Meaning in life of elite athletes: A person-oriented study.

People's subjective sense of meaning in life is a flourishing research topic in psychology but remains underexplored in sport psychology. This study uses a person-oriented method to shed light on meaning in the lives of elite athletes (i.e.

Overcoming adversity during the COVID-19 pandemic: Longitudinal stability of psychosocial resource profiles of elite athletes and their association with perceived stress.

Previous research has demonstrated that psychosocial resources are associated with elite athletes' perceived stress. However, these resources have mainly been studied separately. Using a person-oriented approach, this study aimed to identify meaningful profiles of athletes' psychosocial resources, their stability over time, and their relationship with perceived stress during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mechanistic or Relational Worldview for Talent Identification Research in Sport Science? Both-But With a Preference!

This paper situates talent identification research in sport science within the broader context of developmental science, offering a conceptual framework informed by two (meta-)theoretical worldviews: the Cartesian-split-mechanistic and processual-relational worldviews. Although these worldviews are not explicitly named in the field of talent identification research, we demonstrate their implicit adoption through theoretical and methodological discourse. After comparing applications, benefits, and limitations of each worldview, we briefly discuss whether their bodies of knowledge are incompatible, competitive, or complementary.

Process Development of a Generative Method for Partial and Controlled Integration of Active Substances into Open-Porous Matrix Structures.

A special generative manufacturing (AM) process was developed for the partial integration of active ingredients into open-porous matrix structures. A mixture of a silver-containing solution as an antibacterial material with an alginate hydrogel as a carrier system was produced as the active ingredient. The AM process developed was used to introduce the active ingredient solution into an open-porous niobium containing a β-titanium matrix structure, thus creating a reproducible active ingredient delivery system.

Closing a chapter? A protocol for a longitudinal mixed methods study on retirement from elite sport.

Retirement from elite sport represents a major life transition for athletes and requires them to redefine their central life projects, identities, and perhaps even sources of meaning in life. Although an extensive body of literature has identified risk and protective factors in career termination, little is known about the more subjective processes and individual pathways of athletes as they establish their new relationship with work-life and sport. The planned longitudinal mixed methods study follows Swiss elite athletes' transition with a focus on understanding (1) the relationship between psychological resources, life situations at the end of the sports career, and the retirement process; (2) how athletes' post-retirement vocational careers interact with their subjective careers and sense of meaningful work; (3) how athletes reconstruct their identities and relationship with sport over time; and (4) how gender shapes athletes' pathways and reorientation of their life design.

The road to excellence in women's football: a retrospective cohort study over the last 30 years with Swiss national players.

Objectives: This study examines the training (age at club entry, hours in club practice, free play, other sports) and environmental characteristics (popularity, media coverage, school and parental support) influencing the development of female Swiss national team players in elite football over a three-decade period.

Methods: A retrospective questionnaire was completed by 84 participants, who were divided into three cohorts based on their first game with the Swiss national team (C1 = until 2000, n = 24; C2 = 2001-2010, n = 29; C3 = 2011-2022, n = 31). ANOVAs were employed to compare the cohorts regarding training and environmental variables.

Retirement from elite sport and self-esteem: a longitudinal study over 12 years.

This study examined the complex associations between athletic retirement and self-esteem among former elite athletes. With reference to theoretical and empirical work on the quality of the transition out of sport, information was collected from 290 (junior) elite athletes in a retrospective-prospective design: at the first measurement, active athletes assessed satisfaction with their sporting career, athletic identity, and self-esteem. At the second measurement (12  years later), the now former athletes rated transition characteristics of their career ending, sporting career success, emotional reactions to career termination, extent of necessary adjustment required following athletic retirement, duration and quality of adjustment, and self-esteem.

International performance level in adult ice hockey: The role of the talent environment in youth.

Despite a growing interest in conducive talent development environments (TDE), the relationship between TDEs and the performance level in adulthood remains unclear. Therefore, this study examined the relationship of the micro-environment of former Swiss junior national team ice hockey players with their performance level in adulthood. With quantitative, retrospective data from  = 106 players born between 1984 and 1994, patterns of four factors club, family, peer, and school were built for early (13-15 years old) and late (16-19 years old) youth.

Maturity-based correction mechanism for talent identification: When is it needed, does it work, and does it help to better predict who will make it to the pros?

When identifying talent, the confounding influence of maturity status on motor performances is an acknowledged problem. To solve this problem, correction mechanisms have been proposed to transform maturity-biased test scores into maturity-unbiased ones. Whether or not such corrections also improve predictive validity remains unclear.

Period prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infections and willingness to vaccinate in Swiss elite athletes.

Objectives: (1) To assess the period prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infections and willingness to vaccinate in Swiss elite athletes and (2) to evaluate whether sociodemographic and sport-related characteristics were associated with infection of SARS-CoV-2 in athletes.

Methods: A total of 1037 elite athletes (M=27.09) were surveyed in this cross-sectional study.

Effectiveness of Individual Exercise and Sport Counseling Based on Motives and Goals: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

This study tested the effectiveness of individual exercise and sport counseling in a nonclinical setting. The COunseling based on Motives and goals in Exercise and sporT (COMET) approach focuses on individual motives and goals and aims to identify suitable activities. Participants experience different exercise and sport activities and reflect on them with a counselor, who applies motivational interviewing.

Stability of context in sport and exercise across educational transitions in adolescence: hello work, goodbye sport club?

Background: The present study firstly aimed to identify context patterns in sport and exercise among adolescents at lower and upper secondary education. The organisational, social and competitive contexts of leisure-time sport and exercise were included as pattern indicators. The second aim was to examine the stability of these patterns across educational transition.

