The neuroendocrine system has important implications for affiliation behavior among humans and can be used to assess the correlation between social relationships, stress, and health. This can be ...influenced by social closeness; this aspect is the closeness towards another individual or a group of individuals such as a sports team. Sports performance anxiety is considered an unpleasant emotional reaction composed of physiological, cognitive, affective, and behavioral components. This motivates us to learn about the process that can influence the outcome of competition. Hormones and genetics would seem to influence outcome and performance. In this regard, many studies have focused on the exercise response as a function of ovarian hormones and it has been observed that progesterone is a hormone that plays a key role in reducing anxiety, and thus stress, in humans and other animals. On the other hand, high cortisol concentrations are known to contribute to increased anxiety levels. However, the salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) enzyme has been suggested as marker of acute stress than cortisol. Genetics also seem to influence anxiety and stress management as in the case of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and striatal dopamine transporter (DAT). Therefore, the study aims to investigate social closeness, as a measure of sports team cohesion that can influence athletes' performance results, and its ability to influence the secretion of hormones, such as progesterone and cortisol, that affect the management of sports anxiety while also taking into account genetic background during a volleyball match.
Twenty-six female volleyball players who volunteered participated in this study (mean ± SD: age, 12.07 ± 0.7 years), and played in the final of the provincial volleyball championship in Palermo. All girls were during the ovarian cycle, in detail between the follicular and early ovulatory phases.
The results showed a significant decrease in salivary cortisol only in the winning group (
< 0.039). In fact, whilst in the latter the pre-match level was 7.7 ng/ml and then decreased to 4.5 ng/ml after the match, in the losers group change was not statistically significant (7.8 ng/ml
6.6 ng/ml pre- and post-match). As to the sAA concentration, the winning team showed a statistically significant variation between pre- and post-match than the losers (166.01 ± 250 U/ml
291.59 ± 241 U/ml) (
= 0.01).
Analyzing the results of the SAS-2 psychological test it is highlighted that, on average, the loser group was more anxious than the winning group, and this contributed to the final result. In conclusion, there is strong evidence supporting the state of the art that many factors can affect performance anxiety and thus the performance itself.
Besides the evident positive effect on body development, physical activity has proven to boost executive functions, especially if the exercises are enriched with cognitive stimuli. Previous studies ...have shown that introducing challenging exercises in the physical activity routine can also enhance motivation. Therefore, enriching a physical education program with cognitively challenging exercises may also foster children's motivation during physical education classes, where the motivation is high at the beginning of the school year and low at the end of it. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to test if a sport program enriched by cognitive stimuli may improve kids' motivation or take them out from a state of amotivation along the school year.
A sample of 342 school children (203 boys, 139 girls) took part in the study. Participants were asked to complete a battery of motivation and perceived social support questionnaires before and after they completed the ESA Program, a sport program enriched with cognitive stimuli. Moreover, parents of these children attended four seminars about the importance of supporting children for the practice of regular physical activity (PA). A control group consisting of children that attended the ordinary physical education school class was also included.
A repeated measures MANOVA model showed that the ESA Program was able to improve children's general motivation, in particular the intrinsic motivation. The program was not effective in social support, but, independently from the group, the family social support in sports activities decreased for females.
Apart from cognitive improvement, the ESA Program can have beneficial effects on children's sports motivation in physical education, but not on perceived social support.
Poor academic performance of students with epilepsy seems to be a multifactorial problem related to difficulties in reading, writing, math, and logic skills. Poor school and academic performances ...refer to learning problems in a specific academic area due to learning disorders and learning difficulties not excluding the ability to learn in a different manner during school and academic life. Sometimes, school, academic difficulties, and Rolandic epilepsy can coexist together, and there may be comorbidities. Consequently, the risk of impaired academic performance in people with epilepsy is high.
This review analyzed the relationship between Benign Epilepsy with Centro-Temporal Spikes (BECTS) and poor school and academic performance (PSAP) in children and adolescents (aged 6 to 19), and in adults (aged 20 to no age limit). The PRISMA guideline was used to guide our review strategy.
