BackgroundThis study was conducted to elucidate the anti-doping (AD) education, doping control experience, and AD knowledge according to the World Anti-doping Code (Code) of Japanese university athletes.MethodsWe collected data from 514 male athletes (Mage = 19.53 years, SD = 1.13) and 629 female athletes (Mage = 20.99 years, SD = 1.07). We asked them about their experience undergoing doping control and the AD education they had received. Then, we assessed their AD knowledge using the World Anti-Doping Agency’s Athlete Learning Program about Health and AD (ALPHA) test.ResultsThe results showed that 2.54% of the participants had undergone doping control. Further, 30.10% received AD education at least once, and 20.82% received AD education more than once. When comparing the ALPHA scores of athletes with/without doping test experience, we observed no significant difference. However, the ALPHA scores of athletes with/without AD education were significantly different; specifically, athletes who received AD education more than once had significantly higher ALPHA scores than non-educated athletes.ConclusionThese results revealed that doping control experience was not related to AD knowledge and that AD education was associated with AD knowledge, suggesting that athletes who receive AD education more than once have more accurate AD knowledge than less educated athletes on this topic. The importance of AD education in promoting understanding of AD according to the Code in sports is highlighted in this study.
Unity is one of the most important factors for individual and team performance in sports. Mental health is also identiˆed an important factor for athletes' sports performance. Scholars have proposed that athletes' mental health is related to resilience, that includes environmental and personal factors. We have hypothesized that unity in sports teams predicts environmental and personal factors of resilience, which in turn relate to athletes' mental health. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to this examine the eŠect of team unity on athletes' mental health, and the mediating eŠect of resilience in its relationship. A total of 626 university athletes (average age 20.08±1.31 years) from 16 sports completed questionnaires. The survey questionnaire comprised the Unity Scale for Sports Teams , the Psychological Resilience Scale for University Athletes (Ueno and Shimizu, 2012) and the General Health Questionnaire-30 (Nakagawa and Daibo, 1985). Relationships between team unity, resilience and mental health were tested, as well as the above hypothesis. Results showed that positive correlations between team unity, athletes' resilience and mental health. Additionally, the results supported the mediation hypothesis of resilience in the relationship between team unity and mental health. The results suggest that interventions aiming to support athletes' mental health should focus on both teams and individual athletes.
The aim of this study was to examine the effects of organizational climate components on unity in sports teams. The participants were 1,095 student athletes who were affiliated with the competitive sports clubs of 16 different sports types. Their average age was 17.85 (SD = 2.10) years. They completed questionnaires to assess the perceived team unity using the Unity Scale for Sports Teams (USST ; composed of "integration for the group: IG", "commitment: Co" and "the total of those: Uni") , and organizational climate with Organizational Climate Questionnaire (OCQ; composed of "discipline centered on the club: DC", "free communication: FC" and "acceptance of innovation: AI") . In the results, the DC score of male athletes was higher than that of female athletes, whereas the FC score of female athletes was higher than that of male athletes. All the subscale scores in both USST and OCQ of high school athletes were higher than those of university athletes. All the USST subscales and the FC scores of athletes with 1-2 years or 3-4 experienced years were higher than those of athletes with 5-9 years or more than 10 years. The scores of 5 subscales with the IG removed of regular or semi-regular athletes were higher than those of non-regular athletes. Additionally, there was a positive correlation between the USST scores
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