exchange theory (Thibaut & Kelley, 1959; Rusbult, 1980). In the first study, the aim was to more fully explore the sources of enjoyment by emphasizing the key variables in the costs/benefits analysis. We postulate that the costs/benefits analysis consists in each athlete estimating the probability of reaching the most desired consequences for him or her (e.g., learn and improve skill, affiliation with others, be better than the others). The subjects were 488 French women aged from 15ߝ19 years. Structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed that enjoyment in handball was predicted by a latent variable (named perceived benefits) subjacent to perceptions of competence, autonomy, relatedness, progress, coach's support, and time of play. In the second study, we tested a sport commitment model based on the social exchange postulates, using SEM analyses and a prospective design over 8 months. In view of the results of study 1, we replaced the construct of enjoyment with perceived benefit. This analysis provides a more comprehensive understanding of the enjoyment construct and is more consistent with the notion of cost and benefits outlined in social exchange theory. Participants were 253 French handball players between the ages of 14 and 16 years. A first set of analyses, focused on the differences, showed that dropout players perceived themselves as significantly less competent, less autonomous, less related to their team, lower in progress and less supported by their coach than persistent players. The second set of analyses with SEM revealed that the commitment level was positively associated with perceived benefits and negatively with social constraints and alternatives opportunities. Finally, a lack of commitment led to dropping out of the sport 8-months later. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents details of sports psychology conferences and events as of September, 1990. The American Congress in Sport Psychology is scheduled for September, 1990, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Details are given for the International Symposium on Sport Psychology for Coaches, to be held in November, 1990, in Madrid, Spain. The International Congress in Sport Psychology is scheduled for October, 1990, in Montpelier, France. Details are provided for the European Congress of Sport Psychology, planned for September, 1991, in Cologne, Germany.

This article reports that a managing council meeting of FEPSAC, the European Federation of Sport Psychology, was held in Paris in May 1990. The managing council finalized arrangements for the Cologne Congress and a new issue of the FEPSAC bulletin has been published and distributed.

France has adopted a new firearms regulation. Firearms are now classified into four categories (A, B, C, and D). The administrative procedure for acquisition and possession of firearms of categories B and C requires medical advice. The medical certificate must be dated less than a month, and detail a state of health compatible with the acquisition and possession of a firearm. There are no guidelines mentioning the conditions that can lead to incompatibility. Compatibility does not apply to the handling and use of the firearm. If the applicant is undergoing or has undergone treatment in a psychiatric institution, he must also produce a medical certificate issued by a psychiatrist. The hunting license application requires a medical certificate mentioning a state of physical and mental health compatible with the possession of a firearm. Its validity is acquired for life. The practice of shooting sports or skeet requires an annual medical certificate of non-cons in reference to the rules of sports federations., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: Cognitive-motivational-relational theory (CMRT) emphasizes that cognitive appraisal components and core relational themes (in which the 6 separate appraisal judgments are brought together as 1) are the proximal determinants of athletes' emotions. This study aimed to explore appraisals associated with discrete emotions experienced by athletes during competition by adopting a naturalistic, qualitative video-assisted approach., Method: Thirty self-confrontation interviews were conducted with 11 national table-tennis players. Qualitative inductive and deductive content analyses were conducted on the participants' transcripts., Results: Content analyses suggested that primary and secondary appraisal components (goal relevance, goal congruence, ego involvement, blame or credit, coping potential, and future expectations) were associated with a range of positive and negative discrete emotions: self-, other-, and environmental-oriented anger, anxiety, discouragement, disappointment, disgust, joy, serenity, relief, hope, and pride. Hierarchical content analyses also provided some support for the concept of core relational themes., Conclusion: Findings of the present study are consistent with a CMRT approach and highlight that primary and secondary appraisals as well as core relational themes are associated with discrete emotions experienced by athletes while competing. Limitations and practical applications of this study are discussed.

