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Objectives: The purpose of this study was to document the technical and transferrable skills required for sport scientists, and perceived employment opportunities both currently and in the future with a particular emphasis on comparisons between academic and applied sport scientists.Design: Cross-sectional survey methodology.Methods: 117 Australian sport science employees completed an online survey capturing demographic information, perceptions about the importance of technical skills, transferable skills, future employment opportunities as well as free-text information on future careers, challenges, and opportunities for the profession. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise information and comparisons made between academic and applied sport science participants.Results: Participants were predominantly male and 35 years or younger, with half reporting they held only one position within the industry. Most technical and transferrable skills were rated as important (>4.0 out of 5.0), with practitioner-focused skills rated somewhat more important by applied sport scientists compared to scientific-focused skills rated somewhat more important by academics, and applied sport scientists generally rating transferable skills as more important compared to academics (d > 0.5). Value and supply/demand were identified as challenges to the industry with discipline-specific roles and non-elite populations considered areas for future jobs.Conclusions: Participants felt there would be more jobs in the future and that these would be in discipline-specific roles and/or non-elite populations. Both technical and interpersonal skills were considered important for sport scientists. The greatest challenges are how sport science is valued and the potential oversupply of sport science graduates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to provide a profile of the demographics and employment characteristics of the Australian high performance and sport science workforce.Design: This study used a cross-sectional, quantitative survey methodology to collect data about the Australian high performance and sport science workforce.Method: 175 Australian high performance and sport science employees completed an online survey which captured demographic information and work-related characteristics such as role, industry sector, income, permanence of employment and hours worked. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise information and some comparisons were made between position titles, industry sectors and sexes.Results: The Australian high performance and sport science workforce is predominantly male (76.0%), ≤35 years of age (50.3%), located on the eastern seaboard of Australia (69%) and have been in their current position for 2-5 years (37.4%). They are mostly employed on a fixed term contract of 2.4 years, by an institute of sport. Income varied, with those working in professional sporting clubs and/or employed as high performance managers earning the highest wage. On average, participants worked well over their contracted hours, with a considerable proportion of these hours outside the standard 9-5 working week.Conclusions: Employees in the high performance and sport science workforce in Australia face significant professional issues that relate to long and unusual work hours, job insecurity and income disparity. Policy makers and the managers of this workforce should consider the impact of these issues on work-life balance, staff retention rates and the risk of burnout. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Objective A previously successful community-based obesity prevention intervention with a focus on school settings was expanded into new communities with varying contexts. In order to understand the complexities involved in implementing health promotion activities in schools, this study examined experiences of school staff and project officers including barriers, contextual factors and achievements. Methods School environment assessments were conducted in schools across four Victorian communities with school staff ( n = 1–5 staff plus a trained researcher per group in 9 primary and 8 secondary schools) 12–18 months post-intervention. Process reports from project officers were also reviewed and analysed ( n = 4). Results School staff commonly reported time pressures as a barrier to implementation and project officers working within schools reported competing priorities and limited health promotion experience of staff; lack of stakeholder engagement; low participation in some activities and insufficient implementation time. Contextual factors included community socioeconomic status, student ethnicity and living rurally. Achievements included student and staff enjoyment from programme activities, staff capacity building, partnerships, embedding activities into existing infrastructure and programmes, and having consistent health-related messages repeated through a variety of strategies. Conclusions Community-based interventions with a focus on school settings need to consider system level, organisational and contextual (i.e. socioeconomic, ethnicity, family and town characteristics) factors when expanding previously effective strategies into new communities. Implementation benefits may have added whole of school benefits in addition to child health. Focussing on overcoming the challenges experienced in this complex initiative is required for future interventions. Trial registration ACTRN12609000892213. