Search

The twofold aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between toddlers' physical and social spontaneity, as well as to investigate the interaction effects of gender, geographical background, and mother's occupational status on preschoolers' playfulness. Participants were 650 preschool children (353 boys, 297 girls), attending kindergartens in Northern Greece. A segment of Preschool Children's Playfulness Scale (Barnett, 1990, 1991a,b) along with a demographic characteristics questionnaire was used to collect the data. Results indicated that (a) there is a strong positive relationship between a toddler's physical and social spontaneity, and (b) male toddlers, who live in rural areas and whose mother is occupied as a farmer, are characterized by the highest levels of physical and social spontaneity. The theoretical and practical implications of the present findings are discussed, and recommendations are made for future research.

Lifelong physical activity is one goal of physical education. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a 9-week designed intervention in physical education at promoting elementary school students' intention for physical activity. The intervention was based on the creation of a task-oriented motivational climate during physical education via two teaching styles. The sample (n = 157) was assigned to control (n = 96) and two intervention (n = 39 and n = 22) groups. The intervention groups exhibited statistically significant greater intention for being physically active after the program. These findings indicate that an appropriate design of physical education could support students' physical activity outside the educational framework.

Background: Mental disorders in terms of depression, anxiety, and stress are one of the major causes of burden globally. Over the last two decades, the use of plant-based substances in the treatment of mental disorders in combination or not with medication has increasingly attracted the interest of the scientific research community. However, even if there is a plethora of naturally occurring bioactive compounds, most of them have low bioavailability, rendering them unable to insert into the bloodstream to exert their biological activities. Methods: This is a comprehensive narrative review that critically summarizes and scrutinizes the new approaches to the treatment of mental disorders using curcumin, also highlighting its bioavailability properties. The most accurate were searched using effective and relevant keywords. Results: This narrative review reveals substantial evidence that curcumin can exert significant effects on several mental disorders. However, despite the low cost, the extensive and confirmed potency of curcumin and its involvement in signaling pathways and the scientifically confirmed data regarding its molecular mechanisms of action against mental disorders, this naturally occurring compound presents low oral bioavailability. Pharmaceutical technology has provided solutions to increase the bioavailability of curcumin. Combination with piperine, galactomannosides, liposomal formulation or nanoformulation overcomes the bioavailability and solubility disadvantages. Conclusions: Although curcumin demonstrates anti-anxiety, anti-depressive and anti-stress properties, studies on humans are limited and heterogeneous. Further research is highly recommended to determine the most functional formula, dose, duration, and possible side effects of curcumin on mental disorders in humans. Based on the current knowledge, the curcumin nanoformulation and Theracurmin, a form of colloidal submicroscopic particles, seem to be the most effective bioavailable formulations, which may be examined in future clinical human studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION: In recent times, doping's prevalence in sports has gained substantial recognition, sparking a concerted effort from researchers, policymakers, and sports bodies to underscore the critical role of impactful anti-doping education initiatives. OBJECTIVES: An exhaustive examination of current literature underscores a critical requirement for advanced educational interventions that can effectively combat the multifaceted challenges presented by doping across the spectrum of competitive and recreational athletes. METHODS: In response to this exigency, this paper introduces an innovative paradigm to redefine anti-doping education through the fusion of virtual reality (VR) technology. This proposed approach seeks to leverage VR's immersive potential, offering dynamic and interactive learning experiences that authentically mirror the complexities surrounding doping decisions. RESULTS: The technical evaluation methodology for the VIRAL application was designed to provide a thorough assessment of its technical components and user experience. Overall the VR application scored 7,4 out of 10 regarding its technical aspects and characteristics. CONCLUSION: By immersing athletes within lifelike scenarios, VR education aims to provide a nuanced understanding of the psychological and emotional facets associated with doping, all within a secure and controlled environment. However, while the potential of VR in anti-doping education is promising, it also necessitates addressing technical, ethical, and usability considerations, an aspect that this paper further explores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigated the beliefs of athletes and sport stakeholders about whistleblowing against doping in elite competitive sport. Semi-structured interviews took place with five elite athletes, five coaches and five sport directors, from both team and individual sports in Cyprus. Three themes were identified through thematic analysis and reflected issues pertaining to: (a) understanding whistleblowing, (b) facilitating factors and barriers to whistleblowing, and (c) aspects of a reliable and transparent reporting system. Our findings corroborate previous research on whistleblowing against doping in sport, and provide novel insights about the beliefs, attitudes, and concerns of sport stakeholders, such as coaches and sport directors, about the feasibility of existing whistleblowing policies and processes. The policy and practice implications of our findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whistleblowing against anti-doping rule violations and related