Recently, Marsh, Martin, and Jackson (2010) developed a short form of the Physical Self-Description Questionnaire (PSDQ-S). The objective of this study was to examine the construct validity and reliability of the PSDQ-S in a French adolescent sample. The sample used in this study included 587 adolescents (247 boys, 340 girls, Mage=14.62). Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) provided support for the factor validity, reliability, and convergent validity of the French version of the PSDQ-S, and the strict measurement invariance of PSDQ-S across sex, age, body mass index, and involvement or not in sport practice. However, the latent means of the PSDQ-S did not prove to be invariant across sex, body mass index, and involvement or not in sport practice. Our findings suggest that the French version of the PSDQ-S presents acceptable psychometric properties and may be confidently used in research or practice to assess the physical self-conceptions of French adolescents., (Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Very few studies examined the prevalence and sport-related predictors of disturbed eating attitudes and behaviors (DEABs) among adolescents involved in sport practice, and their results are mixed and inconclusive. These inconsistencies are most likely due to their methodological heterogeneity and to the fact that none of these studies took into consideration the potentially relevant characteristics of the sport practice context. This study attempts to answer this limitation among French adolescents not involved or involved in various sports contexts defined based on their organization, leanness-centration, and competitive level. Participants were 335 adolescents involved in sport practice, and 435 adolescents not involved in any form of regular sport practice. The DEABs were measured using the Eating Attitudes Test-26. Global results do not showed any significant association between the status of the participants and DEAB. However, these results drastically changed when we considered the potential moderating role of sex and age on these relations. Indeed, sports involvement in general, and involvement in leanness and competitive sports were found to exert sex- and age-differentiated effects on the risks of presenting clinically significant levels of DEAB. This study suggests the importance of monitoring, preventive, and early intervention mechanisms within the context of practice, particularly for adolescent girls., (© 2013 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Adapted physical activities can take place within hospitals as well as outside. They hold a special place in the psychiatric landscape. The framework in which they take place is structured, well thought-out and organised. They are used, among others purposes, for prevention and rehabilitation and their influence on patients' well-being is proven.

Physical activity can benefit people suffering from mental disorders, on the condition however that it is closely supervised by caregivers. It enables patients and caregivers to leave the hospital, physically, as well as figuratively speaking, by offering another space in which the nurse-patient relationship can bear fruit.

The purpose of this study was to identify the motivational profiles of physically active older adults and to achieve a better understanding of their perceived motives to explain their regular physical activity behavior in relation to self-determination theory (SDT). To address these aims, this study used quantitative and qualitative approaches. Older adults (n = 92; M = 74.95, SD = 4.6) completed the French version of the Sport Motivational Scale. A cluster analysis showed two motivational profiles with differential motivational patterns. The first was named the high combined profile, with high scores on intrinsic motivation and introjected regulation and low levels of external regulation. The second profile was the low to moderate motivational profile, with low scores on intrinsic motivation and moderate scores on introjected regulation. The qualitative study's results demonstrate the usefulness of SDT in explaining the relationship between these motivational profiles and the intertwining of the three basic psychological needs.

Data from a representative sample of 2474 French youth show that, despite a 7-year French Ministry of Health strategy for nutrition and physical activities, adolescents' motivation to practise sports and physical activities decreased significantly between 2001 and 2008. While this paper focuses on the context of physical activity in France, the general discussion may be applicable to other countries concerned with the obesity pandemic., (© 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.)

The birth of the automobile in the late nineteenth century was greeted with a mixture of awe, scepticism and sometimes even disdain from sections of the European public. In this article, the steps taken in France to pioneer and promote this new invention are examined. Unreliable and noisy, the early automobile owes a debt of gratitude to the French aristocracy who organised and codified motor racing in an effort to test these new inventions while at the same time introduce them to a wider public. City-to-city races demonstrated the potential of the automobile before the initiative of Gordon Bennett proved to be the catalyst for the birth of international motor sport as we recognise it today. Finally this article looks at the special connection between Le Mans and the automobile. Le Mans has, through its 24-hour race, maintained a strong link with the development of everyday automobile tourism and offers the enthusiast an alternative to the machines that reach incredible speeds on modern-day closed circuits. This article examines how French roads were veritable testing grounds for the earliest cars and how the public roads of Le Mans maintain the tradition to this day.

During the First World War, the life of a soldier was not just reduced to the trenches. In daily military life behind the lines, soldiers had recreational activities, some of which were seen as a test of virility, such as visiting brothels, and also, as we want to show in this paper, sport practices. For most of the French citizen-soldiers, who were working class and mainly from the countryside, the contact with allied soldiers has to be understood as a significant step in the social construction of gender. Educated in gymnastics, shooting and military exercises, French infantrymen (Poilus) and civilians saw allied sports and soldier-sportsmen as models of a modern masculinity. In a descriptive study of the development of football in the French army, our article tries to demonstrate firstly, that football learnt in the army by workers and the French rural society extended the influence of sport and its part in the construction of masculinity in France. Secondly, we show that the official recognition of sport in 1917 by the French army led to the definition of a modern French masculinity and to the recognition of the sportsmen-soldier as the model of hegemonic masculinity.

