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Behavioral Sciences
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Current Opinion in Sport Psychology
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Current Opinion in Sport Psychology

A special issue of Behavioral Sciences (ISSN 2076-328X). This special issue belongs to the section "Health Psychology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2023) | Viewed by 20678

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Filipe Rodrigues

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
ESECS—Polytechnic of Leiria, 2411-901 Leiria, Portugal
Interests: physical activity; motivation; healthy aging; behavioral sciences
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Diogo Monteiro

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
1. ESECS—Polytechnic of Leiria, 2411-901 Leiria, Portugal
2. Research Center in Sport Sciences, Health Sciences and Human Development, 5001-801 Vila Real, Portugal
Interests: motivation; sports psychology; confirmatory factor analyses
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Raul Antunes

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. ESECS—Polytechnic of Leiria, 2411-901 Leiria, Portugal
2. Research Center in Sport Sciences, Health Sciences and Human Development, 5001-801 Vila Real, Portugal
Interests: adapted physical activity; exercise; human behavior; motivation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

A trend that has been gaining traction in sport psychology is the increasing emphasis on the importance of mental training for athletes. This involves teaching athletes specific psychological skills such as relaxation, visualization, and coping, which can help them perform at their best in high-pressure situations. Personalized approaches are also on the rise. This involves tailoring psychological interventions and techniques to the specific needs and goals of each athlete. The use of individualized approaches is becoming more popular as coaches and athletes recognize that one-size-fits-all approaches may not be effective for everyone. Thus, coaches are now seen as important partners in the development of athletes, and many are taking steps to develop their own psychological skills related to well-being and performance. From the increasing emphasis on mental training and technology to personalized approaches and the role of coaches, sport psychology is providing new and innovative ways for athletes to enhance their performance and achieve their goals. This Special Issue intends to discuss all areas that are related to sport psychology, accepting opinions and trends from well-established researchers around the world combining efforts in generating solid and theory-based research in sport psychology.

Dr. Filipe Rodrigues
Dr. Diogo Monteiro
Prof. Dr. Raul Antunes
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Behavioral Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • motivation
  • theory-based approaches
  • mental health
  • well-being
  • performance

