Burnout is a phenomenon characterized by fatigue and frustration, usually related to work stress and dedication to a cause, a way of life that does not match the person’s expectations. Although it seems to be associated with risk factors stemming from a professional environment, this problem may affect any person. Palliative care is provided in a challenging environment, where professionals often have to make demanding ethical decisions and deal with death and dying. This article reports on the findings of a systematic review aimed at identifying described burnout levels in palliative care nurses and physicians, and the related risks and protective factors. The main findings indicate that burnout levels in palliative care, or in health care settings related to this field, do not seem to be higher than in other contexts.

This review aims to examine the most significant research regarding the development of talent in sport, with a focus on the quantity and type of practice necessary for the attainment of expertise. A total of 54 peer-reviewed empirical articles were collected and analysed for their content. The literature reveals considerable evidence demonstrating that both early specialization and early diversification can lead to expertise development. However, the contrasting views of deliberate practice and deliberate play do not provide a sufficient spectrum of different learning activities for talent development. Furthermore, the content analysis highlights some inconsistencies in the criteria used to characterize different types of learning activities, pointing to the need for a more rigorous and detailed characterization of activities that affect talent development throughout the lifespan. Finally, this review underscores the need for different methodological approaches to complement athletes’ perceptions of their past practice experiences gathered from retrospective interviews. The potential value of using systematic observations to provide a detailed examination of the microstructure of different learning activities is discussed.

The provision of Intensive Care (IC) can lead to a health care provider’s physical, psychological and emotional exhaustion, which may develop into burnout. We notice the absence of specific studies regarding this syndrome in Portuguese Intensive Care Units (ICUs). Our main objective is to study the incidence and risk factors of burnout in Portuguese ICUs.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between, multidimensional competitive trait anxiety (cognitive and somatic anxiety), trait cognitive threat appraisal, and coping styles. Five-hundred and fifty male and female athletes of several individual and team sports, between the ages of 15 and 35 (M = 19.8 ± 4.5), completed the translated and adapted versions of the Sport Anxiety Scale and of the Brief COPE, as well as the Cognitive Appraisal Scale in Sport Competition – Threat Perception. Pearson and Canonical correlations showed that higher levels of trait cognitive anxiety and threat appraisal were positively related to emotion-focused and avoidance coping and inversely related to problem-focused coping. Results are discussed in terms of the importance of individual differences in trait anxiety and threat appraisals, regarding athletes' coping styles.

Although some prospective studies have shown that many successful young athletes do not maintain the same level of success when they reach adulthood, there is still a lack of information regarding athletes who started their international involvement at early ages. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the international pathway of male and female athletes in different sports from the moment of their competitive debut, in order to determine how many international athletes at early ages competed or did not compete internationally as juniors and/or seniors. The sample included 395 athletes (soccer, volleyball, swimming and judo), born between 1974 and 1981, who could have competed in their national squads between 1988 and 2008. Results showed that only a third of international pre‐junior athletes reappeared as senior athletes, confirming the difficulties of predicting late success based on early identification and selection.