Spanish Version of the Sport Satisfaction Instrument (SSI) Adapted to Physical Education // Versión española del “Sport Satisfaction Instrument (SSI)” adaptado a la Educación Física

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of the motivational climate created by the coach and perceived by a group of young high-performance handball players on their sport motivation, self-determination, sport psychological needs and sport commitment. The study participants were 479 young handball players. The age range was 16–17 years old. Players were administered a battery composed of a Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire, Sport Motivation Scale, the Basic Psychological Needs in Exercise Scale and Sport Commitment Questionnaire to measure the above-mentioned theoretical constructs. Results showed that the handball players showed high levels of a task-involving climate, of basic psychological needs satisfaction and of self-determined motivation and commitment. Higher levels of basic psychological needs such as autonomy and competence were associated with a higher task-involving climate, self-determined index and sport commitment (task-involving climate–basic psychological needs (β = 0.55; 95% IC 0.387/0.682; p = 0.001); Ego-involving climate–basic psychological needs (β = 0.06; 95% IC −0.069/0.181; p = 0.387); Basic psychological needs–self-determined index (β = 0.48; 95% IC 0.376/0.571; p = 0.001); Self-determined index–commitment (β = 0.58; 95% IC 0.488/0.663; p = 0.001). The obtained model showed that basic psychological needs mediated the association between a task-involving climate and self-determination, and self-determination mediated the association between basic psychological needs satisfaction and commitment.

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of the motivational climate created by the coach and perceived by a group of young, high-performance handball players on their fear of failure and precompetitive anxiety. The study participants were 479 young handball players. The age range was 16–17 years old. Players were administered a battery composed of a Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire, a Performance Failure Appraisal Inventory, and Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2R, to measure the aforementioned theoretical constructs. Using structural equation modelling (SEM), the results showed that the handball players experienced high levels task-involving climate and moderate values of self-confidence. In contrast, players experienced lower levels of ego-involving climate, fear of failure, and cognitive and somatic anxiety. The obtained model shows that fear of failure positively mediates the association between an ego-involving climate with both cognitive and somatic anxiety, and negatively in terms of self-confidence. In contrast, fear of failure does not mediate the associations between a task-involving climate and both somatic and cognitive anxiety and self-confidence.

This review aimed to synthesize evidence regarding interventions based on heart rate variability (HRV)-guided training for VO_2max improvements in endurance athletes and address the issues that impact this performance enhancement. The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL Complete, the Web of Science Core Collection, Global Health, Current Contents Connect, and the SciELO citation index were searched. Inclusion criteria were: randomized controlled trials; studies with trained athletes enrolled in any regular endurance training; studies that recruited men, women, and both sexes combined; studies on endurance training controlled by HRV; studies that measured performance with VO_2max. A random-effects meta-analysis calculating the effect size (ES) was used. Moderator analyses (according to the athlete’s level and gender) and metaregression (according to the number of participants in each group) were undertaken to examine differences in ES. HRV-guided training and control training enhanced the athletes’ VO_2max (p < 0.0001), but the ES for the HRV-guided training group was significantly higher (p < 0.0001; ES_HRVG-CG = 0.187). The amateur level and female subgroup reported better and significant results (p < 0.0001) for VO_2max. HRV-guided training had a small (ES = 0.402) but positive effect on endurance athlete performance (VO_2max), conditioned by the athlete’s level and sex.

The purpose of the study is to examine the effects of the motivational climate created by the coach and perceived by a group of young handball players on their goal orientations, their beliefs regarding reasons for success and their self-satisfaction. The study participants were 159 young handball players. Players were administered a battery composed of tests to measure the above-mentioned motivational constructs. Results showed that a perceived mastery-oriented motivational climate was positively related to a task-centered goal orientation, enjoyment, and a belief that success may be achieved through effort. In contrast, a perceived performance-orientated training climate was linked to an ego-centered goal orientation, boredom, or lack of enthusiasm, and a belief that the routes of success in this sport are the abilities and the use of deception techniques. On the whole, this study underlines the educational role of the coach in young handball players. Specifically, the coach’s socializing role influences both handball player’s commitment and positive motivational profile as well as sport performance.