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Context: Few studies have examined psychological and emotional processes in injury rehabilitation from a longitudinal, theoretically framed perspective., Objective: This study explored the applicability of Reversal Theory to examine these processes., Setting: University of Wales, Aberystwyth, UK., Participants: Three severely injured athletes; two were female (karate and judo) and one was male (hockey), aged 20 to 28., Main Outcome Measures: Fortnightly interviews after participant's initial consultation with a sports therapist, until complete physical rehabilitation., Results: Supported the use of Reversal Theory in this context (eg, as a means of understanding the origins of athletes' emotional responses to injury and changes in these responses throughout rehabilitation)., Conclusions: Suggestions for future research are made (eg, examining the consequences of emotional and metamotivational states for athlete behavior and recovery outcomes during rehabilitation).

Background: Alcohol, aggression and assault injury are strongly associated with popular sporting events, but mediating factors are not clear., Aims: To explore aggression, happiness and plans to consume alcohol among spectators before and spectators after sports matches., Methods: Cross-sectional surveys of male rugby football fans at an international stadium generated four groups: a pre-match group of 111 men, and three post-match groups of supporters, 17 whose team had won, 23 whose team had lost and 46 whose team had drawn. Consenting participants were assessed using the assault sub-scale of the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory, on a self-rating of happiness (Likert scale), for planned alcohol consumption and demographic variables. Pre- and post-match group mean responses were compared., Results: Analyses were performed on 197 male spectators (mean age 42 years). Spectators in 'win' (z = 2.63, p < 0.01) and 'draw' (z = 2.76, p < 0.01) groups rated themselves as more aggressive than those in the pre-game group, but those in the losing group did not (z = -0.03, p > 0.05). No differences, however, were observed between pre-match, 'win', 'draw' or 'lose' groups on the decision to drink after the match. Winning did not increase happiness (t = 0.25, p > 0.05), but losing (t = 2.09, p < 0.05) or drawing (t = 7.64, p < 0.001) decreased it., Conclusions: This study suggests that team success but not failure may increase aggression among supporters, and that aggression, not celebration, drives post-match alcohol consumption. Losing and drawing decreased happiness but winning did not increase it. Better understanding of pathways to violence in these circumstances will pave the way for more effective prevention and management strategies.

We examined sources of stress, burnout and intention to terminate among rugby union referees. Questionnaires were returned by 682 of 1175 referees (58%) from Wales, Scotland and England. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed four correlated sources of stress factors (performance concerns, time pressure, interpersonal conflict and fear of physical harm), which accounted for 49.6% of the variance. Referees believed the first three factors to be mildly related to their stress. They believed fear of physical harm to be unrelated to their stress. A structural model hypothesizing that time pressure and interpersonal conflict predict burnout, and that age and burnout predict intention to terminate refereeing, fit the observed data. The goodness-of-fit index for this model was 0.96. Our results and those of other studies indicate that interpersonal conflict and time pressure are common sources of stress for sport officials and are frequently related to their burnout experiences. Also, age and burnout are frequently, although only marginally, related to intention to terminate.