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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28 pages, 770 KiB  
Article
Relationships between Math Skills, Motor Skills, Physical Activity, and Obesity in Typically Developing Preschool Children
by Pedro Flores, Eduarda Coelho, Isabel Mourão-Carvalhal and Pedro Forte
Behav. Sci. 2023, 13(12), 1000; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs13121000 - 7 Dec 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3885
Abstract
There is evidence of a relationship between motor and cognitive development. The literature has shown that of all the motor skills, fine motor skills are those that contribute most to mathematical performance in preschool children. As this is a sensitive period in the [...] Read more.
There is evidence of a relationship between motor and cognitive development. The literature has shown that of all the motor skills, fine motor skills are those that contribute most to mathematical performance in preschool children. As this is a sensitive period in the development of motor skills, low levels of physical activity in this period can compromise their development and contribute to weight gain and obesity. The aim of this study was therefore to analyze the relationship between mathematical and motor skills, physical activity levels, and obesity. The sample consisted of 62 preschool children (32 males) with an average age of 4.63 ± 0.81. The Weschler preschool and primary scale of intelligence—revised arithmetic test was used to assess mathematical skills. The tests to assess fine motor skills were the “Adapted Threading Beads Test” and the “Adapted Visuomotor Integration Test”. The movement assessment battery for children-2, band 1, “Aiming & Catching”, and “Balance” tests were used to assess gross motor skills. Levels of physical activity were assessed using the “Preschool-age physical activity questionnaire” and obesity using the body mass index. The results indicated that only the fine motor skills of visuomotor integration were included in the multiple linear regression model (F < 0.001; r = 0.464; R2 = 0.215; p < 0.001), with the exclusion of gross motor skills, physical activity levels, and obesity levels. Thus, it was concluded that mathematical skills were only directly and significantly influenced by visuomotor integration. However, visuomotor integration was positively and significantly associated with gross motor skills (r = 0.269; p < 0.05) and not with levels of physical activity and obesity. Thus, gross motor skills could contribute to improving visuomotor integration directly and consequently mathematical skills indirectly. The results of this study suggest that the implementation of structured physical activity programs can contribute to mathematical performance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Current Opinion in Sport Psychology)
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14 pages, 621 KiB  
Article
Self-Determined Regulation, Achievement Goals and Sport Commitment in Spanish Masters Swimmers
by Juan Ángel Simón-Piqueras, Pedro Gil-Madrona, David Zamorano-García, Miriam De La Torre-Maroto and Juan Gregorio Fernández-Bustos
Behav. Sci. 2023, 13(10), 828; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs13100828 - 9 Oct 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1558
Abstract
This work analyses the motivational regulation, achievement goals and sport commitment of Spanish Masters swimmers, being the first study of its kind. A total of 211 (106 women and 105 men) Masters swimmers from the Federation of Castilla-La Mancha (Spain) aged between 20 [...] Read more.
This work analyses the motivational regulation, achievement goals and sport commitment of Spanish Masters swimmers, being the first study of its kind. A total of 211 (106 women and 105 men) Masters swimmers from the Federation of Castilla-La Mancha (Spain) aged between 20 and 74 participated. Each participant completed the Sport Motivation Scale (motivation regulation), the Achievement Goals Questionnaire for Sport (achievement goals) and the Sport Commitment Questionnaire (sport commitment), all validated for the Spanish population. A mixed rANOVA was performed to analyse the results, using sex and age group as covariates, and the different groupings of the sample (weekly training days, weekly training hours and practice of other sports) as between-participants factors. The results showed that the participants presented a predominantly intrinsic–integrated and identified regulation, rather than introjected and external regulation. Mastery goals were more prevalent than performance–approach and performance–avoidance goals. In addition, current sport commitment was high, being greater than future commitment. Pearson’s correlation analysis showed moderate relationships between our variables. We found no influence of either the covariates of sex and age or the grouping variables. These findings serve as the basis for further study of the motivation of Masters swimmers in Spain. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Current Opinion in Sport Psychology)
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19 pages, 1970 KiB  
Article
Data Analysis of Psychological Approaches to Soccer Research: Using LDA Topic Modeling
by Jea Woog Lee and Doug Hyun Han
Behav. Sci. 2023, 13(10), 787; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs13100787 - 22 Sep 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2617
Abstract
This study identifies the topical areas of research that have attempted a psychological approach to soccer research over the last 33 years (1990–2022) and explored the growth and stagnation of the topic as well as research contributions to soccer development. Data were obtained [...] Read more.
This study identifies the topical areas of research that have attempted a psychological approach to soccer research over the last 33 years (1990–2022) and explored the growth and stagnation of the topic as well as research contributions to soccer development. Data were obtained from 1863 papers from the Web of Science database. The data were collected through keyword text mining and data preprocessing to determine the keywords needed for analysis. Based on the keywords, latent Dirichlet allocation-based topic modeling analysis was performed to analyze the topic distribution of papers and explore research trends by topic area. The topic modeling process included four topic area and fifty topics. The “Coaching Essentials in Football” topic area had the highest frequency, but it was not statistically identified as a trend. However, coaching, including training, is expected to continue to be an important research topic, as it is a key requirement for success in the highly competitive elite football world. Interest in the research field of “Psychological Skills for Performance Development” has waned in recent years. This may be due to the predominance of other subject areas rather than a lack of interest. Various high-tech interventions and problem-solving attempts are being made in this field, providing opportunities for qualitative and quantitative expansion. “Motivation, cognition, and emotion” is a largely underrated subject area in soccer psychology. This could be because survey-based psychological evaluation attempts have decreased as the importance of rapid field application has been emphasized in recent soccer-related studies. However, measuring psychological factors contributes to the study of football psychology through a new methodology and theoretical background. Recognizing the important role of psychological factors in player performance and mental management, as well as presenting new research directions and approaches that can be directly applied to the field, will advance soccer psychology research. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Current Opinion in Sport Psychology)
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13 pages, 624 KiB  
Article
Tactical Knowledge by Decision Making and Motor Efficiency of Young Football Players in Different Playing Positions during a Three-a-Side Small-Sided Game
by Rui Matos, Carlos Moreira, Emília Alves, José Eduardo Teixeira, Filipe Rodrigues, Diogo Monteiro, Raul Antunes and Pedro Forte
Behav. Sci. 2023, 13(4), 310; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs13040310 - 5 Apr 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 4025
Abstract
The aim of this study was to compare the tactical knowledge of young football players in different playing positions during a three-a-side small-sided game (SSG). Observational data was collected from 71 players (M = 12.16; SD = 1.55 years): 11 goalkeepers, 22 defenders, [...] Read more.
The aim of this study was to compare the tactical knowledge of young football players in different playing positions during a three-a-side small-sided game (SSG). Observational data was collected from 71 players (M = 12.16; SD = 1.55 years): 11 goalkeepers, 22 defenders, 15 midfielders, and 23 forwards. In total, 4 min of three-a-side SSGs (GR + 3 vs. 3 + GR) were recorded to assess tactical performance using a digital camera (GoPro Hero 6® version 02.01). The SSGs were performed on a field with a constant area (36 × 27 m). Video analyses were performed using LongoMatch® version 1.5.9 to record football performance; we then assessed tactical performance by using the Football Tactical Assessment System (Fut-Sat). This instrument evaluates the average of well-defined action indexes for each game in decision making principle and motor skills, specifically: (i) Decision Making Index (DMI); (ii) Motor Effectiveness Index (MEI); (iii) Effectiveness Index (I). The indexes were calculated by the ratio between the correct actions and the total. The Kruskal–Wallis test was used to evaluate differences between playing positions. The results showed that tactical performance by principles seems to be significantly different according to playing position. Differences were found between defenders and forwards (H = −11.92; p = 0.03) and defenders and midfielders (H = −16.13; p = 0.01) in contention principle. In conclusion, tactical knowledge of training based on the principles of the game can help coaches and players better understand and predict each player’s actions during the game. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Current Opinion in Sport Psychology)
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Review

