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ABSTRACTDespite the growing body of literature in the field of athletes’ self-compassion over the past decade, studies with a focus specifically on men athletes are limited. In addition, although previous research suggests that differential representations of masculinities may impact men’s self-compassion uniquely, the link between men athletes’ self-compassion and masculinities is understudied. With masculinity-based negative evaluations being the source of many difficult experiences for men athletes, perhaps self-compassion can mitigate the impact of men’s challenges in sport. Thus, our research purpose was to explore men athletes’ lived experiences of self-compassion through the lens of masculinity. We recruited 16 men athletes (Mage = 21.4 years; SD = 3.7) to participate in two semi-structured interviews with a reflexive photography task between interviews. The results of our study are framed within two overlying categories (i.e., masculinity, self-compassion), with multiple themes in each category. Our findings suggest that the men athletes in our study generally represent a version of masculinity that is accepting of non-traditional representations of masculinity (e.g. homosexuality), and they were open and willing to accept and embrace self-compassion, particularly if it helps them improve their sport performance. We conclude that self-compassion can be a useful resource for men athletes, and future research should focus on developing and evaluating the effectiveness of a self-compassion intervention, with considerations given to the potential role of masculinity in men’s difficult sport experiences, tailored specifically for men athletes.

ABSTRACTSport participation can be a highly rewarding experience for young women. However, it can also involve unpleasant experiences such as failing to meet performance goals and threats to body image, which may detrimentally impact athletes’ well-being. Body image is salient for women in sport and can also be a source of suffering/challenge. Treating oneself with compassion has been suggested as a resource to buffer against negative outcomes of failure and inadequacy in sport. Bodyself-compassion may be especially relevant in sport as it consists of a kind and non-judgmental attitude towards the body despite perceived physical imperfections. The purpose of this study was to explore the role of body self-compassion in adolescent women athletes’ performance perceptions and emotional well-being. Seven women athletes (14–17 years old) participated in two, one-on-one semi-structured interviews and a journaling activity. Interviews and journal data were analyzed using a holistic approach to thematic analysis. Four themes were developed that capture the athletes’ perceived role of body self-compassion: (a) Compassion for and confidence in my body, (b) “Their’ thoughts and my body, (c) I will play to my potential, and (d) My strength is in my emotions. The women athletes explained that body self-compassion allows them to respect and treat their bodies with kindness; thus, positive emotions such as satisfaction with the body were strengthened and an adaptive focus placed on performance. These findings are consistent with the conceptualization of self-compassion and body self-compassion and suggest that being body self-compassionate may regulate emotions and sport performance perceptions.

AbstractSelf-compassion represents a shift in how to support performance and well-being in sport, and there has been recent attention directed toward the construct in both research and applied domains. To inform next steps in research and practice, we have reflected on self-compassion intervention and practice based on the current state of the literature and present key considerations for progressing understanding of self-compassion in sport. For the potential of self-compassion in supporting performance and well-being to truly be understood and harnessed, it is necessary to be strategic in addressing remaining fundamental questions.

Self-compassion is a healthy way of relating to the self when experiencing emotional pain, personal failure and difficult life experiences. However, there is limited research to date in the area of self-compassion and sport even though recent investigation shows it might act as a potential buffer to painful emotions for athletes. The purpose of this study was to explore and present narratives of six young women athletes (15–24 years) from a variety of sports about their experiences of emotional pain and self-compassion. Each woman took part in two individual semi-structured interviews, one of which involved reflexive photography. They were asked to reflect on a difficult experience with a personal failure in sport, followed by discussions around the potential role of self-compassion in their experiences. The interviews, combined with reflexive photography, helped build rich narratives organised around the following themes: (1) Broken bodies, wilted spirits, (2) why couldn’t it have been someone else? (3) I should have, I could have, I would have and (4) fall down seven, stand up eight. Their narratives also suggested that while self-compassion can potentially be beneficial for athletes if developed and learned properly, concerns were expressed that being too self-compassionate may lead to mediocrity. Further research is needed on young women athletes’ difficult emotional experiences in sport, and more specifically on the role that self-compassion plays as both a potential facilitator and barrier to emotional health and performance success in sport.