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objectives: Adolescent mental disorders remain a relatively neglected area of research, despite evidence that these conditions affect youth disproportionately. We examined associations between physical activity, leisure-time screen use and depressive symptoms among Australian children and adolescents. Design: Large cross-sectional observational study. Methods: Self-reported physical activity and leisure-time screen behaviours, and depressive symptoms using the Short Mood and Feeling Questionnaire were assessed in 8256 students aged 10–16 years (mean age=11.5 years, SD=0.8). Results: Thirty three percent of the sample reported moderate to high depressive symptoms, with rates higher among females (OR=1.18; 95% CI: 1.02, 1.36; p =0.001). Increased opportunities to be active at school outside class (OR=0.70; 0.58, 0.85; p <0.001), being active in physical education classes (OR=0.77; 0.69, 0.86; p <0.001), greater involvement in sports teams at school (OR=0.77; 0.67, 0.88; p <0.001) and outside of school (OR=0.84; 0.73, 0.96; p =0.01) were all independently associated with lower odds for depressive symptoms. Meeting recommended guidelines for physical activity (OR=0.62; 0.44, 0.88; p =0.007) and, for 12–14 year olds, leisure-time screen use (OR=0.77; 0.59, 0.99; p =0.04) were also independently associated with lower odds for depressive symptoms. Conclusions: Higher levels of physical activity among children and young adolescents, and lower levels of leisure-time screen use among young adolescents, are associated with lower depressive symptoms. Longitudinal studies are needed to understand the causal relationships between these variables. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Objectives: To review the current research on alcohol-related violence and sports participation. Methods: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines were used to identify relevant studies for inclusion. A search of six databases (EBSCOhost) was conducted. Results: A total of 6890 studies was were identified in the initial search. Of these, 11 studies met the inclusion criteria. The majority of the studies were from the US (n =10) and focused on collegiate athletes (n =7), adolescents (n =3), professional/former professional athletes (n =1). Conclusion: The reviewed research indicates higher rates of alcohol use and violence in athlete populations when compared against non-athlete populations. Masculinity, violent social identity and antisocial norms connected to certain sports stand out as potential factors that may impact the association between sport and violence in athlete populations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights: [•] A biopsychosocial model of weight status perception was examined. [•] Biological, psychological, and social variables were associated with misperception. [•] Moderately overweight adolescents are at most risk of underestimating their weight status. [•] Healthy weight boys tended to perceive themselves as underweight. [•] Boys are most satisfied with a perceived weight within the healthy weight range. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Objectives: To examine the relationships between physical activity, sedentary behaviour and body mass index (BMI) among a sample of Australian adolescents. Methods: Anthropometric, demographic and behavioural data were collected from students (n =3040 mean age 14.6, 44% female) from 12 secondary schools in South West Victoria, Australia (response rate=48.6%). The appropriate descriptive, univariate and regression analysis were used to examine the strength of the associations between physical activity, sedentary behaviour and odds of overweight or obese and the effect of interaction between physical activity and sedentary behaviour on odds of overweight and obese. Results: Males were more likely to be active during the school day than females and had higher median hours of screen time per school day. Physical activity during the school day was associated with higher standardized BMI (BMI-z) among males. Higher levels of activity after school were associated with lower BMI-z for males and females. For both males and females the odds of overweight or obese were higher among the least active. An interaction was observed for females whereby the prevalence of overweight and obesity among the most physically active was lowest for the least sedentary and highest for the most sedentary. Conclusions: The relationships between physical activity, sedentary behaviour and BMI-z were complex. Interventions to reduce BMI through increasing physical activity or decreasing sedentary behaviour need to consider the complex inter-relationships between these variables and moderating factors such as age, sex and socio economic status in their design and interpretation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Active travel (walking or cycling for transport) is an important contributor to adolescents overall physical activity (PA). This study