Relationship maintenance strategies in the coach-athlete relationship: The development of the COMPASS model

The investigation of relationship maintenance strategies has received considerable attention in various types of dyads including romantic, marital, and familial relationships. No research, however, has yet investigated the use of maintenance strategies in the coach-athlete partnership. Thus, this study aimed to investigate coaches’ and athletes’ perceptions of the strategies they use to maintain relationship quality. Twelve one-to-one interviews with coaches (4 males and 2 females) and athletes (2 males and 4 females) were conducted. The interviews were structured based on the factors within Jowett’s (2007) 3+1C conceptualization of the coach-athlete relationship (i.e., closeness, commitment, complementarity, and co-orientation). Deductive and inductive content analysis revealed seven main categories: Conflict management, openness, motivation, Positivity, advice, support, and social networks. The COMPASS model was developed based on this analysis and was offered as a theoretical framework for understanding how coaches and athletes might maintain the quality of their relationships

Making a national atlas of population by computer

This paper describes the conceptual and practical problems encountered and solved in producing a multi-colour atlas of population characteristics in Great Britain. The atlas itself is in A4 format; it consists of some thirty-four maps of Great Britain in four colours and the same number of regional maps, together with descriptive text. All maps were plotted on a laser plotter with a resolution of 127 microns. The paper describes how mapping of ratios, such as percentages, was found to be highly misleading and describes the novel probability mapping solution adopted, based on the signed chi-square statistic. In addition, the rationale for selecting the class intervals and for selecting colour schemes is described

Locating and mitigating risks to children associated with major sporting events

Despite recent efforts to blend sport and human rights, activism for children's rights in sport has historically been marginalised. The positive 'social legacy' of sport events frequently masks more problematic issues, including child exploitation. We argue that harms to children in hosting communities of major sporting events (MSEs) should be a focus for both research and intervention since the plight of such children is currently a political blind spot. The article examines the evidence for four major sources of risk for children associated with such events: child labour, displacement resulting from forced evictions for infrastructure development and street clearance, child sexual exploitation, and human trafficking affecting children. The weakness of the resulting evidence is explained in relation to the methodological and ethical difficulties of conducting research on such hidden and marginal populations and to the fact that risks to children are often masked by adult social problems. It is argued that much more robust research designs, focused specifically on children, are essential in order to verify the many assertions made about risks to children associated with MSEs. Some mitigating interventions are briefly examined and an action plan for risk-mitigation work at future MSEs is proposed. Finally, drawing on wider debates about Centres and Peripheries in social and economic theory, we question whether major international sport organisations might choose to engage with projects like child protection for strategic rather than humanitarian reasons, using them as a kind of ethical fig leaf in order to bolster their power bases against threats from the margins. © 2014 © 2014 Taylor & Francis.The Oak Foundation under Grant code OCAY-13-052

Timing of maternal exposure and fetal sex determine the effects of low-level chemical mixture exposure on the fetal neuroendocrine system in sheep

We have shown that continuous maternal exposure to the complex mixture of environmental chemicals (ECs) found in human biosolids (sewage sludge), disrupts mRNA expression of genes crucial for development and long-term regulation of hypothalamo-pituitary gonadal (HPG) function in sheep. This study investigated whether exposure to ECs only during preconceptional period or only during pregnancy perturbed key regulatory genes within the hypothalamus and pituitary gland and whether these effects were different from chronic (life-long) exposure to biosolid ECs. The findings demonstrate that the timing and duration of maternal EC exposure influences the subsequent effects on the fetal neuroendocrine system in a sex-specific manner. Maternal exposure prior to conception or during pregnancy only, altered the expression of key fetal neuroendocrine regulatory systems such as GnRH and kisspeptin to a greater extent than when maternal exposure was ‘life-long’. Furthermore, hypothalamic gene expression was affected to a greater extent in males than in females, and following EC exposure, male fetuses expressed more “female-like” mRNA levels for some key neuroendocrine genes. This is the first study to show that “real-life” maternal exposure to low levels of a complex cocktail of chemicals prior to conception can subsequently affect the developing fetal neuroendocrine system. These findings demonstrate that the developing neuroendocrine system is sensitive to EC mixtures in a sex-dimorphic manner likely to predispose to reproductive dysfunction in later life

Child Exploitation and the FIFA World Cup: A review of risks and protective interventions

This review was commissioned by the Child Abuse Programme (CAP) of Oak Foundation, a large international philanthropic organisation. It forms part of CAP’s effort to win societal rejection of practices such as the sexual exploitation of children and adolescents around major sporting events (MSEs), and to embed prevention and protection from exploitation as a permanent concern for global sports-related bodies. This review is intended to inform action in countries that host MSEs and to provide some suggestions on how hosting countries can avoid past pitfalls and mistakes in relation to child exploitation, especially economic and sexual exploitation. Importantly, it also acts as a call to action by those responsible for commissioning and staging MSEs, such as FIFA and the IOC, to anticipate, prepare for and adopt risk mitigation strategies and interventions. Positive leadership from these culturally powerful bodies could prove decisive in shifting hearts, minds and actions in the direction of improved safety for children

Local lung responses following endobronchial elastase and lipopolysaccharide instillation in sheep