Regardless of the level of sport competition, setbacks are inevitable and can promote stress, requiring effective coping skills. Well-developed coping skills are required for athletes to not only reach their performance potential, but also to have healthy sport experiences. The purpose of the present study was to further explore setbacks and coping in sport experienced by a group of high-performance women athletes. Through exploration of their experiences, relevant setbacks and resultant coping efforts were identified, providing insight into the effectiveness of resources for this population, as well as areas of stress and coping deserving more attention. Using a phenomenological orientation, five high-performance women athletes were interviewed about their experiences with setbacks in sport. Thematic analysis revealed that poor performance, performance plateau and injury were common setback experiences. Managing setbacks involved having a positive approach, dealing with self-criticism, using social support and striving for balance. Results speak to the importance of considering the implications and challenges presented by setbacks when attempting to promote effective coping among athletes. Additionally, unique approaches, such as fostering mindful or self-compassionate perspectives, may positively add to coping skill resources through targeting issues that the athletes identified as particularly challenging.

To examine: i) the mean changes in adolescent females’ body mass index (BMI), global self-esteem, physical self-perceptions, social physique anxiety, physical activity, and dietary restraint; ii) the stability of measuring self-perceptions, BMI, selfesteem, physique anxiety, activity, and dietary restraint; and iii) the relationships among changes in these variables over 12 months. 631 female adolescents (15–16 years old) involved in a two-year study of selfreport measures completed validated questionnaires in high school classroom settings. There were small but significant group increases in BMI and social physique anxiety and significant decreases in sport, conditioning, and strength physical selfperceptions and physical activity. Stability analysis indicates moderate to strong stability for all variables. Change analyses indicated that BMI, due to its high stability, is a poor predictor of change in all variables. Stronger significant correlations were noted between change in body appearance self-perceptions and change in social physique anxiety (r=-0.54) and dietary restraint (r=-0.27). There was also a significant relationship between change in physical activity and the physical self-perceptions, although conditioning was the only significant (p<0.05) predictor of change in physical activity (ß=0.340). Physical self-perceptions are a stronger predictor of change in physical activity, dietary restraint, and social physique anxiety compared to BMI. This demonstrates the importance of physical self-perceptions when investigating health-related behaviours associated with dieting and physical activity. The decline in physical activity and increase in BMI is an ongoing concern, as is the link between body appearance self-perceptions and dietary restraint and social physique anxiety. Examiner i) les changements moyens de l’indice de masse corporelle (IMC), de l’estime de soi générale, de l’autoperception du corps, de l’angoisse sociale liée au physique, de l’activité physique et des restrictions alimentaires chez les adolescentes; ii) la stabilité des mesures de l’autoperception, de l’IMC, de l’estime de soi, de l’angoisse liée au physique, de l’activité et des restrictions alimentaires; et iii) les liens entre l’évolution de ces variables sur 12 mois. Des questionnaires validés ont été remplis en classe à l’école secondaire par 631 adolescentes (de 15 et 16 ans) participant à une étude de deux ans sur les mesures d’autodéclaration. Nous avons constaté des augmentations collectives mineures, mais significatives, de l’IMC et de l’angoisse sociale liée au physique, ainsi que des baisses significatives du sport, de la forme physique, de l’autoperception de la force et de l’activité physique. Selon une analyse de stabilité, toutes les variables présentent une stabilité moyenne à élevée. Selon des analyses du changement, l’IMC, en raison de sa stabilité élevée, est un piètre prédicteur de changement, quelle que soit la variable. Nous avons noté des corrélations significatives plus importantes entre le changement dans l’autoperception de l’apparence physique et le changement dans l’angoisse sociale liée au physique (r=-0,54) et les restrictions alimentaires (r=-0,27). Il existait aussi un lien significatif entre le changement dans l’activité physique et l’autoperception du corps, bien que la forme physique soit la seule variable prédictive significative (p<0,05) du changement dans l’activité physique (ß=0,340). L’autoperception du corps est un prédicteur plus solide que l’IMC pour ce qui est des changements dans l’activité physique, les restrictions alimentaires et l’angoisse sociale liée au physique, ce qui en fait un outil important pour l’étude des comportements sanitaires associés aux régimes et à l’activité physique. La baisse de l’activité physique et la hausse de l’IMC sont des préoccupations de longue date, tout comme le lien entre l’autoperception de l’apparence physique et les restrictions alimentaires et l’angoisse sociale liée au physique.

