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This study contributes to a growing body of scholarly discussions around the many aspects and challenges of combining parenthood with elite-level sport, with a particular focus on the experiences of male elite athletes who are fathers. We used a caring masculinities theoretical framework, community-based participatory research, and semi-structured interviews to explore the experiences of 10 elite/international and world-class athletes (n = 9 fathers, n = 1 expectant father). Through reflexive thematic analysis, we identified three main themes: fatherhood can (1) improve and (2) impede elite athlete-fathers' athletic performance; and (3) athlete-fathers experience a trade-off between athletic performance and fatherhood responsibilities. Our findings underscore the ways in which male athletes' experiences with parenthood reflect the new era of involved fatherhood and are analogous to some of the identity tensions that have been reported with regard to the experiences of elite female athletes who are pregnant and/or mothers. Recognizing the impact of children on male athletes' athletic careers and the parallels between fatherhood, motherhood, and elite sport may lead to better support for athlete-fathers while also contributing to diminishing the expectation that women are primary caregivers to children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trauma- and violence-informed physical activity (TVIPA) is a feasible approach to improve access/engagement in physical activity for pregnant/parenting women with experiences of trauma. Through feminist participatory action research, 56 semistructured interviews were completed to understand TVIPA. Four themes were identified: (1) "I have to be on edge": Trauma and violence pervade women's lives, (2) "It should be mandatory that you feel safe": Emotional safety is essential, (3) "The opportunity to step up and be decision-makers and leaders": Choice, collaboration, and connection create safety, and (4) "It's a good start for healing," strengths-based and capacity building foster individual and community growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, motherhood and pregnancy in elite sport have received increased attention in sport media. Through a comprehensive news media search across Factiva as well as a gray literature search using Google search engine, we analyzed 115 articles using feminist framing analysis. We developed two primary frames: 1) empowerment versus exploitation, and 2) proactivity versus reactivity. Our results show that many pregnant and parenting athletes frame their respective sponsors as exploitative for recognizing and capitalizing upon their unique marketing value, while these same corporate sponsors frame themselves as industry leaders who empower pregnant and parenting athletes. These two frames show that pregnant/parenting elite athletes commonly face discriminatory policies and practices and that there is often a lack of congruence between marketing and actual corporate practices and policies. These findings arguably reflect larger societal issues related to gender equity and highlight the importance of action over rhetoric to ensure motherhood is supported—rather than marketed—for elite athletes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study reported on perceived benefits and barriers of exercise among men with histories of sexual violence (SV) and compared these perceptions by activity level and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) status. An online, cross-sectional, survey of men with histories of SV (N = 198) was completed using Amazon Mechanical Turk. Inclusion criteria were identifying sex at birth as male, age between 18 and 65 years, self-reported history of SV, and living in the United States (U.S.). A total of 1,260 men were screened for the study, of which 316 met the inclusion criteria, and 198 met all data quality requirements and were included in the study. Sociodemographic information, exercise behavior, PTSD symptoms, and perceived exercise barriers/benefits were collected. Comparisons by activity and PTSD status were analyzed. Additionally, two open-ended qualitative research questions were included to provide nuance to perceived barriers/benefits of exercise. The most salient benefits included physical performance, psychological outlook, and preventative health. Open-ended responses also noted the mental and physical benefits of exercise. The most salient barrier was physical exercise, with open-ended responses emphasizing lack of time, chronic pain and health concerns, and poor mental health and lack of motivation as impediments to exercise. Significant differences were found in benefits (psychological outlook, physical performance) and barriers (exercise environment, high time expenditure, and family discouragement) between active and insufficiently active men with histories of SV (p s <.05; Cohen's d s = 0.32–0.57). Significant differences were found by PTSD status on benefits (physical performance, social interaction, and preventative health) and barriers (exercise milieu, time expenditure, hard physical exercise, family discouragement) (p s <.05; Cohen's d s = 0.40–1.10). Findings provide new gender-specific strategies for promoting exercise among men with histories of SV: integrating exercise physiologists into trauma recovery programs, psychoeducation, engaging friends and family members, peer-support, and building self-efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South-South cooperation (S-SC) is a notable exchange framework applied to a range of health-related domains. Despite global development organizations continuing to promote sport and S-SC as effective tools for development, an examination of sport and physical activity (PA) initiatives using an S-SC framework has not yet been undertaken. As traditional donor-recipient "sport for good" models continue to be criticized for problematic power dynamics, it is critical to explore alternative frameworks to inform policy and practice. As such, this scoping review aims to synthesize S-SC literature focused on PA and sport by (1) compiling and analyzing documented efforts of the S-SC framework applied to PA and sport initiatives and (2) identifying dominant themes and principles to inform