Chronic lipopolysaccharide (LPS) exposure may contribute to the pathogenesis of a number of lung diseases including COPD and emphysema. We sought to develop a large- animal model of emphysema using repeated LPS administration into sheep lung segments. An experimental protocol was designed to facilitate comparisons with elastase-treated and control segments within the same lung of individual sheep. Histopathologic evaluation of segments treated with LPS demonstrated low-grade inflammation characterized by an increase in the number of intra-alveolar macrophages and lymphocytes. Treated segments demonstrated a significant reduction in airspace surface area (ASA), an increase in percent disrupted alveolar attachments and the distance between normal alveolar attachments, and a reduction in the number of normal alveolar attachments surrounding nonrespiratory bronchioles. Coefficient of variation of individual ASA measurements in elastase-treated segments was indicative of a heterogeneous parenchymal response, in contrast to that associated with chronic LPS treatment. Our results demonstrate that chronic LPS treatment of individual lung segments in sheep induces microscopic emphysema qualitatively and quantitatively consistent with both accepted pathologic definitions of this condition and with that produced by airway instillation of elastolytic enzymes. Development of this phenotype is associated with evidence of downregulated activation of transforming growth factor beta

Attachment Styles Within the Coach-Athlete Dyad: Preliminary Investigation and Assessment Development

The present preliminary study aimed to develop and examine the psychometric properties of a new sport-specific self-report instrument designed to assess athletes’ and coaches’ attachment styles. The development and initial validation comprised three main phases. In Phase 1, a pool of items was generated based on pre-existing self-report attachment instruments, modified to reflect a coach and an athlete’s style of attachment. In Phase 2, the content validity of the items was assessed by a panel of experts. A final scale was developed and administered to 405 coaches and 298 athletes (N = 703 participants). In Phase 3, confirmatory factor analysis of the obtained data was conducted to determine the final items of the Coach-Athlete Attachment Scale (CAAS). Confirmatory factor analysis revealed acceptable goodness of fit indexes for a 3-first order factor model as well as a 2-first order factor model for both the athlete and the coach data, respectively. A secure attachment style positively predicted relationship satisfaction, while an insecure attachment style was a negative predictor of relationship satisfaction. The CAAS revealed initial psychometric properties of content, factorial, and predictive validity, as well as reliability

Stem cell factor (SCF) and c-kit in the ovine fetal testis in normal and nutrition perturbed pregnancies

Stem cell factor (SCF) and c-kit in the ovine fetal testis in normal and nutrition perturbed pregnancie

Increasing heat storage by wearing extra clothing during upper body exercise up-regulates heat shock protein 70 but does not modify the cytokine response

Plasma heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) concentrations rise during heat stress, which can independently induce cytokine production. Upper body exercise normally results in modest body temperature elevations. The aim of this study was to investigate the impacts of additional clothing on the body temperature, cytokine and HSP70 responses during this exercise modality. Thirteen males performed 45-min constant-load arm cranking at 63% maximum aerobic power (62 ± 7%V̇O2peak) in either a non-permeable whole-body suit (intervention, INT) or shorts and T-shirt (control, CON). Exercise resulted in a significant increase of IL-6 and IL-1ra plasma concentrations (P 0.19). The increase in HSP70 from pre to post was only significant for INT (0.12 ± 0.11ng∙mL−1, P < 0.01 vs. 0.04 ± 0.18 ng∙mL−1, P = 0.77). Immediately following exercise, Tcore was elevated by 0.46 ± 0.29 (INT) and 0.37 ± 0.23ºC (CON), respectively (P < 0.01), with no difference between conditions (P = 0.16). The rise in mean Tskin (2.88 ± 0.50 and 0.30 ± 0.89ºC, respectively) and maximum heat storage (3.24 ± 1.08 and 1.20 ± 1.04 J∙g−1, respectively) was higher during INT (P < 0.01). Despite large differences in heat storage between conditions, the HSP70 elevations during INT, even though significant, were very modest. Possibly, the Tcore elevations were too low to induce a more pronounced HSP70 response to ultimately affect cytokine productio

Initial evidence for the criterion-related and structural validity of the long versions of the direct and meta-perspectives of the Coach-Athlete Relationship Questionnaire

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below. Copyright @ 2010 Taylor & Francis.The aim of the present study was to develop and initially validate a longer version of the direct (Jowett & Ntoumanis, 2004) and meta-perspectives (Jowett, 2009a, 2009b) of the Coach-Athlete Relationship Questionnaire (CART-Q). In Study 1, instruments (e.g. questionnaires, scales, and inventories) that have been used to assess relationship quality in the broader psychological literature were examined and items potentially relevant to the coach-athlete relationship were identified. The content validity of the identified items was then assessed using expert panels. A final questionnaire was subsequently prepared and administered to 693 participants (310 coaches and 383 athletes). Confirmatory factor analysis was employed to assess the multidimensional nature of the questionnaire based on the 3Cs (i.e. closeness, commitment, and complementarity) model of the coach-athlete relationship. The findings indicated that the direct and meta-perspective items of the long versions of the CART-Q approached an adequate data fit. Moreover, evidence for the internal consistency and criterion validity of the new instruments was also obtained. In Study 2, the newly developed measure was administered to an independent sample of 251 individuals (145 athletes and 106 coaches). Further statistical support was gained for the factorial validity and reliability of the longer version of the CART-Q