What do adolescents and young adults strive for in sport and exercise? An explorative study on goal profiles in sport and exercise.

In sport and exercise promotion, it is important to consider goals because achieving these goals leads to a sense of well-being and behaviour adherence. Individuals often pursue multiple goals simultaneously. Therefore, it is also important to not only consider each individual's combination of goals but also to identify so-called "goal profiles".

More Success With the Optimal Motivational Pattern? A Prospective Longitudinal Study of Young Athletes in Individual Sports.

It is widely recognized that motivation is an important determinant for a successful sports career. Specific patterns of motivational constructs have recently demonstrated promising associations with future success in team sports like football and ice hockey. The present study scrutinizes whether those patterns also exist in individual sports and whether they are able to predict future performance levels.

Within-Person Variation of Affective Well-Being during and after Exercise: Does the Person-Exercise Fit Matter?

Affective well-being is positively linked to regular exercise. Therefore, it is important to identify the factors that influence intra-individual variability of affective well-being. This study investigated (1) whether affective responses vary within an individual and (2) how affective responses are associated with a motive-incentive fit and a skill-task fit.

The interaction of behavioral context and motivational-volitional factors for exercise and sport in adolescence: patterns matter.

Background: In order to generate more effective interventions to promote exercise and sport in adolescence, a better understanding of the interaction of influencing factors across different levels is needed. In particular, motivation and volition for exercise and sport, as well as the context in which adolescents are doing exercise and sport, have been identified as important factors. Behavioral context refers to both the organizational setting, e.

Achievement-Motivated Behavior in Individual Sports: Evidence for the Construct and Criterion Validity of the AMBIS-I Coach-Rating Scale.

The coach-rating scale for Achievement-Motivated Behavior in Individual Sports (AMBIS-I) was constructed to measure achievement motivation, not from athletes' own views but from coaches' perspectives. The tool was already checked for reliability as well as content, factorial, and concurrent criterion validity (Zuber and Conzelmann, 2019). To further establish construct and criterion validity, two different samples were involved.

Motivational Patterns as an Instrument for Predicting Performance Not Only in Football? A Replication Study With Young Talented Ice Hockey Players.

In football it was recently demonstrated, that patterns of motivational constructs in young talented football players are relatively stable in early adolescence, and are associated with specific performance related outcomes (Zuber et al., 2015). The aim of the present study was to check whether the motivational patterns found in youth elite football also re-emerge in ice hockey, showing similar relations to performance.

Who Stays On? The Link between Psychosocial Patterns and Changes in Exercise and Sport Behaviour When Adolescents Make Transitions in Education.

Background: The first aim of the present study was to identify psychosocial patterns among adolescents at lower secondary school. Employing the motivation and volition process model and a socioecological framework, self-concordance, action planning, social support, and club-related exercise and sport activities were included as indicators. The second aim was to examine how these patterns are associated with the maintenance of exercise and sport during students' transition to upper secondary education.

Boost your brain, while having a break! The effects of long-term cognitively engaging physical activity breaks on children's executive functions and academic achievement.

Classroom-based physical activity (PA) is gaining attention in terms of its potential to enhance children's cognitive functions, but it remains unclear as to which specific modality of PA affects cognitive functions most. The aim of the study was to examine the effects of qualitatively different PA breaks on children's cognitive outcomes. Children (N = 142) aged between 7 and 9 years were allocated to a 20-week classroom-based PA program, with either high physical exertion and high cognitive engagement (combo group), high physical exertion and low cognitive engagement (aerobic group), or low physical exertion and high cognitive engagement (cognition group).

Science or Coaches' Eye? - Both! Beneficial Collaboration of Multidimensional Measurements and Coach Assessments for Efficient Talent Selection in Elite Youth Football.

Due to the tremendous popularity of youth football, practitioners in this domain face the ongoing question of the most effective solutions in early talent selection. Although the scientific community has suggested multidimensional models for some time, coach assessments and motor performance tests remain common. Earlier research has determined the strengths and weaknesses within these different approaches.

The Bernese Motive and Goal Inventory for Adolescence and Young Adulthood.

Exercise- and sport-related motives and goals are important motivational factors in promoting exercise and sport among adolescents and young adults. However, at present, there is no well-validated instrument to assess these factors that considers age-specific characteristics. Therefore, the goals of this study were to adapt the existing Bernese Motive and Goal Inventory in exercise and sport for middle-aged adults for use in adolescents and young adults and to examine its psychometric properties.

A classroom intervention to improve executive functions in late primary school children: Too 'old' for improvements?

Background: Given the strong relationship between executive functions and academic achievement, there has been great interest in improving executive functions. School-based group interventions targeting executive functions revealed encouraging results in preschoolers and young school children; however, there is a paucity of studies in older primary school children (age 10-12). This is surprising considering that deficits in executive function performance can often be observed in this age group.

"The Early Specialised Bird Catches the Worm!" - A Specialised Sampling Model in the Development of Football Talents.

Characteristics of learning activities in early sport participation play a key role in the development of the sporting talent. Therefore, pathways of specialisation or diversification/sampling are as well debated as the implementation of practice- or play-oriented activities. The related issues are currently perceived as a two-dimensional construct of and .

Bernese motive and goal inventory in exercise and sport: Validation of an updated version of the questionnaire.

Target group-specific intervention strategies are often called for in order to effectively promote exercise and sport. Currently, motives and goals are rarely included systematically in the design of interventions, despite the key role they play in well-being and adherence to exercise. The Bernese motive and goal inventory (BMZI) allows an individual diagnosis of motives and goals in exercise and sport in people in middle adulthood.