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21 pages, 543 KiB  
Review
Well-Being, Resilience and Social Support of Athletes with Disabilities: A Systematic Review
by Tânia Mira, Aldo M. Costa, Miguel Jacinto, Susana Diz, Diogo Monteiro, Filipe Rodrigues, Rui Matos and Raúl Antunes
Behav. Sci. 2023, 13(5), 389; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs13050389 - 8 May 2023
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 7307
Abstract
Sport for people with disabilities appears to play a positive role in the well-being, resilience and social support of athletes with disabilities. Thus, this systematic review aims to evaluate the effect of adapted sport on the well-being, resilience and social support in a [...] Read more.
Sport for people with disabilities appears to play a positive role in the well-being, resilience and social support of athletes with disabilities. Thus, this systematic review aims to evaluate the effect of adapted sport on the well-being, resilience and social support in a population with disabilities. The Pubmed, Web of Science, Scopus and SportDiscus databases were used, with several descriptors and Boolean operators. A total of 287 studies were identified through searching the databases. After the data extraction process, twenty-seven studies were included for analysis. In general, these studies show that adapted sport has a positive impact on the levels of well-being, resilience and social support resources for people with disabilities, contributing to their personal development, quality of life and integration into society. Considering the impact on the variables studied, these results are important to support and encourage the development of adapted sport. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Current Opinion in Sport Psychology)
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