The violence and duration of fighting throughout the Great War created an intense feeling of vulnerability among the men engaged in battle, which challenged their perception of manliness. When the Americans joined the war in 1917, the balance between the two opposing armies was modified and the psychological crises of French soldiers brought to an end. The confidence shown by the American soldiers and their first successes on the battlefield changed the way the French Poilus perceived their new allies. From scepticism to admiration, Frenchmen's feelings extended beyond the fighting. Indeed, by living with American soldiers in the trenches and camps behind the front, French soldiers discovered a new culture where games and sport played a major role and contributed to building manliness. The Foyers Franco-Americains du Soldat (Franco-American hostels for soldiers) provided an ideal place for the cultural transfer of a model of masculinity from Sammys to Poilus. The foyers were managed by the American YMCA and eventually reached the number of 1,500 in France during the war. These hostels afforded soldiers numerous opportunities to develop cultural and sports practices, by bringing together Americans and Frenchmen. Mainly based on the archives of the American Expeditionary Forces, the YMCA and the French Army, the paper argues that the Foyers du Soldat brought to light a new model of masculinity based on sport, which challenged the Frenchmen's vision. It aims to show the rapid transformation of masculine identity within a context of extreme vulnerability and confirms the changes in representations of men in French society at this time.

The First World War is traditionally considered in history as a temporary halt for cultural and sporting activities. If the Olympic Games and the Tour de France were actually cancelled, football and rugby were in fact stimulated by the circumstances of war. Indeed, the gathering of allied nations behind the Western Front emerged as the main factor in the development of these two sports. Reading the sporting press and military archives shows that international sporting exchanges were stimulated during the Great War. To be specific, France benefited from the golden opportunity provided by the presence of the masters of the game to strengthen its practices and affirm its status as a sporting nation. Inter-allied sporting exchanges were primarily characterised by informal encounters between military selections. Then, following the recognition of these sports by the military authorities, the number of exchanges increased. At the end of 1917, the official status acquired by sport within the military forces created the conditions for the structuring of the French sporting elite. From that point, we can witness the birth of the first French military rugby and football teams, as they demonstrate, through their good performances during the demobilisation period, the progressive build-up of the international dimension of French sport during the war years.

This study extends previous psychosocial literature (Bandura et al., 2001, 2003) by examining a structural model of the self-regulatory mechanisms governing the acceptability and likelihood of cheating in a sport context. Male and female adolescents (N = 804), aged 15-20 years, took part in this study. Negative affective self-regulatory efficacy influenced the acceptability and likelihood of cheating through the mediating role of moral disengagement, in females and males. Affective efficacy positively influenced prosocial behavior through moral disengagement or through resistive self-regulatory efficacy and social efficacy, in both groups. The direct effects of affective efficacy on beliefs about cheating were only evident in females. These results extend the findings of Bandura et al. (2001, 2003) to the sport context and suggest that affective and resistive self-regulatory efficacy operate in concert in governing adolescents' moral disengagement and transgressive behaviors in sport.

Sensation seeking has been widely studied when investigating individual differences in the propensity for taking risks. However, risk taking can serve many different goals beyond the simple management of physiological arousal. The present study is an investigation of affect self-regulation as a predictor of risk-taking behaviors in high-risk sport. Risk-taking behaviors, negative affectivity, escape self-awareness strategy, and sensation seeking data were obtained from 265 high-risk sportsmen. Moderated hierarchical regression analysis revealed significant main and interaction effects of negative affectivity and escape self-awareness strategy in predicting risk-taking behaviors: high-risk sportsmen's negative affectivity leads them to adopt risk-taking behaviors only if they also use escape self-awareness strategy. Furthermore, the affective model remained significant when controlling for sensation seeking. The present study contributes to an in-depth understanding of risk taking in high-risk sport.

