Taekwondo is a weight-classified combat sport. Taekwondo athletes often resort to restrictive eating behaviors and weight reduction, especially just before competitions, which, in the long run, endanger their physical and mental health. This study aimed to determine the incidence of eating disorder (ED) symptoms regarding sex, age, and competitive level categories and examine the correlation and contribution of coach behavior, body satisfaction, and goal orientation to the development of ED symptoms in different subgroups. A total of 335 active Croatian taekwondo athletes, with a mean age of 14.7 years, among whom were 132 males and 203 females (range 10–26 yrs, SD = 3.06), completed the Croatian version of the Eating Attitude Test, Figure Rating Scale, Croatian Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire, Negative Coach Behavior Questionnaire, and a questionnaire related to taekwondo practice. The results showed that ED symptoms were more present in female than male athletes (p < 0.001), while there was no statistically significant difference among the age and competitive level categories between elite and non-elite athletes. The risk of ED was significantly correlated (p < 0.001) with taekwondo athletes’ body dissatisfaction, coach pressure, and task goal orientation. In general, regression analyses showed that athletes’ body image dissatisfaction (β = 0.310; p < 0.001), coach pressure on diet and weight (β = 0.156; p < 0.005), and athletes’ task goal orientation (β = 0.120; p < 0.032) are statistically significant predictors that explain the variance in ED symptoms in Croatian taekwondo athletes. The culture of taekwondo sports represents a risk factor for ED development.

Background and Study Aim. Researchers rarely focus on documenting parental experiences at sport tournaments. Therefore, our purpose was to document parent cardiovascular, metabolic and emotional responses to watching their child compete while also paying attention to their thoughts before and after the competition, levels of stress, anxiety, depression, and coping strategies. Materials and methods. Parents, a mother and a father of same female adolescent, wore a device made by Firstbeat Technologies which continuously monitored their heart rate from Thursday evening to Monday evening. The competition was on Saturday, and it was the taekwondo Croatian National Championships for cadets. Their child had two fights: she won the first one and lost the second one. Parents completed a number of questionnaires and two open-ended questions regarding their expectations and overall experience. Results. Before the contest, dad expected his daughter would fight as best she could while giving her best effort. The mother hoped that her daughter would pass the first fight. Parents had a similar pattern of cardiovascular responses to watching their daughter compete but differed in intensity. Emotional profiles of the mother and father changed several times during the measurement period. Overall, parent's experienced low levels of stress, anxiety and depression and used numerous strategies to cope with the event. Conclusions. Although our research only included one pair of parents it suggests that parents experiences during the sport events are complex and worth investigating in future research on larger samples.