policy/practice within the field of global health and development. Guided by Arksey and O'Malley's methodological framework, we searched the gray and white literature by including two levels of screening: title and abstract, and full text. We analyzed a total of thirty publications that met inclusion criteria related to (1) S-SC terminology and key themes, (2) description and definition of PA/sport, and (3) project characteristics. Although S-SC appears to be a valuable framework to address problematic power dynamics in sport and PA initiatives in countries of the Global South, challenges based on varied language, reporting techniques, and conditions of cooperative partnerships were highlighted. The key themes and tenets identified through this analysis, as well as the subsequent recommendations for further integrating S-SC into the world of sport and PA, may be used to inform future research, policy, and practice initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parenting education interventions and parenting programs are important for health promotion efforts among children and families; however, the majority of parenting programs are directed towards and attended by mothers. This is problematic because research has consistently demonstrated that fathers' active participation in the family can have a positive influence on mothers' well-being, children's self-esteem, success in school, and interpersonal relationships. In this paper, using an intersectional poststructuralist framework, document analysis, and Bacchi and Goodwin's "What's the problem represented to be" approach (WPR), we analyzed the program policies of 12 organizations that provide family-centred services in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. We identified the following three discourses: organizations strive to be client-centred and provide choices; organizations want to empower their participants; and women need safe place to raise their families. Our analysis revealed that fathers are absent or represented as problems in program policies, and that this has consequences for not only fathers but also mothers and children. Highlights: Dominant discourses of gender are upheld through the exclusion of fathers in program policies. The exclusion of fathers in policies produces them as either absent/problematic and can adversely affect families. Organizations uphold damaging discourses of masculinity that can undermine efforts to prioritize the needs of mothers. Changing language in policies may help family-centred organizations shift services and better support families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within Canada, community-based participatory research (CBPR) has become the dominant methodology for scholars who conduct health research with Aboriginal communities. While CBPR has become understood as a methodology that can lead to more equitable relations of power between Aboriginal community members and researchers, it is not a panacea. In this article, we examine CBPR's decolonizing potential and challenges to meeting this potential. Specifically, we argue that those who use CBPR need to recognize and expose the ways in which power inequities are perpetrated if decolonization is to result from CBPR. Further, we argue that one of the ways to meet CBPR's decolonizing potential is to utilize a postcolonial feminist approach.

Purpose: The International Olympic Committee expert group on pregnancy has identified a paucity of information regarding training and performance in truly elite athletes. Thus, the purpose of this study was to quantify elite runners' training volume throughout pregnancy and postpartum competition performance outcomes. Methods: Forty-two elite (>50% competed at the World Championships/Olympic) middle-/long-distance runners' training before, during, and after pregnancy (quality/quantity/type) data (retrospective questionnaire) and competition data (published online) were collected. Results: Running volume decreased significantly (P < 0.01) from the first trimester (63 ± 34 km·wk−1) to the third trimester (30 ± 30 km·wk−1). Participants returned to activity/exercise at ~6 wk postpartum and to 80% of prepregnancy training volumes by 3 months. Participants who intended to return to equivalent performance levels postpregnancy, there was no statistical decrease in performance in the 1 to 3 yr postpregnancy compared with prepregnancy, and ~56% improved performances postpregnancy. Conclusions: This study features the largest cohort of elite runners training and competition outcomes assessed throughout pregnancy, with training volumes being approximately two to four times greater than current guidelines. For the first time, performance was directly assessed (due to the quantifiable nature of elite running), and study participants who intended to return to high-level competition did so at a statistically similar level of performance in the 1- to 3-yr period postpregnancy. Taken together, this article provides much needed insights into current training practices and performance of elite pregnant runners, which should help to inform future training guidelines as well as sport policy and sponsor expectations around return to training timelines and performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physical activity can be a conduit for improving men's social connectedness as well as physical gains for well-being. However, marginalised men, and fathers in particular, can be challenged to engage in leisure time physical activity. This qualitative study reports how fathers, who experience complex and significant social and health inequities, conceptualise and experience barriers to physical activity. Drawing from focus groups with 17 fathers, and semi-structured interviews with seven service providers about their perspectives on men's physical activity in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside (DTES), a highly marginalised neighbourhood. A masculinities framework was used to describe and contextualise physical activity in fathers' lives. Three themes were inductively derived through the analyses: (1) 'they're busy surviving' a finding referencing the work and limits invoked by poverty wherein survival was triaged ahead of leisure time physical activity; (2) 'there is no activity centre' chronicling