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The purpose of this review was to systematically review the published research on the effect of self-compassion interventions on health behaviors. A self-regulation intervention was defined as participants engaged in goal-setting behavior, goal-directed behavior, monitoring, and/or adjusting health behavior. Seven studies met the inclusion criteria and were analyzed in this review. Self-compassion interventions were just as effective as other behavior change techniques at improving self-regulation of health behavior. The review discusses sample characteristics, study design, health behavior measures, self-compassion intervention implementation, and the theoretical frameworks of the studies, along with limitations of the research and suggestions for future researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Competitiveness is defined as the desire to win in interpersonal situations. Gender and age differences in competitiveness are widely cited throughout the literature; however, such differences need to be examined from a generational perspective. The purpose of this exploratory study is to compare competitiveness levels between gender, race, and age of students within the Millennial Generation. The design of this study was a quantitative, quasi-experimental, cross-sectional descriptive study. A 31-item researcher design questionnaire was administered to current university students (n=1724) to measure physical activity, course satisfaction, and sport orientation (Competitiveness, Win Orientation, and Goal Orientation). T-tests and ANOVAs were used to determine if significant differences in the demographic independent variables existed between groups, while Pearson's correlation was used to examine relationships. Results revealed statistically significant differences in sport competitiveness between gender, school classification, and race. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

NCAA Division I college coaches interact with their players on a daily basis, sometimes more than once a day. Research has claimed that a coach-athlete relationship is a critical relationship when talking about psychological effects, and was even compared to that of a parent-child relationship (Sterling & Kerr, 2013). The importance of the athlete-coach relationship stems from the fact that coaches influence athletes' lives in a plethora of different ways Sterling & Kerr, 2013). For example, a coach can influence the motivational climate, or the atmosphere in which an athlete performs (Olympiou, Jowett & Duda, 2008). The purpose of the current study examines the impact of coaching on the perceptions of well-being of NCAA Division 1 athletes. Participants included NCAA Division I female soccer players (n = 8) from a southeastern United States university. Participants' positive and negative experiences were categorized into six themes (playing time, individual meetings, and positive feedback, no communication, injury, and unrealistic expectations). The impact of the results on player well-being in relation to previous research is discussed as well as implications for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study which examined the perceptions of the men's soccer coaches of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) division I on leadership from experienced and less experienced based perceptions from a semi structured qualitative perspective is presented. Topics covered include the similarities between experienced and less experienced coaches, along with some of the themes that emerged from the data such as passion, integrity, knowledge of the game and responsibility.

With over 67% of the current NFL population of African American descent (Lapchick, Costa, Sherrod, & Anjorin, 2012), there is a disparity between sport reporters, with 79% of the radio and television announcers being White and 7% being Black (Lapchick, &, Sherrod, 2011). This study examined the interactions between African American NFL players and veteran NFL reporters from a phenomenological perspective. While using one open-ended question for each population, the data were transcribed and analyzed, and main themes were identified. The players revealed themes of: (1) the players' view of how media coverage affects the NFL players, (2) the players' perceptions of media personnel, and (3) the athletes' perception of black quarterbacks. The analysis of the veteran sport reporters' interviews exposed three major themes: (1) perceptions of how the media covers the NFL, (2) interrelationships with NFL players, and (3) playing quarterback in the NFL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]