misconduct has been recognized as an important deterrent of doping behaviour in competitive sport. However, research on whistleblowing against doping is scarce and the available studies have focused on small samples using qualitative and inductive approaches. The present study used quantitative methods to assess, for the first time, the association between self-determined motivation, achievement goals, sportspersonship orientations and intentions to engage in whistleblowing against doping misconduct. A total of 992 competitive athletes from Greece (n = 480) and Russia (n = 512) completed structured measures of self-determination, achievement goals, sportspersonship orientation beliefs, and intentions to report doping misconduct. Latent profile analysis classified athletes into clusters consistent with the theoretical predictions. One-way analyses of variance further showed consistently across countries that autonomous motivated athletes reported higher intentions to whistleblow, and athletes with higher scores in achievement goals and sportspersonship orientations had significantly higher scores in whistleblowing intentions, compared to those with lower scores in these characteristics in both countries. This is the first study to demonstrate the association between motivational regulations, achievement goals, sportspersonship beliefs, and whistleblowing intentions. The theoretical and policy implications of our study are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communities of practice have been suggested to provide an ideal teaching structure that can promote knowledge and skill development. Existing evidence on clean sport education indicates that several educational interventions against doping have been developed so far. However, stakeholders and researchers are not always informed about them. This results in poor coordination of anti-doping efforts made by organizations and stakeholders. The present paper proposes and implements an alternative approach to clean sport education by enabling synergies between academic experts and coaches interested in being informed about clean sport education. More specifically, this paper describes for the first time a face-to-face Community of Practice for Clean Sport Education. The aim of the implemented community of practice was to assist coaches to be better educated about anti-doping. The implementation of a Community of Practice for Clean Sport Education confirmed the ability of this teaching approach to effectively engage coaches in anti-doping education. Participants in the community of practice showed an increased interest in learning more about antidoping education and set specific learning goals, were helped to better identify what they would prefer to learn, received resources that they were not aware of, were committed to learning about anti-doping and developed a network of people interested in anti-doping. Overall, the community of practice was effective in mobilising people to engage in awareness-raising activities and increase their knowledge about clean sport education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chemically-assisted performance enhancement (CAPE), which involves the use of substances in order to prevent illness or improve performance and appearance, is a recent trend of our society. CAPE has been extensively investigated in competitive sports, however, there is only limited evidence with respect to other life domains such as work and study. The objective of the present paper is to describe the protocol of a study that will address the above-mentioned gaps in the literature. The study involves a longitudinal evaluation of predictive factors derived from the Theory of Triadic Influence and Goal Systems Theory. The study aims to: a) propose a sound and comprehensive theoretical model that will include the commonalities of the manifestation of CAPE behaviours across different settings and b) highlight the conceptual differences that are necessary to be taken into account for tailor-made intervention in these settings. The study is expected to assist in the development of a comprehensive understanding of performance enhancement behaviours across different life domains. The longitudinal design of the study and the breadth of the measured variables are considered as an asset that will contribute to understanding commonalities and conceptual differences in performance enhancement behaviours across different life domains and provide the evidence base for tailor-made intervention in these domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Successful smoke-free legislation is dependent on political will, enforcement and societal support. We report the success and pitfalls of a non-enforced nationwide smoke-free legislation in Greece, as well as ways in which compliance and enforcement-related factors, including ashtrays and signage, may impact indoor secondhand smoke (SHS) concentrations. Methods: A follow-up study of venues (n = 150, at baseline, n = 75 at 2-year follow-up) in Greece assessed indoor particulate matter with a diameter less than 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5) concentrations attributable to SHS smoke every six months for two years (n = 455 venue/measurements). Results: Following the implementation of the 2010 smoke-free legislation, mean PM2.5 concentrations attributable to SHS fell from 175.3 µg/m3 pre-ban to 84.52 µg/m3 immediately post-ban, increasing over subsequent waves (103.8 µg/m3 and 158.2 µg/m3 respectively). Controlling for potential influential factors such as ventilation, time of day, day of week, city and venue type, all post-ban measurements were still lower than during the pre-ban period (Wave 2 beta: −118.7, Wave 3 beta: −87.6, and Wave 4 beta: −69.9). Outdoor or indoor signage banning smoking was not found to affect SHS concentrations (beta: −10.9, p = 0.667 and beta: −18.1, p = 0.464 respectively). However, ashtray or ashtray equivalents were strong determinants of the existence of indoor SHS (beta: +67 µg/m3, p = 0.017). Conclusions: While the public may be supportive of smoke-free legislation, adherence may decline rapidly if enforcement is limited or nonexistent. Moreover, enforcement agencies should also focus on the comprehensive removal of ashtray equivalents that could act as cues for smoking within a venue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]