This research shows that Benign Epilepsy with Centro-Temporal Spikes (BECTS) and poor school and academic performances are strongly correlated. An early onset age, as well as a long persistence of seizures, correlate more closely with PSAP. On the other hand, it appears that good pharmacological control of seizures and remission from the acute phase of the pathology support better school performance.
This review highlights how neuropsychological aspects are also involved in patients with BECTS and PSAP, both in the greater predisposition to the establishment of other neuropsychiatric conditions and in the possibility that stigma conditions and poor academic results may have repercussions on the adaptation and functioning of these subjects. Global management of the subject with BECTS and PSAP is essential, which also pays attention to the aspects of social and scholastic inclusion, both to achieve age-appropriate educational and behavioral objectives, to give the necessary tools for the growth of the individual, and to allow a serene transition to adulthood, favoring autonomous learning and better outcomes.
Physical activity (PA) during childhood plays an important role in brain development. This role is played in both the structural domain, prefrontal cortex area, and in the functional domain, ...involving the higher cognitive functions, including the executive functions (EF). Working memory (WM), inhibition, and switching as fundamental EF were investigated in an Italian children sample before and after four months of an Enriched Sports Activities-Program (ESA-Program). EFs were assessed at pre-test and post-test using, respectively, the digit span test, the color word Stroop test, and the trail making test derived from Millisecond Software. The Italian sample was composed of 141 children aged 8.54 years. The intervention group (IG) was composed of 61 children and the control group (CG) of 80 children. Significant differences in WM (
< 0.05) were found in the IG following the ESA-Program intervention. Children's performance improved both in forward digit span (FDS1 mean difference = 0.26;
= 0.04; FDS2 mean difference = 0.21;
= 0.01) and backward digit span (BDS2 mean difference = 0.14;
= 0.02). No significant improvements were observed for inhibition and switching processes (
> 0.05). Since this finding suggests that brain functioning is sensitive to lifestyle factors, such as PA, an essential goal for ESA-Program is to emphasize the importance of PA to enhance cognitive skills in childhood and prevent sedentary life.
The evaluation of soccer players’ physical fitness from youth onward is important for monitoring performance and planning training. While health-related factors present valid and reliable tests, the ...skill-related component should be studied in depth. An interesting test to evaluate the skill-related factors is the Harre circuit test (HTC); unfortunately, this test includes the somersault, an element not present in soccer. The aim of the present study is the validation of the Petrucci ability test (PAT), a variation of the HTC without the somersault for young soccer players. Children and adolescents (age range 10–13 years old) soccer players concluded the 20-m, the HTC and the PAT. To establish the validity of the PAT, correlation analysis has been performed, which presented a p < 0.0001 between PAT and HTC; p < 0.001 between PAT and a 20-m test; and p < 0.0001 between HTC and the 20-m test. The results suggest that the PAT can be a valid substitute for the evaluation of the skills-related components of young soccer players and, consequently, also of athletes and schoolchildren.
Background
Despite the wide documentation of the physical/psychological benefits derived from regular physical activity (PA), high levels of inactivity are reported among people with Down syndrome.
...This study aims to explore parental beliefs concerning involvement, facilitators/barriers and benefits of PA in young people.
Method
Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 13 parents of young people with Down syndrome.
Results
Three facilitation themes were identified: (i) the support derived from family; (ii) the availability of APA (Adapted Physical Activity) expert instructors and coaches; (iii) the challenging nature of sport activities. Three barrier themes were identified: (i) the lack of APA expert coaches and specialized gyms; (ii) the characteristics of Down syndrome; and (iii) the parental beliefs and worries.
Conclusions
Family plays a key role, as facilitator and barrier, to the participation of their children with Down syndrome in PA. Crucial is the implementation of evidence‐based exercise programmes involving people with Down syndrome and their families.
Aims/Hypothesis
The aim of this study was to examine the sit up test to exhaustion as a field test for muscular endurance evaluation in a sample of sedentary people of both sexes.
