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Self-compassion has demonstrated many psychological benefits (Neff, 2009). In an effort to explore self-compassion as a potential resource for young women athletes, we explored relations among self-compassion, proneness to self-conscious emotions (i.e., shame, guilt-free shame, guilt, shame-free guilt, authentic pride, and hubristic pride), and potentially unhealthy self-evaluative thoughts and behaviors (i.e., social physique anxiety, obligatory exercise, objectified body consciousness, fear of failure, and fear of negative evaluation). Young women athletes (N = 151; Mage = 15.1 years) participated in this study. Self-compassion was negatively related to shame proneness, guilt-free shame proneness, social physique anxiety, objectified body consciousness, fear of failure, and fear of negative evaluation. In support of theoretical propositions, self-compassion explained variance beyond self-esteem on shame proneness, guilt-free shame proneness, shame-free guilt proneness, objectified body consciousness, fear of failure, and fear of negative evaluation. Results suggest that, in addition to self-esteem promotion, self-compassion development may be beneficial in cultivating positive sport experiences for young women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Special Olympics programs provide competitive sport opportunities for athletes with intellectual disabilities. This study investigated athletes' perceptions of motivation in Special Olympics. Using Self-Determination Theory (SDT) as a guiding framework to explore athletes' experiences, 38 Special Olympians (21 males and 17 females) from British Columbia, Canada were interviewed. The data suggested that factors that enhanced autonomy, competence, and relatedness were linked to the participants' motivation in Special Olympics programs. These factors included positive feedback, choice, learning skills, demonstrating ability, friendships, social approval, and fun. Social support from significant others was a key factor related to participation motivation. There was also evidence for the motivating aspects of extrinsic rewards. Motivation was undermined primarily by conflicts with coaches and teammates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study examined whether the distribution of published research papers in the field of sport psychology followed the Lotka-Price Law of scientific productivity. All authors who had published articles in five sport psychology journals from 1970 to 2000 were considered. The impact of those authors was determined by the total number of published papers in all journals. Results provided limited support for the Lotka-Price Law; however, it appeared that the field of sport psychology was less elitist than other fields. Although these findings suggest that productivity in this field is similar to that in other fields of science, more research is needed to shed light on the role of the eminent scientist and the average researcher in the advancement of knowledge in sport psychology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deals with a study which analyzed the perceptions of expert rowing coaches and rowers from Canada on effective coaching behaviors. Methods; Results; Discussion.

This research program examines change in physical self-perceptions, social support, and body-related concerns among overweight women involved in a 12-week dragon boat intervention. Guided by theories of the self and social perceptions and using multiple research methods, the study represents both individual voices and common trends. Women (M age = 42.64, SD = 11.79) who had a BMI of 26 or higher participated in two weekly dragon boating practices. A random selection of 8 women (24%) from the experimental group agreed to participate in semistructured interviews before and after the intervention. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and QSR N6 was used as a data storage tool. Results from the interviews demonstrated that the dragon boat experience provided unique opportunities to improve health and fitness, lose weight (or gain muscle mass), and develop perceptions of sport competence, positive emotions, and motivation. Participation in an activity with other overweight women also provided a context for both social benefits and constraints. The camaraderie, sense of belonging, and having other women as role models were important, but at times were overshadowed by the visibility of the activity and perceptions of negative stereotypes around overweight status. Combined, the findings confirm some of the salient propositions of the self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985) by linking psychological needs of competence, autonomy, and relatedness perceptions to motivation. The results also provide support for contextualized social physique anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]