the lack of physical activity spaces, programmes and resources available to fathers; and (3) 'lifestyle affects our capability to exercise' a theme detailing how social isolation amplified by factors including housing and opioid crises, and being a father in a resource poor setting imposed significant barriers to physical activity. The findings support reconceptualising physical activity programmes with men who are living in marginalising conditions to address behavioural and structural health inequities in tailoring father-centred programmes and resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to examine the factors that influence fly-in and fly-out (FIFO) mental health service providers' experiences of vicarious trauma as they deliver services to communities in Inuit Nunangat through a constructivist self-development theory (CSDT) lens. Using a participatory action research methodology, we conducted eight semi-structured interviews with providers to understand their perspectives on the risk of developing vicarious trauma and potential mitigation strategies. We identified three themes through thematic analysis: 1) vicarious trauma is a risk associated with working in communities with high rates of trauma; 2) establishing individual and organizational strategies to reduce risk of vicarious trauma may improve FIFO providers' well-being and career longevity; and 3) FIFO models of care may offer protective benefits for mental health service providers against vicarious trauma. We conclude that FIFO models of care may help mental health service providers to manage the risk of vicarious trauma through reduced caseload and less time spent in community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The covers of running magazines are powerful ideological tools, and the individuals featured on covers shape broader public perception of who belongs in running. To examine representation, this study analyzed 285 images of athletes on the covers of three popular North American running magazines over an 11-year period (2009–2019). Through a visual content analysis of cover photos and the use of intersectional feminist theory as a framework, we found disparity in the representation of racialized athletes in comparison to non-racialized athletes, as well as an overrepresentation of female athletes in comparison to their male counterparts. We argue that in order to challenge dominant understandings of who can rightfully and safely participate in running, it is essential to increase the images of racialized people on magazine covers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The absence of citizen mobilization following the announcement of high levels of dioxin in a New England river, and subsequent Superfund listing, is explained in light of previous research that stresses the conflict and controversy that surround community contamination. Interviews with area residents and government officials, observations of public meetings, and content analyses of newspaper articles, EPA press releases, and other official documents provide three explanations for the absence of citizen mobilization: (1) shared knowledge of the community's industrial history meant the river's contamination did not disrupt taken-for-granted assumptions about the community, (2) the 'discovery' of the contamination by a government agency and its subsequent impression management served to defuse the public outrage that would otherwise lead to controversy and confrontation, and (3) elected officials, who were able to get resources to the agencies that could handle the problem, supported the decisions of the agencies rather than criticizing them or accusing them of negligence.

In this paper, we examine the phenomenon of "skipping" a snowmobile—that is, accelerating a snowmobile to speeds that allow the snowmobile and driver to "skip" across open bodies of water found between sheets of ice or ice and the shore. Though common in many northern communities, there is a paucity of literature that examines this risky practice. Given the high rate of unintentional injury among Inuit (Health Canada, 2001), it is particularly important to better understand the reasons why some Inuit engage in this health-risk behavior. Using focus groups and semistructured interviews with residents of Pangnirtung, Nunavut, we sought to understand who was skipping snowmobiles and why. Our results suggest that there are two forms of skipping: instrumental (i.e., necessary for travel on the land, especially while hunting) and recreational (i.e., for enjoyment). It is mainly adult male hunters who engage in instrumental skipping, while male adolescents and young adults are most likely to participate in skipping for recreational purposes. These findings can help to inform strategies that seek to reduce unintentional injuries and fatalities in northern communities, especially among Inuit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although men's health promotion efforts have attracted programmatic and evaluative research, conspicuously absent are gendered insights to men's health literacy. The current scoping review article shares the findings drawn from 12 published articles addressing men's health literacy in a range of health and illness contexts. Evident was consensus that approaches tailored to men's everyday language and delivered in familiar community-based spaces were central to advancing men's health literacy, and, by extension, the effectiveness of men's health promotion programs. However, most men's health literacy studies focussed on medical knowledge of disease contexts including prostate and colon cancers, while diversity was evident regards conceptual frameworks and/or methods and measures for evaluating men's health literacy. Despite evidence that low levels of health literacy fuel stigma and men's reticence for health help-seeking, and that tailoring programs to health literacy levels is requisite to effective men's health promotion efforts, the field of men's health literacy remains underdeveloped. Based on the scoping review findings, recommendations for future research include integrating men's health literacy research as a needs analysis to more effectively design and evaluate targeted men's health promotion programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]