Objective: To investigate the relationship among BMI, smoking consumption, dietary restraint, smoking to control weight, physical self-perception and self-esteem in young female adolescents. Methods: 702 grade 9 students (14–15 yrs old) completed self-reported validated measures in classroom settings. Results: 26.7 % of students had smoked in the last 30 days. Cigarette consumption was low with only 13% smoking one or more cigarettes a day. MANOVA revealed smokers had higher dietary restraint and lower perceptions of physical appearance, conditioning, and self-esteem. A similar pattern emerged for those girls classified as using smoking to control weight. Multiple regression found dietary restraint was predicted by higher BMI, and lower body appearance and self-esteem. Conclusions: The data provided converging evidence that girls with low self-perceptions are more likely to engage in health-compromising behaviours. Smoking behaviours and dietary restraint were also linked. However, the small effect sizes for smoking behaviours warrants caution. Objectif: Étudier le lien entre l’IMC, la consommation de tabac, les restrictions alimentaires, le tabagisme comme méthode de contrôle du poids, l’image corporelle et l’estime de soi chez les jeunes adolescentes. Méthode: 702 élèves de 9e année (14 à 15 ans) ont rempli un questionnaire autoadministré en classe. Résultats: 26,7 % des élèves avaient fumé au cours des 30 jours précédents. Cette consommation était faible: seules 13 % des répondantes avaient fumé quotidiennement une cigarette ou plus. Une analyse de variance à plusieurs variables a révélé que les fumeuses s’imposaient des restrictions alimentaires plus élevées et avaient des perceptions plus négatives de leur apparence physique et de leur conditionnement et une moindre estime de soi. Nous avons dégagé une tendance semblable chez les filles disant fumer pour contrôler leur poids. Par régression multiple, nous avons constaté que les restrictions alimentaires s’accompagnaient d’un IMC supérieur et d’une apparence physique et d’une estime de soi inférieures. Conclusions: Les données tendent à montrer que les filles qui ont une piètre image corporelle sont plus susceptibles d’adopter des comportements nuisibles pour la santé. Le tabagisme et les restrictions alimentaires seraient également liés. Toutefois, la faible ampleur de l’effet du tabagisme incite à la prudence.

This article reports three studies that investigated psychometric properties of the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Older Children (PAQ-C). The PAQ-C is a guided self-administered 7-day recall measure designed to assess general physical activity levels during the school year for children in grades four and higher. Study one, with 215 students ranging in age from 9 to 15 yr, found the PAQ-C had acceptable item and test score characteristics such as item distribution, corrected item-total correlations, and internal consistency. Study two, involving 84 students ranging from 9 to 14 yr, indicated acceptable levels of test-retest reliability for both males (r = 0.75) and females (r = 0.82) after 1 wk. The third study used Generalizability theory to investigate the reliability for using the average of either two or three PAQ-C scores collected during fall, winter, and spring seasons. Based on the responses of 200 students ranging from 8 to 16 yr, generalizability coefficients exceeded 0.80 for either the average of two or three responses for both younger (<13 yr) and older subjects. In all three studies, the PAQ-C demonstrated acceptable internal consistency and males were significantly more active than females. These results provide preliminary support for the PAQ-C as a cost efficient method of assessing general levels of children's physical activity during the school year.