examines associations between personal, social and environmental variables and active travel to and from school using data from a large observational study to examine active travel in 2961 year 6 and 8 students (48.7% male), aged 10–14 years (M=11.4, SD=0.8yrs) from 231 schools. Participants completed an on-line survey and all reported living within 2km of school. Data collected included mode of travel to and from school, self-reported health, and PA variables. Social environmental variables included having playgrounds, parks or gyms close by, feeling safe to walk alone, barriers to walking in the neighbourhood (e.g. traffic, no footpaths), peer and family support for PA, existence of sports teams/scout groups, community disorder and perceived neighbourhood safety. Results showed that while more girls (44.3%) than boys (37.4%) walked to school, lower proportions rode bikes (8.3% vs 22.4%) and hence fewer were active travellers overall. Logistic regression models, adjusted for age, location and socio-economic status were conducted for active travel to/from school, separately for boys and girls. Predictors for boys and girls being ‘active travellers’ to/from school included recreational facilities close to home, higher perceived safety of the neighbourhood and higher community disorder. For boys, social support from friends, scout groups available and higher enjoyment of physical activity was also important. These findings suggest areas for future research and may be used to guide strategies to increase active travel to and from school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2004 Tsunami impacted an estimated 1.7 million people across South Asia. Limited research has examined factors related to resilience following natural disasters among non-Western populations, particularly those from Sri Lanka and little is known on the long-term impacts of the disaster on affected populations. Utilising an 18-item interview guide based on the Multidimensional Trauma Recovery and Resilience Interview (MTRR-I), individual face-to-face interviews were conducted with 37 tsunami-affected adults (76% female, aged 20–71 years, M = 39.0, SD = 12.7) from the Hambantota and Kalutara districts of Sri Lanka six years post-tsunami. Using an ecological framework, interviews explored themes of resilience following trauma, the context of culture on resilience in survivors, and interactions between the individual, situation, and environmental influences on resilience. Thematic analyses were used to explore narratives for themes of resilience. Key themes to emerge were pre-trauma resilience, social resilience, 'made my mind' (mending of broken will), finding meaning in trauma, and hope for the future. Particular emphasis on social aspects of resilience, where survivors gained strength not only from important individuals around them, but also through being resilient on behalf of key persons in their lives was noted. Findings indicated that resilience in persons from collectivist cultures is strongly influenced by social factors and provided understanding of resilience in this cohort across their lifespan. Implications for informing culturally relevant definitions and theory are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Estimating changes in weight from changes in energy balance is important for predicting the effect of obesity prevention interventions. Objective: The objective was to develop and validate an equation for predicting the mean weight of a population of children in response to a change in total energy intake (TEI) or total energy expenditure (TEE). Design: In 963 children with a mean (±SD) age of 8.1 ± 2.8 y (range: 4-18 y) and weight of 31.5±17.6 kg, TEE was measured by using doubly labeled water. Log weight (dependent variable) and log TEE (independent variable) were analyzed in a linear regression model with height, age, and sex as covariates. It was assumed that points of dynamic balance, called "settling points," occur for populations wherein energy is in balance (TEE = TEI), weight is stable (ignoring growth), and energy flux (EnFlux) equals TEE. Results: TEE (or EnFlux) explained 74% of the variance in weight. The unstandardized regression coefficient was 0.45 (95% CI: 0.38, 0.51; R2=0.86) after including covariates. Conversion into proportional changes (time1 to time2) gave the equation (weight2/weight1) = (EnFlux2/EnFlux1)0.45. In 3 longitudinal studies (n = 212; mean follow-up of 3.4 y), the equation predicted the mean follow-up measured weight to within 0.5%. Conclusions: The relation of EnFlux with weight was positive, which implied that a high TEI (rather than low physical activity and low TEE) was the main determinant of high body weight. Two populations of children with a 10%difference in mean EnFlux would have a 4.5% difference in mean weight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Hybrid revascularization (HyR), combining minimally invasive left internal mammary artery (LIMA) bypass grafting to the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) and catheter interventional treatment of the remaining coronary lesions, avoids the disadvantages associated with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). We investigated the clinical follow-up of 57 patients with multivessel