Introduction: According to research in sport psychology, anxiety is one of the most important and studied topics. Since its conceptualisation, many scales assessing sport anxiety have appeared in the English language. At present, the multidimensional conceptualisation of anxiety is dominant. Smith et al. developed a self-report questionnaire to assess the anxiety trait in sport (Sport Anxiety Scale, SAS). As a consequence, it seems important to have such an instrument in French language in order to fill in questionnaires on lack of self-report so as to assess cognitive and somatic anxiety traits., Literature Findings: The SAS was developed with 30 items in two factors: somatic anxiety and cognitive anxiety. However, the final version of the SAS had 24 items in three factors. A third factor was identified during factorial analyses: concentration disruption. Sarason's researches corroborate in part this third factor with the theory of cognitive interferences. Dunn et al. underlined the theoretical incoherence of this assumption. In the same way, Neil et al. suggested the deletion of this third dimension., Aim of the Study: Considering all these results, the aim of this study is to suggest a French translation of the SAS, taking into account the modified version suggested by Neil et al., Method and Procedure: The scale was translated according to Vallerand's process. Two hundred and seven sportsmen (135 boys and 71 girls) aged 20 years (S.D.=2.5 years) filled out the scale on site. A Confirmatory Factorial Analysis (CFA) using the LISREL 8.30((c)) software was conducted. ANOVAs were also carried out to compare trait anxiety scores as a function of gender; level and type of sport., Results: The CFA results on both models are acceptable (chi(2)/ddl=1.60, Comparative fit index (CFI)=0.98, Global fit index (GFI)=0.92, Standardized root mean square residual (SRMR)=0.05, Root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA)=0.05) and Cronbach's alpha for each scale ranged from 0.86 for cognitive trait anxiety to 0.89 for somatic trait anxiety. The ANOVAs show a difference according to gender (girls were more anxious than boys); level (the higher the level, the more the sportsmen were anxious) and type of sport (those who practiced collective sports were more anxious than those who practised individual sports). To conclude, and waiting for other researches using the French version of SAS, it appears that this scale is generally acceptable, and can be a useful tool for research on the anxiety trait in sport., (2009 L'Encéphale, Paris. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

The purpose of this study was to explore the directional interpretation process of discrete emotions experienced by table tennis players during competitive matches by adopting a naturalistic qualitative video-assisted approach. Thirty self-confrontation interviews were conducted with 11 national table tennis players (2 or 3 matches per participants). Nine discrete emotions were identified through the inductive analyses of the participants' transcriptions: anger, anxiety, discouragement, disappointment, disgust, joy, serenity, relief, and hope. Inductive analyses revealed the emergence of 4 categories and 13 themes among the 9 discrete emotions: positive direction (increased concentration, increased motivation, increased confidence, positive sensations, and adaptive behaviors), negative direction (decreased concentration, decreased motivation, too confident, decreased confidence, negative sensations, and maladaptive behaviors), neutral direction (take more risk and take less risk), and no perceived influence on own performance. Results are discussed in terms of current research on directional interpretation and emotions in sport.

Two studies were conducted among elite young judokas to examine (a) whether those who persisted in national training centers (n=52) were different from dropouts (n=52) in their perceptions of coach-, parent-, and peer-induced motivational climates, goal orientations, self-perceptions, perceived competence, and intention of dropping out, and (b) whether these variables varied during the persisting athletes' (n=82) first 2 years in these centers. Compared with persisting athletes, dropouts perceived the roles of coaches, parents, and peers as less task-involving, were less task-oriented, and intended more to drop. The association of peer-, coach-, and parent-induced task-involving climates predicted athletes' persistence. During the 2 years, persisting athletes' perceptions of coach-, parent-, and peer-induced task-involving climates decreased, while perceptions of a coach-induced ego-involving climate and the intention of dropping out increased in spite of more positive self-perceptions. Gender differences favoring males were observed for self-perceptions only. These results stress the importance for all the agents of the athletes' social environment to promote task-involving climates, because such climates appear to be naturally prone to degradation in the context of elite competition. The results also shed light on some high-level athletes' characteristics regarding motivational dispositions and self-concept.

