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We investigated the relationship between coping strategies and attentional bias after a sport competition. We administered the Ways of Coping Checklist (Paulhan, Nuissier, Quintard, Cousson, & Bourgeois, 1994) to 145 athletes immediately after they had participated in a sport competition. We also assessed attentional bias using a dot probe detection task. Results revealed that emotion-focused coping strategies led athletes to orient their attention away from threat, whereas athletes who adopted problem-focused coping strategies focused their attention toward threat. More precisely, problem-focused coping strategies are related to a facilitated detection of threat, not to disengagement difficulties. The vigilance attentional bias seems to be a compensatory strategy to cope with a stressful situation, such as sport competition. (Contains 1 table.)

We investigated the risk-taking behaviors of 302 men involved in high-risk sports (downhill skiing, mountaineering, rock climbing, paragliding, or skydiving). The sportsmen were classified using a typological approach to personality based on eight personality types, which were constructed from combinations of neuroticism, extraversion, and conscientiousness. Results showed that personality types with a configuration of low conscientiousness combined with high extraversion and/or high neuroticism (impulsive, hedonistic, insecure) were greater risk-takers. Conversely, personality types with a configuration of high conscientiousness combined with low extraversion and/or high extraversion (skeptic, brooder, entrepreneur) were lower risk-takers. Results are discussed in the context of typology and other approaches to understanding who takes risks in high-risk domains. (Contains 2 tables.)

Drawing upon Self-Determination Theory, the purpose of our study was to examine the motivational determinants of older women's dropout and participation in physical activity (PA). Older women who dropped out (n = 242) or remained (n = 332) in an organized PA program completed the Sport Motivation Scale as well as health and PA measures. We found that women who dropped out presented lower levels of self-determined motivations and higher levels of amotivation than persistent women. Cluster analyses revealed three motivational profiles among persistent participants: "High Combined" (high levels of self-determined motivation and introjected regulation as well as moderate levels of external regulation), "High Introjected" (moderate scores of self-determined motivation and high introjected regulation as well as low scores of external regulation), and "Moderate Introjected" (low levels of self-determined motivation, moderate levels of introjected regulation, and low levels of external regulation). Our study adds to our understanding of motivational processes and of older women's participation in and withdrawal from PA. It revealed that different motivations could drive active older women's engagement in PA, and it provided support for a person-centered approach in which distinctive combinations of motivations emerged among different groups of active older women. The messages delivered in order to promote PA may account for the multidimensionality of motivation and may be oriented toward different purposes, tapping into different forms of motivation and informing the design of interventions aimed at promoting women's health. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.)

This study aimed to investigate if the impact of both recent and long-term physical activity on age-related cognitive decline would be modified by sex. One-hundred thirty-five men (N = 67) and women (N = 68) aged 18 to 80 years completed the Modifiable Activity Questionnaire and the Historical Leisure Activity Questionnaire. A composite score of cognitive functions was computed from five experimental tasks. Hierarchical regression analyses performed to test the moderating effect of recent physical activity on age-cognition relationship had not revealed significant result regardless of sex. Conversely, past long-term physical activity was found to slow down the age-related cognitive decline among women (β = 0.22, p =.03), but not men. The findings support a lifecourse approach in identifying determinants of cognitive aging and the importance of taking into account the moderating role of sex. This article presented potential explanations for these moderators and future avenues to explore. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2010.00648.x Byline: Johan Caudroit (1), Yannick Stephan (*), Britton W. Brewer ([dagger]), Christine Le Scanff (*) Abstract: The present study aims to identify the processes underlying athletes' psychological disengagement during a competitive event. It was expected that goal attainment would predict psychological disengagement through the mediation of physical self-worth. It was further hypothesized that athletic identity and passion for the activity would be predictors of psychological disengagement. Athletes completed measures of athletic identity, passion, and physical self-worth before a competition; and perceived goal attainment, physical self-worth, and psychological disengagement after a competition. Physical self-worth mediated the relationship between perceived goal attainment and discounting. Obsessive passion and athletic identity were negatively related to devaluing over and above goal attainment and physical self-worth. The study highlights individual and contextual correlates of psychological disengagement in the sport setting. Author Affiliation: (*)Universite Paris-sud XIParis, France ([dagger])Springfield College Article note: (1) Johan Caudroit, Universite Paris-sud XI, JE 2494, Bat. 335, 91405 Orsay cedex, France. E-mail: johan.caudroit@u-psud.fr

