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Poor sleep quality resulting from experiencing anxiety, and low adherence to sleep hygiene behaviours, may lead to poorer academic engagement. The aim of the current study was to elucidate the associations between anxiety, sleep hygiene, sleep quality, and academic engagement of university students. Participants (N = 614) comprised students attending a major university in Australia (n = 329) and Hong Kong (n = 285). A two-wave correlational design was utilised. At Time 1 (T1), anxiety was measured using the anxiety subscale of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 21 (DASS-21) and sleep hygiene behaviour was assessed with the Sleep Hygiene Index (SHI). One month later, at Time (T2), sleep quality was measured with the self-report Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) global sleep quality score and academic engagement was measured using the shortened Utrecht Work Engagement Scale – Student version (UWES-S). Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the associations among study constructs. Analyses found that in both the Australia and Hong Kong samples the model showed good fit to data for the observed effect sizes. In both samples, anxiety predicted sleep quality and effects were mediated by sleep hygiene. Also, the indirect effect of anxiety on academic engagement via sleep hygiene and sleep quality was significant, and fully mediated the effects of anxiety on academic engagement in both samples. Results indicate that students with higher anxiety tend to have lower adherence to sleep hygiene behaviours and experience poorer sleep quality which, in turn, negatively affects their academic engagement. Key Points What is already known about this topic: (1) Students are expected to spend large amounts of time studying and display a high level of engagement with their academic programme. (2) Academic engagement is linked to students' academic achievement and wellness. (3) Academic disengagement has been linked to poor sleep hygiene behaviours and high levels of anxiety. What this topic adds: (1) The impact of anxiety on sleep quality was associated with sleep hygiene behaviours, and the impact of anxiety on academic engagement was associated with sleep hygiene behaviours and sleep quality. (2) The model predicting academic engagement from anxiety mediated by sleep hygiene and sleep quality was similar in both Australian and Hong Kong students. (3) Findings may signpost possible avenues for the development of interventions aimed at improving university students' sleep quality and academic engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study evaluated the construct validity, internal consistency reliability, discriminant, and concurrent validities, along with the measurement invariance of the Brief Self-Control Scale (BSCS) among 1,216 Chinese participants, including 241 adult athletes, 412 adolescent athletes, 253 adult students, and 310 adolescent students. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) supported the construct validity of the 8-item two-dimensional BSCS model, combining restraint and non-impulsivity. Cronbach's alpha and composite reliability coefficients supported the internal-consistency reliability of the 8-item two-dimensional BSCS. Multi-group CFAs demonstrated the 8-item two-dimensional BSCS to be invariant at both configural and metric levels for all samples. Moreover, the restraint and non-impulsivity subscales exhibited discriminant validity and were also distinct from the conceptually related conscientiousness construct. Finally, it was revealed that the restraint component was positively associated with optimal sports performance of both adult and adolescent athletes, while non-impulsivity was only positively correlated to that of adolescent athletes. Both BSCS components had a positive association with academic performance of adolescent students. In conclusion, the 8-item two-dimensional BSCS is verified to be a reliable and valid measurement of trait self-control in Chinese athletes and students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aims of this study were to assess the cross-cultural invariance of athletes' self-reports of mental toughness and to introduce and illustrate the application of approximate measurement invariance using Bayesian estimation for sport and exercise psychology scholars. Athletes from Australia (n = 353, Mage = 19.13, SD = 3.27, men = 161), China (n = 254, Mage = 17.82, SD = 2.28, men = 138), and Malaysia (n = 341, Mage = 19.13, SD = 3.27, men = 200) provided a cross-sectional snapshot of their mental toughness. The cross-cultural invariance of the mental toughness inventory in terms of (a) the factor structure (configural invariance), (b) factor loadings (metric invariance), and (c) item intercepts (scalar invariance) was tested using an approximate measurement framework with Bayesian estimation. Results indicated that approximate metric and scalar invariance was established. From a methodological standpoint, this study demonstrated the usefulness and flexibility of Bayesian estimation for single-sample and multigroup analyses of measurement instruments. Substantively, the current findings suggest that the measurement of mental toughness requires cultural adjustments to better capture the contextually salient (emic) aspects of this concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The current study aimed to examine the mediation effects of experiential acceptance, cognitive defusion, decentering, and nonattachment on the paths from mindfulness to athlete burnout, subjective well-being, and flourishing among elite athletes. Methods: Chinese elite athletes (n = 515; 225 females) were recruited from three provincial sports centers representing 22 sports. The athletes completed self-reported measures of mindfulness, experiential acceptance, cognitive defusion, decentering, and nonattachment, athlete burnout, subjective well-being, and flourishing. Path analyses were conducted to test the mediation effects from mindfulness to athlete burnout, subjective well-being, and flourishing. Results: Path analyses revealed that the effect from mindfulness to athlete burnout was mediated by experiential acceptance, cognitive defusion, and nonattachment, but not decentering. The effect from mindfulness to subjective well-being was mediated by decentering, cognitive defusion, and nonattachment, but not experiential acceptance. The effect from mindfulness to flourishing was mediated by decentering and nonattachment, but not experiential acceptance and cognitive defusion. Conclusion: Findings from this study provided empirical support for the changing mechanisms regarding how mindfulness leads to adaptive and maladaptive outcomes, which can inform future mindfulness-based interventions for elite athletes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]