Background and Study Aim. Researchers since the late 1970s have been interested in finding out the reasons attributed to outcomes. To facilitate attribution research in Croatia we translated and validated The Revised Causal Dimension Scale (CDS-II) and examined its invariance when attributing most and least successful competition performances. Materials and methods. To achieve our stated aim, 384 kinesiology students completed the translated CDS-II. To test the latent structure of the questionnaire, we used CFA and tested two alternative models (orthogonal solution and model with correlated latent variables). Additionally, we examined the CDS-II invariance when attributing the most and the least successful competition performance in sport using longitudinal CFA. The reliability was tested using Cronbach alpha coefficients. Lastly, we tested differences in latent means between most and least successful performance using pairwise t-test. Results. Similar to the originally published findings, CFA indicated the CDS-II structure with correlated latent variables had an adequate and better fit than the orthogonal solution in both situations. Furthermore, we confirmed configural, metric and scalar invariance, as well as partial strict invariance since one item’s residuals differed significantly from the others. Cronbach alpha coefficients were adequate across both situations. Lastly, athletes attributed their most successful performances to more internal, stable and controllable reasons than their least successful performances. Conclusions. We confirmed that the Croatian version of the CDS-II has adequate psychometric properties and is therefore suitable for research in sport situations. Предпосылки и цель исследования. Исследователи с конца 1970-х годов были заинтересованы в выяснении причин, связанных с результатами. Чтобы облегчить исследование атрибуции в Хорватии, мы перевели и утвердили Пересмотренную шкалу причинно-следственных связей (CDS-II) и изучили ее неизменность при атрибуции наиболее и наименее успешных результатов конкуренции.Материал и методы. Для достижения поставленной цели 384 студента-кинезиолога заполнили переведенный CDS-II. Для проверки скрытой структуры анкеты мы использовали CFA и протестировали две альтернативные модели (ортогональное решение и модель с коррелированными скрытыми переменными). Кроме того, мы исследовали инвариантность CDS-II при определении наиболее и наименее успешных соревновательных результатов в спорте с использованием продольной CFA. Надежность проверялась с использованием альфа-коэффициентов Кронбаха. Наконец, мы проверили различия в скрытых средних между наиболее и наименее успешными результатами, используя попарный t-критерий.Результаты. Подобно первоначально опубликованным результатам, CFA показала, что структура CDS-II с коррелированными латентными переменными имеет адекватное и лучшее соответствие, чем ортогональное решение в обеих ситуациях. Кроме того, мы подтвердили конфигурационную, метрическую и скалярную инвариантность, а также частичную строгую инвариантность, поскольку остатки одного элемента значительно отличались от других. Коэффициенты альфа Кронбаха были адекватными в обеих ситуациях. Наконец, спортсмены объясняли свои наиболее успешные выступления более внутренними, стабильными и контролируемыми причинами, чем наименее успешные выступления.Выводы. Мы подтвердили, что хорватская версия CDS-II обладает адекватными психометрическими свойствами и поэтому подходит для исследования в спортивных ситуациях. Передумови та мета дослідження. Дослідники з кінця 1970-х років були зацікавлені в з'ясуванні причин, пов'язаних з результатами. Щоб полегшити дослідження атрибуції в Хорватії, ми перевели і затвердили Переглянуту шкалу причинно-наслідкових зв'язків (CDS-II) і вивчили її незмінність при атрибуції найбільш і найменш успішних результатів конкуренції.Матеріал і методи. Для досягнення поставленої мети 384 студента-кінезіології заповнили переведений CDS-II. Для перевірки прихованої структури анкети ми використовували CFA і...

Successes and failures are integral outcomes to the sport experience. Based on decades of research, how athletes process both outcomes influence their thoughts, emotions, and subsequent achievement endeavors. Attribution theory details three dimensions as to the causes of success and failure. Since the 1980s, attribution theory has found a home in sport psychology literature. However, research across countries requires valid and reliable questionnaires. One such country is Croatia where attribution research is scant. Thus, in a Croatian combat athlete sample, we examined athletes’ attributions for the most and least successful performances via retrospection. Croatian athletes (N = 154) from three combat sports (judo, karate, and taekwondo) who all competed at least once on an international stage completed the Croatian Causal Dimension Scale-II, answered in reference to a specific reason for their best and worst competitive experience. Results showed that the combat sport athletes attributed their most and least successful competitive achievement to psychological reasons more than other reasons (i.e., general preparation and physical preparation). Furthermore, based on a series of two-tailed paired samples t-tests and the nonparametric equivalent, Wilcoxon signed rank test, the participants made, from small to medium in meaningfulness (Cohen’s d), more internal (d = 0.30), stable (d = 0.56), personal (d = 0.30), and external (d = 0.21) controllable attributions for success than for failure (all t-test p-values < 0.01). Our results suggest the athletes made the self-serving attribution bias across both the success and failure competitive events. Our results contribute to better understanding of specific reasons for success and failure and the attribution dimensions explaining the competitive outcomes in competitive combat sport. Specific to Croatian sport, our results provide Croatian combat sport with theory driven research applicable to improving development of Croatian combat athletes on the international stage.

Cardiovascular and Energy Requirements of Parents Watching Their Child Compete: A Pilot Mixed-Methods Investigation