The purpose of the two studies was to investigate the relationships among student athletes’ identity and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, this study aimed to clarify the relationship between perceived social support from teammates and mental health in student-athletes. Two studies were conducted to investigate and clarify the mental health states of student-athletes in Japan during the COVID-19 pandemic. In Study 1, conducted in April 2020, the participants were 402 male student-athletes and we examined the relationships among student-athletes’ identity and mental health. The results of correlational analyses indicated significant negative correlations between the degree of student-athletes’ identity and depression and sports helplessness. In Study 2, conducted in March 2021, the participants were 135 male student-athletes and examined the relationship between perceived social support from teammates, student-athletes’ identity, and mental health. The results indicated a significant correlation between social support, student athletes’ identity, and mental health.

Esports has been the fastest-growing industry around the globe, as the number of games and prize earnings are dramatically increasing. Esports is defined as competitive sport video gaming; more individuals are beginning to pursue this as a profession. Just like the University of California, Irvine, which offers a program to enhance esports skills and performance, the number of such institutions are expected to increase in this century; yet, research on how individuals effectively optimize esports performance is lacking. Specifically, how teachers or instructors lead players to enhance their esports performance has not been extensively discussed. The review article aimed to introduce two motivational factors that, from the existing movement science and psychological literature, have consistently been demonstrated to enhance motor skills (physical tasks): enhanced expectancies for success and autonomy support. Practical implications for enhancing esports performance and future direction were also discussed.

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a brief version of the Japanese Academic and Athletic Identity Scale (AAIS-JB), which would enable the survey to be easily conducted online nationwide in Japan. In addition, this study determined the centrality of academic and athletic identities in the elite student-athletes with scholarships and the sub-elite student-athletes with no scholarships. Participants ( n = 1009) consisted of student-athletes from 20 universities (5 districts) in Japan, of which 560 were elite athletes (i.e. receiving scholarships) and 449 were sub-elite athletes (i.e. not receiving scholarships). Results showed content validity, factorial validity, and reliability of the brief version of the AAIS-JB. Both athletic and academic identities were significantly higher for the elite student-athletes than for the sub-elite student-athletes. Differences between the elite and sub-elite student-athletes provide important insights into the further development of intercollegiate sports in Japan. Sports administrators and the coaching staffs engaged with student-athletes can support student-athletes by understanding more about the dominant dimensions of their identity to maximize its positive impact on student-athletes.

The purpose of this study was to clarify coaches’ competencies (COM) regarding dual-career (DC) support for student athletes in Japan. The questionnaire survey was conducted at 31 universities with an online survey URL that was distributed to 300 collegiate athletic coaches. In total, there were 152 respondents (female, 19; male, 133; mean age, 43.15 ± 12.07 years; coaching experience, 12.83 ± 9.72 years). The online survey adopted a Japanese-translated version of the Dual-Career Competency Questionnaire (DCCQ), which has been translated into nine languages and is widely used in European counties. The scale consists of six factors and 33 items, each rated on a five-point scale of importance (IM) and possession (PO). The Japanese version of the DCCQ was validated through a confirmatory factor analysis, and the internal consistency of the items was confirmed by calculating the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. In addition, we examined differences between the IM and PO for DC support by t-tests and by calculating effect sizes. The validity and reliability of the Japanese version of the DCCQ were confirmed based on the goodness-of-fit index and Cronbach’s alpha coefficients, respectively. Our examination of the differences between IM and PO in DC support revealed that coaches perceived the importance of DC support but did not possess the necessary COM to offer DC support. That finding was similar to those of previous European studies. In particular, the Japanese coaches who participated in our online survey recognized the importance of COM in terms of “collaboration with various stakeholders and departments” for DC support but did not feel as though they held sufficient COM in that regard. In other words, the improvement of DC support requires the development of a coaching program that fosters COM to work with various stakeholders. This key insight provides a direction and specific focus for programs to improve coaches’ DC support for student athletes.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the 7-item multidimensional Japanese Athletic Identity Measurement Scale (AIMS). Participants: In total, 1514 male Japanese students participated in this study. Measures: Athletic identity was measured using the Japanese AIMS (Hagiwara & Isogai, 2013). Analysis: Scale reliability and validity was confirmed by Cronbach's alpha and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The CFA fit estimation utilized the goodness-of-fit index (GFI), adjusted goodness-of-fit index (AGFI), comparative fit index (CFI), and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA). The results indicated an adequate fit for the Japanese athletes relative to Brewer and Cornelius's (2001) three first-order factors (i.e., social identity, exclusivity, negative affectivity) subordinate to one higher-order athletic identity factor: GFI=.98, AGFI=.94, CFI=.99, RMSEA=.05. The internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) of the items comprising the multidimensional Japanese AIMS was acceptable. This study thus developed a multidimensional Japanese AIMS, which can be used to measure three aspects of a Japanese athlete's identity, thereby potentially providing further insight into his or her identification with the athletic role.