disease undergoing this procedure in the last 4 years.Methods. Between January 1997 and January 2001, 57 consecutive patients (41 men and 16 women, aged 65.7 ± 7.9 years) with coronary artery disease (two-vessel, n = 34; three-vessel, n = 23) were treated with off-pump LIMA-to-LAD bypass combined with balloon angioplasty and stenting of the remaining significantly obstructed (> 50%) coronary vessels. Clinical follow-up data included a early postoperative and a 6-month control angiography and a patient interview in January 2001.Results. All patients underwent LIMA-to-LAD bypass-grafting and balloon angioplasty in 72 coronary lesions without procedural-related complications. However, one early LIMA bypass occlusion was documented during coronary angiography. Postoperatively no deterioration of preexistent organ dysfunction was observed in any patient. The mean follow-up was 100.7 ± 37.9 weeks in 55 of 57 patients (97%). Control angiography 6 months after HyR (n = 34) revealed a patent LIMA bypass in 33 patients and 8 in-stent restenoses (> 50%) in the coronary arteries that were treated interventionally by re-PTCA (n = 6) or by conventional CABG (n = 1). In 1 patient medical treatment resulted in significant reduction of angina so no further intervention was considered necessary. After HyR 1 patient died 18 months later of an intracerebral hemorrhage. All other patients are alive and doing well.Conclusions. Our results indicate that in selected patients with multivessel disease including left main stem stenosis HyR is an effective and secure procedure with excellent early and good midterm results. Especially elderly patients with severe concomitant diseases appear to benefit from this approach by avoiding CPB. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objective To examine associations between indicators of social disadvantage and emotional and behavioral difficulties in children aged 4-7 years. Study design This cross-sectional study was based on data collected in a questionnaire completed by parents of children enrolled in their first year of school in Victoria, Australia, in 2010. Just over 57 000 children participated (86% of children enrolled), of whom complete data were available for 38 955 (68% of the dataset); these children formed the analysis sample. The outcome measure was emotional and behavioral difficulties, assessed by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire Total Difficulties score. Logistic regression analyses were undertaken. Results Having a concession card (a government-issued card enabling access to subsidized goods and services, particularly in relation to medical care, primarily for economically vulnerable households) was the strongest predictor of emotional and behavioral difficulties (OR, 2.71; 95% CI, 2.39-3.07), followed by living with 1 parent and the parent's partner or not living with either parent (OR, 1.93; 95% CI, 1.58-2.37) and having a mother who did not complete high school (OR, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.11-1.45). Conclusion These findings may assist schools and early childhood practitioners in identifying young children who are at increased risk of emotional and behavioral difficulties, to provide these children, together with their parents and families, with support from appropriate preventive interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Preventing adolescent alcohol use is an international public health priority. To further understand adolescent alcohol use, this study tested a model of adolescent intention to consume alcohol that incorporated multiple social systems influences.Methods: Participants included 2529 Australian secondary school students (Mage = 14.20; 53.7% female). Participants completed a survey about risk and protective factors for alcohol use at individual, family, school and community levels. Structural Equation Modeling (path analysis) was used to evaluate an extended Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) that incorporated social system determinants of intention to consume alcohol.Results: The final model explained 60% of the variance in adolescent alcohol use intention. All TPB constructs correlated with intention and experience of lifetime alcohol use. More exposure to information about alcohol use had a weak but significant influence on adolescents' stronger perceived behavioral control. Having less friends who use alcohol, stricter parental rules for adolescent alcohol use, and unfavorable parent attitudes towards alcohol use, were associated with stronger adolescent anti-alcohol attitudes and subjective norms. Community level pro-abstinence attitudes predicted unfavorable adolescent attitudes to alcohol and intention to consume alcohol. Parental rules showed significantly stronger influences on alcohol use intention amongst younger adolescents.Conclusions: Key social systems around adolescents significantly predicted intention to consume alcohol, and the extended TPB model explained the major variance in adolescent alcohol use. The findings emphasize the importance of multi-level approaches to the prevention of alcohol use. Situation-based factors that could trigger impulsive emotional response may be a future intervention focus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]