The purpose of this research is to explore the relationships between self-image and personality characteristics with cognitive impairment in an isolated group during wintering. Cognitive performance is measured with the Stres Battery (SB), self-image by Abraham's Matrix of Intra- and Inter-Processes in Groups (MIPG), and interpersonal characteristics by the usual personality inventories. Results show that good cognitive performances are related to discordances between the real self and the ideal self and that bad performances are related to harmony between these two images. Moreover, the best cognitive performers have low scores in extroversion and assertiveness. The results are discussed in terms of specific adaptive reactions to wintering.

Purpose: The aims of study were to examine the eating behaviors among 26 professional female tennis players and to assess the diurnal patterns of stress hormones through the measurement of awakening and diurnal profiles of salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) and cortisol concentrations. Methods: Eating behaviors were assessed through three questionnaires (Eating Attitudes Test-26; Eating Disorders Inventory 2; and Body Shape Questionnaire), food intake by a 7-day diet record, and menstrual status by questionnaire. Perceived stress scale and anxiety state were also evaluated. Saliva samples were collected at awakening, 30 min, 60 min, and 12 hr post awakening after 6-days' rest. Results: Forty-six percent of tennis players presented Disordered Eating attitudes (DE) (n = 12) with a lower body mass index, and higher state anxiety as compared with the group without DE. No differences in the Perceived Stress Scale scores were noted. Mean energy intake, protein and carbohydrates intakes were lower (p < .05) in the DE group as compared with the group without DE. Although in both groups, sAA concentrations presented a decrease in the first 30 min after awakening, and then progressively rose toward the afternoon, DE players exhibited reduced concentrations of the sAA with a decrease in its overall day secretion. Moreover, they showed a higher overall day secretion of salivary cortisol and a higher Cortisol Awakening Response. Conclusions: These results suggest that the activity of the sympathetic nervous system is impaired whereas the cortisol awakening response is enhanced. The long-term consequences of these modifications on health remain to be elucidated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The purpose of the current study was to examine the mediating role of self-efficacy in the relationship between subjective age and intention to engage in physical activity (PA) among active older adults. It was expected that subjective age would be positively related to PA intention because it is positively associated with self-efficacy. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 170 older adults age 60-80 years (M = 66.10, SD = 4.78) who completed measures of subjective age, self-efficacy, behavioral intention, self-rated health, and past PA. Results: Bootstrap procedure revealed that self-efficacy partially mediated the positive relationship between feeling younger than one's age and PA intention, while chronological age, self-rated health, and past PA were controlled. Discussion: These results emphasize the need to consider both subjective and objective components of age as correlates of social-cognitive determinants of health behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sensation seeking has been widely studied when investigating individual differences in the propensity for taking risks. However, risk taking can serve many different goals beyond the simple management of physiological arousal. The present study is an investigation of affect self-regulation as a predictor of risk- taking behaviors in high-risk sport. Risk-taking behaviors, negative affectivity, escape self-awareness strategy, and sensation seeking data were obtained from 265 high-risk sportsmen. Moderated hierarchical regression analysis revealed significant main and interaction effects of negative affectivity and escape self- awareness strategy in predicting risk-taking behaviors: high-risk sportsmen's negative affectivity leads them to adopt risk-taking behaviors only if they also use escape self-awareness strategy. Furthermore, the affective model remained significant when controlling for sensation seeking. The present study contributes to an in-depth understanding of risk taking in high-risk sport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated alexithymia and the fluctuation of anxiety in skydiving women. Alexithymia significantly moderated the pre- to postjump fluctuation of state anxiety such that only alexithymic skydivers' anxiety diminished as a consequence of performing a skydive. This suggests that skydiving is an effective means of emotion regulation for alexithymic women. However, the significant rise in anxiety shortly after landing suggests that any emotional benefits are short-lived. No anxiety fluctuations emerged for nonalexithymic skydivers. The Alexithymia × Time interaction remained significant when controlling for age, experience, and trait anxiety. Results are discussed in terms of the potential dependence on risk-taking activities for alexithymic women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]