This study explored the associations between leadership and relationship constructs, as well as psychological safety in athletes’ perceptions of flourishing and thriving. A total of 166 participants (males = 87; female = 79) from team sports completed a survey measuring athletes’ perceptions of coach transformational leadership behaviours, coach–athlete relationship quality, team psychological safety, flourishing and thriving. A covariance-based structural equation modelling was employed. The analysis indicated that coach transformational leadership served as an antecedent to both team psychological safety and coach–athlete relationship quality. The analysis further highlighted that both relationship quality and psychological safety predicted athletes’ flourishing and in turn thriving. Collectively, these findings suggest that coaches as leaders have a significant role to play in creating an environment that athletes feel valued, connected, confident and comfortable. In such environments, coaching becomes a process where coaches and athletes are fully integrated and sport becomes a worthwhile (inter)personal pursuit.

Objective: This study investigated the association between body dissatisfaction (BD), addiction to exercise and risk behaviors to eating disorders (EDs) among Brazilian exercise practitioners, besides comparing the variables according to sex, age group and modality. Methods: Participants were 60 exercice practitioners of fitness (n = 44) and crossfit (n = 16), with mean age of 26.58 ± 7.76 years. Data collection was conducted through Eating Attitudes Test-26 (EAT-26), Diagnosis of Orthorexia Questionnaire (ORTO-15), Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ) and Scale of Dedication to Exercise (SDE). Data analysis was conducted through Kolmogorov-Smirnov and independent t tests, Pearson correlation, and Path Analysis (p < .05). Results: Main results showed the association between BD, addiction to exercise and risk behaviour for EDs. Further, individuals dissatisfied with their bodies showed higher level of addiction to exercise and risk behavior for EDs. Furthermore, women showed higher presence of BD than men, and fitness participants reported higher presence of addiction to exercise than crossfit practitioners. Conclusions: This study revealed that BD seems to be a determinant factor for risk behavior for ED’s and addiction to exercise among fitness and crossfit particpants.

Background: The passing decision-making performance in volleyball is important because it determines the quality of a team’s attack. However, no study has analysed the effect of imagery training on passing decision-making performance in young volleyball athletes. Purpose: The objective was to analyse the effect of eight weeks of imagery training on passing decision-making performance. Method: Participants were 33 young male athletes (under 17 years [U-17]). Participants were randomly assigned to two groups: experimental (EG, n = 17) and control group (CG, n = 16). The CG watched videos of advertisements, while EG participated in the imagery training. A cognitive-general imagery programme was adopted, that asks the athletes to imagine themselves executing passes during a competitive event (e.g. reception of the service with variations of speed and displacement, pass to middle attacker, pass to other attackers, and pass with projection of the body on the ground). The passing decision-making was evaluated in a simulation of a volleyball official game. The analysis of actions was based on the Game Performance Assessment instrument. A heart rate monitor was adopted as an indicator of the autonomic nervous system response during the sessions for the EG and CG. Results: The results revealed a group versus intervention interaction (p < .01) for the passing decision-making, with improvement only in the EG (p = .01). A statistically significant difference in heart rate was identified between the groups (p = .01), with a higher value in the EG. Conclusions: It was concluded that imagery training enhanced passing decision-making performance.

Introduction: Resilience is a positive psychological characteristic that reflects an individual's capacity to better perceive, deal with, and overcome adversity; the sports environment is replete with adversities, which increase athletes' stress levels and may lead to undesirable outcomes. Objective: To analyze the impact of resilience levels on stress and recovery in athletes. Methods: Subjects were 150 athletes (aged 22.46 ± 5.97) of both sexes (92 men and 58 women) who competed in the 2012 Paraná Open Games in different sports (107 in team and 43 in individual sports). Instruments were the Recovery-Stress Questionnaire (RESTQ-76 Sport) and a resilience questionnaire (CD-RISC-10). The following tests were used for data analysis: Kolmogorov-Smirnov normality test, Spearman Correlation Coefficient and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). Results: The model significantly explained stress and recovery variability in 20% and 22%, respectively; age-predicted resilience was 11%; the model invariance test indicated a significant influence of sex and type of sport (multi-group analysis). Conclusion: Resilience plays an essential role in coping with and recovering from stress in competitive sports contexts, which is considered a determinant of success. Level of Evidence II; Retrospective study.

This research adapted the Life Skills Scale for Sport (LSSS) into Portuguese and provided evidence for its construct validity. Study 1 included four translators and five academics who developed a Portuguese version of the LSSS (P-LSSS). During this study, evidence for the content and substantive aspects of construct validity was provided using an expert panel and 25 sports participants. Study 2 included 413 participants that completed the P-LSSS. Within this study, evidence for the structural aspect of construct validity was provided via factor analyses. Study 3 included 134 participants who completed the P-LSSS and a measure of motivation. This study provided evidence for the external aspect of construct validity, with results showing more self-determined motivation had positive relationships with participant’s life skills development. Overall, our findings provided evidence for the construct validity of P-LSSS scores. Researchers and practitioners can use the P-LSSS to assess life skills development within sports participants.

It seems that dehydration may impair decision-making performance in athletes. Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the influence of dehydration on passing decision-making performance in soccer players. Method: Participants were 40 male soccer players (M_age = 22.3 ± 2.3 years) who agreed to participate in the study and were randomly assigned to the following conditions: control (CON), dehydration (DEH), and euhydration (EUH). The players played in 2 games of 90 min in duration (2 45-min halves) followed by 2 15-min halves (overtime) with and without proper hydration. The Game Performance Assessment Instrument (GPAI) was considered for the analysis of passing decision making. Results: The GPAI analysis indicated effective reduction in the decision-making index in the DEH condition compared with the EUH and CON conditions, F(2, 38) = 31.4, p < .05, ES = 0.8. Conclusions: In conclusion, dehydration may be considered a mediating factor in the passing decision-making performance of male soccer athletes.