Methods
A ...cross-sectional study was performed. Three-hundred-eighty-one participants volunteered for the study (28.5 ± 10.0 years; 168.2 ± 8.9 cm; 65.1 ± 11.1 kg), of which 194 males (27.5 ± 10.2 years; 173.6 ± 7.0 cm; 71.2 ± 5.2 kg) and 187 females (29.6 ± 10.1 years; 162.6 ± 7.1 cm; 58.7 ± 8.9 kg). Each subject voluntarily and randomly performed: a sit up test (SUT), a push up test (PUT), and a free weight squat test (ST), all till exhaustion. A multiple regression analysis was adopted for data analysis. Subsequently a percentile model for muscle endurance was developed. The 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile were identified as upper limit for low muscular endurance, average muscular endurance, and lower limit for high muscular endurance, respectively.
Results
Considering the sit up test as the dependent variable, the coefficients (R
2
= 0.23; r = 0.49; p < 0.001), and (R
2
= 0.31; r = 0.57; p < 0.001) emerged from a multiple regression analysis applied with respect to the push up test and the squat test, respectively. Gender stratification showed regression coefficients of (R
2
= 0.19; r = 0.44; p < 0.001) for SUT vs. PUT, and (R
2
= 0.30; r = 0.56; p < 0.001) for SUT vs. ST in male; and (R
2
= 0.23; r = 0.49; p < 0.001) for SUT vs. PUT, and (R
2
= 0.34; r = 0.59; p < 0.001) for SUT vs. ST in female.
Conclusions/Interpretation
The SUT showed low inter-relation with the other proposed tests indicating that the adoption of a single test for the global evaluation of muscle endurance is not the optimal approach. Moreover, the SUT was found to be inexpensive, safe, and appropriate for core muscle endurance measurement for both male and female.
Inactivity is a major issue that causes physical and psychological health problems, especially in people with intellectual disability (ID). This review discusses the beneficial effects of sport ...intervention programs (SIPs) in people with ID, and aims to provide an overview of the scientific literature in order to identify the main factors influencing the participation of people with ID in SIPs. Twelve papers were analyzed and compared. The results show a large variety in examined SIPs, concerning participants' age and disability, intervention characteristics and context, as well as measures and findings. The main factors essential for people with ID partaking in SIPs appeared to be suitable places for the SIP development, adequate implementation of physical activity (PA) programs in school and extra-school contexts, education, and the training of teachers and instructors. The literature review highlights the relevance of using SIPs in order to improve physical and psychological health, as well as increase social inclusion in populations with ID. SIPs should be included in multifactor intervention programs. Nevertheless, the need is recognized for stakeholders to adopt specific practice and policy in promoting social inclusion in order to organize intervention strategies which are able to provide quality experiences in sport and physical activity for people with ID.
The aim of this investigation was to identify possible related factors associated to the performance of the crunning test in European children and adolescents. A total number of 559 children and ...adolescents (age range 6-14 years) of which 308 boys (55.1%) and 251 girls (44.9%), from seven European countries, were screened. A questionnaire concerning demographic and personal life-related factors and a cognitive assessment were performed. A regression analysis was conducted with the performance measures of the crunning movement. T-tests and ANCOVA were used to analyze sub-group differences. Boys have greater crunning performance values compared to girls (5.55 s vs. 7.06 s,
< 0.001) and older children perform better than younger ones (R2 -0.23;
< 0.001). Children with healthy and active habits (exercising or spending time with family members vs. reading or surfing the internet) performed better in the test. Children engaged in team sports had better crunning performances compared to those engaged in individual sports (6.01 s vs. 6.66 s,
= 0.0166). No significant association was found regarding cognitive-related aspects in either children engaged in team or individual sports and the crunning performance. Older and male children performed better in the crunning test than younger and female children. Physical activity-related aspects of children's life are associated with crunning movement performance. No association was found between higher cognitive performance and the crunning test results.
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