Literature indicates that injured athletes face both physical and psychological distress after they have been injured. In this study, a Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) was utilised as an intervention for use during the period of recovery with injured athletes and, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first study using MBSR as an intervention for this purpose.Objective: The aim of this research was to investigate the role of MBSR practise in reducing the perception of pain and decreasing anxiety/stress, as well as increasing pain tolerance and mindfulness. An additional aim was to increase positive mood and decrease negative mood in injured athletes.Methods: The participants comprised of twenty athletes (male = 14; female = 6; age range = 21–36 years) who had severe injuries, preventing their participation in sport for more than 3 months. Prior to their injury, the participants had trained regularly with their University teams and participated in official university championships. Both groups followed their normal physiotherapy treatment, but in addition, the intervention group practised mindfulness meditation for 8 weeks (one 90-min session/week). A Cold Pressor Test (CPT) was used to assess pain tolerance. In contrast, the perception of pain was measured using a Visual Analogue Scale. Other measurements used were the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS), and Profile of Mood States (POMS).Results: Our results demonstrated an increase in pain tolerance for the intervention group and an increase in mindful awareness for injured athletes. Moreover, our findings observed a promising change in positive mood for both groups. Regarding the Stress/Anxiety scores, our findings showed a notable decrease across sessions; however, no significant changes were observed in other main and interaction effects in both groups.Conclusion: Injured athletes can benefit from using mindfulness as part of the sport rehabilitation process to increase their pain tolerance and awareness. Further research is required to assess whether increasing pain tolerance could help in the therapeutic process.

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- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ AbstractThe hosting of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOPG) brought with it detailed legacy plans aiming to 'Inspire a Generation'. The idea that hosting a sports megaevent will encourage the host population to engage in more physical activity (PA), is commonly used by governments to justify the large investments they made (Frawley and Cush, 2011). The aim of this research paper was to investigate the impact that hosting the 2012 Games had on grass-root sports participation within the host nation. This paper focuses on two non-traditional English sports, Fencing and Judo and investigated the changes in mass sports participation. The membership rate analysis of our sample highlighted an overall increase in participation between 2007-2013, in both Judo and Fencing. The data gathered from the interviews with the head office staff at the National Governing Bodies (NGB's) and local club coaches suggested that the grass-root participation programmes were the most effective way of increasing participation, rather than the reliance, solely on the inspiration effect from hosting the LOPG itself. Finally, the study highlighted the importance of strengthening communication between local voluntary clubs and the NGB, to ensure sports could promote themselves and capitalise on this global sporting phenomenon, which provided unprecedented media coverage and opportunities for these non-traditional sports. This case study provides initial results relating to the effect that a major international multi-sport event can have in the development of non-popular sports in the host population, in terms of membership variations, participation programmes and organisational dynamics.

In recent years, there has been an increased emergence of studies focusing on the media coverage of the Paralympic Games. Until recently, studies have predominately used quantitative content analyses that, although providing useful interrogation of observational patterns, limit the understanding of and appreciation for the contexts that may have shaped the production of information. By focusing exclusively on the “what” and on the “how much,” it is difficult to reveal the “why” and to identify the underlying motives of any changes. This article recognizes the nuances of the editorial decision-making process by using a mixed-methods approach, employing quantitative and qualitative data drawn from a case study focusing on the Spanish media coverage of the 2008 and 2012 Paralympic Games. An initial content analysis of all news published in Spain’s 12 highest circulation newspapers during Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Paralympic Games was undertaken. Subsequently, 15 semistructured interviews were conducted with journalists that were also sent to these two iterations of the Paralympic Games by Spanish media. Drawing on conceptualisations of media framing, the results highlight that the numerical data alone shed insufficient light on the complexity of the news-making process. The semistructured interviews brought to light issues such as editorial management buoyed by commercial imperatives, and organisational interjection in journalists’ narratives and authorship, that also contoured coverage and content. In addition to further debate about the complexities of media coverage of Paralympic sport, the study underscores the utility of incorporating and combining qualitative methodologies within sport media and communication research.

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The way students perceive corrective feedback has repercussions on what they learn and think. Based on the self-determination theory, the aim of this study is to test a model of multilevel mediation that examines the relationships between the perception of corrective feedback with its degree of acceptance (perceived legitimacy) at the team level and the subjective vitality of students at the individual level, mediated by the satisfaction of the three psychological needs, in the context of physical education. The participants were 742 students aged between 10 and 13 years old (52.6% men, 47.4% women) in 29 physical education groups. The results of the multilevel structural equation modeling analysis found at the group (between) level a positive and significant relationship between corrective feedback and perceived legitimacy ( B between = 0.49, p < 0.01), as well as a positive and significant relationship between perceived legitimacy and the needs of competence ( B between = 0.66, p < 0.05) and relatedness ( B between = 0.95, p < 0.01). In addition, there was a positive and significant association between competence and subjective vitality ( B between = 2.06, p < 0.01), and a negative and significant association between relatedness and subjective vitality ( B between = −0.85, p < 0.01). Also, on an individual (within) level, the needs of autonomy ( B within = 0.09, p < 0.05), competence ( B within = 0.27, p < 0.01), and relatedness ( B within = 0.17, p < 0.01) were positively and significantly associated with subjective vitality. Finally, corrective feedback showed a positive indirect effect on subjective vitality through perceived legitimacy and competence, while the indirect effect was negative through perceived legitimacy and relatedness. In conclusion, on an individual level, students who perceive their basic psychological needs to be met in turn, increase their subjective vitality. At the group level, the results are discussed. These findings suggest that teachers might be best advised to ensure that their students accept corrective feedback, by having it couched in a manner that suggests that learning and improvement can follow, and communicated in an autonomy-supporting way.

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