Background: The relationships between involvement in sports and alcohol consumption appear to be complex in the alcohol literature. In this study we aimed to examine this link among French students, taking into account their sports characteristics. We also examined variations in alcohol use among sport sciences students between 2002 and 2006, and the difference in alcohol use and heavy episodic drinking among sport sciences, law and pharmacy students., Design: repeated survey; cross-sectional study;, Setting: self-questionnaire survey;, Participants: French (south-east France) sport sciences (n=693), law (n=325) and pharmacy (n=338) students (females=58%)., Results: In 2002, 38% of the male sport sciences students reported repeated heavy episodic drinking, and this proportion has risen to 48% in 2006 (p<0.05). When compared to law and pharmacy students, female and male sport sciences students were less likely to report repeated heavy episodic drinking (p<0.05). Engaging in physical activity (whether or not it takes place within an institution) and practising martial art were negatively related to heavy episodic drinking (p<0.05). Other factors related to heavy episodic drinking were gender-specific: among males, practising sport in a formal context, team sports, and competitive participation at a departmental or regional level represented risk factors (p<0.05), while practising an individual sport was a protective factor among females (p<0.05)., Conclusion: This study corroborated the importance to take into account the context of practice and the type of sport practised to examine the link between sport participation and alcohol consumption. The normative context of peer socialization among competitive and team sports participants seemed to play a role in alcohol use. Further studies are needed to confirm the role of this putative factor.

Objective: To describe the prevalence of doping and its progression in a cohort of preadolescent athletes during a 4-year follow-up., Design and Settings: Prospective cohort study. Self-questionnaire survey., Participants: All of the pupils entering the first year of secondary school (sixth grade) in the Vosges Département (east France) and followed for 4 years., Main Outcome Measurements: Drug use (prohibited substances, tobacco, alcohol, cannabis), intention to use, reported health hazards, perceived drug effectiveness, self-esteem, trait anxiety., Results: At the beginning of the study, 1.2% (95% CI 0.8 to 1.6) stated that they had taken doping agents at least once in the preceding 6 months, and this had risen to 3.0% (95% CI 2.3-3.7) 4 years later (p<0.001). Of those who had used doping agents, 4% reported that they had experienced a health problem related to doping, and 44% reported that they had won at least one sports event as a result of using the drug. Use of doping agents is linked to the number of hours of practice per week, intention to use, use of other drugs, self-esteem and trait anxiety., Conclusions: The results show that doping does exist in preadolescent athletes who train every day. This fact should to be taken into account in preventive actions.

The relationship between participation in sporting activity and both risk taking and risk perception when traveling on a two-wheeled vehicle were evaluated among 614 adolescents between the ages of 14 and 17 years. The sex of the respondents (252 girls, 362 boys) and their experience with road accidents were taken into account. Three-way analyses of variance indicated a significant main effect for sex, with girls reporting both fewer risky behaviors and higher risk perception than boys when traveling on a two-wheeled vehicle. Effect for sporting activity was also significant, with sports practitioners reporting lower risk taking and higher risk perception than nonsportsmen. There was also a significant interaction between sex and sporting activity. For boys, risk taking was higher and risk perception lower among the nonsportsmen than among the sports practitioners. Experience with road accidents had no significant relationship with risk taking or risk perception when traveling on a two-wheeled vehicle.

Due to the works of Wann and colleagues, spectators' identification with teams has taken on a central role in the study of sports spectators' thought and behavior. However, no research in this area has measured identification with sports teams in the French context. Two studies attempted to develop a valid and reliable French version of the Sport Spectator Identification Scale (SSIS) developed by Wann and Branscombe in 1993 to measure team identification. In Study 1, 200 physical education students completed a French translation of the SSIS and several questions concerning their involvement, investment, and evaluation of the team's future performance. Results showed that the French translation of the SSIS is a reliable and one-dimensional instrument: strong relationships were found between identification with professional French teams and these variables. In Study 2, 143 physical education students completed the SSIS with a National sport team as the target team. Results confirmed the psychometric properties of the scale and indicated that persons who strongly identify with the National soccer team reported more involvement with the team and were more optimistic about future performances than persons low in identification.

An unresolved issue in the coping literature concerns the traitlike versus statelike nature of coping utilization. The aim of this study was to illustrate the benefits of moving beyond the sole reliance on mean-level and rank-order analyses in order to identify heterogeneous patterns of longitudinal stability and change in coping utilization. More specifically, this study hypothesized that not all athletes would change their coping across competitions, nor do all "changers" change in a similar manner. Male soccer players (N = 107) completed a self-reported coping measure after three competitions held over a 6-month period. Results of latent class growth modeling showed three distinct trajectories for each coping dimension (i.e., task, distraction, and disengagement coping), not only indicating linear or quadratic change, but also stability in longitudinal coping utilization. These results highlight the need to account for the multinomial heterogeneity in longitudinal coping utilization and to identify the correlates associated with distinct trajectories of change and stability of coping across competitions.