The interpersonal relationship among the coach, athlete, and parent (C-A-P) in youth sports is a complex and dynamic phenomenon. The evaluation of such interpersonal relationship becomes an important factor in trying to understand the overall youth sports environment. The purpose of this study was to begin the development of a questionnaire to assess the coach-athlete–parent interpersonal relationships in youth sports. To achieve our purpose, two qualitative studies were conducted. In the first qualitative study, 136 research participants completed an online questionnaire asking for statements concerning the C-A-P based on an extensive literature review. In the second phase, a follow up phenomenological study design was conducted. For the phenomenological study, 30 participants (10 coaches, 10 athletes, and 10 youth sports parents) completed in-depth interviews. Based on both qualitative study results, the following three themes emerged: group processes, motivation, and over-involvement. The two qualitative investigations revealed themes and 48 potential questions to be used in developing a C-A-P questionnaire in quantifying the C-A-P results.

Youth sport participation is valued worldwide. Coaches, parents, and athlete youth routinely interact. These interactions impact youth sport participation. To date, only a 48-item measure exits assessing the overall perception of the coach–athlete–parent relationship with the same question set for coaches, parents, and athletes. However, this 48-item measure has not undergone quantitative development. Hence, we sought to assess these 48 items and to further develop a valid and reliable instrument measuring the coach–athlete–parent relationship. To do so, two studies were conducted. In Study 1, 308 participants completed the existing 48-item measure, resulting in 15 items that were fit into two dimensions, positive and negative group processes. In Study 2, 678 participants completed the 15-item measure. After examining the analyses, 11 items remained to form the Positive and Negative Processes in the Coach–Athlete–Parent Questionnaire (PNPCAP). In summary, the PNPCAP is a valid brief measure for assessing interpersonal relationships among coach–athlete–parents in both team and individual sport contexts. Future research is needed to continue to develop the scale for construct validity as well as translate the scale into multiple languages to determine validity in across countries.

The purpose of this 12-month intervention program was to examine parent–child relationship changes within the sports context. A qualitative interpretative phenomenological analysis was used for the study design. Ten families consented to in-depth interviews. The participants were 10 youth sport parents who had one child each aged 5–6 years. The intervention program involved the participation of all the parents and children. The program integrated psychological, educational, and sports skills into pre-organized sports training sessions. The study results revealed that the intervention program had a positive impact on the parent–child relationship in the sports context. Additionally, the study results suggest that parental involvement in the intervention program positively affected parent–child attachment, the quality of interpersonal relationships between the parent and the child, and effective parenting strategies. Future intervention programs should include both parent and children dyads.

This cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate whether COVID-19 had an impact on people’s (aged 18–74) physical activity distribution, eating, and alcohol consumption habits as well as body mass index. We interviewed 6369 people (4545 women and 1824 men) in Lithuania before the COVID-19 pandemic started and 2392 during COVID-19 (1856 women and 536 men). They were aged 18–74 years. We found that both genders had not stopped their physical activity (PA) completely because of lockdown imitations (for example, prohibition from attending sport clubs), but they started doing different physical exercises at sport clubs. We determined the PA distribution according to the Danish Physical Activity Questionnaire (DPAQ). Despite increases in independent PA and the quantity of light PA, the amount of total energy used in metabolic equivalent of task (MET) units per day decreased significantly for both genders irrespective of age. Although the amounts of sedentary behavior, moderate PA (MPA), vigorous PA (VPA) or a combination of MPA and VPA (MVPA) did not change significantly. Surprisingly, lockdown reduced the duration of sleep for older women but increased their amount of intense VPA (>6 METs). However, the amount of intense VPA decreased for men. Both genders reported overeating less during the pandemic than before it, but did not start consuming more alcohol, and their body mass index did not change. Thus, the COVID-19 in Lithuania represented ‘good stress’ that mobilized these individuals to exercise more independently and overeat less.

We examined the relationship between adolescents' participation in sport activities and their parent and peer attachment, using a quantitative cross-sectional design. Adolescents (1,348; 716 girls and 632 boys) aged 12 to 16 years completed a survey assessing parent and peer attachment in terms of trust, communication, and alienation. Results showed that adolescents not participating in sport scored significantly lower than adolescent athletes on parent attachment, and that involvement in sport activities was important as a factor determining the quality of parent-adolescent relationships. Conversely, adolescents' involvement in competitive sport had no effect on their peer attachment, which indicates that a close relationship with other sport participants does not predict greater peer attachment.

Physical activity (PA) is one of the key components in promoting a healthy lifestyle in children. PA offers a number of health benefits to children and their families. However, a large proportion of children do not meet the current PA guidelines (at least 60 min of PA daily). The problem of insufficient PA could be explained in relation to early childhood when attachment between the child and the parent begins and family habits are formed. As a result, physical inactivity in adolescence is associated with negative health outcomes such as obesity, heart diseases, and cardiometabolic risk. Therefore, this study is aimed at examining the links between adolescents’ engagement in physical activity and their attachment to their mother, father, and peers (trust, communication, alienation) as well as their socio-economic status (SES). We applied a quantitative cross-sectional study design. A total of 835 students aged from 15 to 18 (females = 480 and males = 355, M age = 16.0, SD = 1.1) completed the questionnaire. This study revealed that physical activity had a weak positive correlation to mother (r = 0.13, p = 0.01) and father attachment (r = 0.18, p = 0.01), trust (r = 0.17, p = 0.01), and communication (r = 0.16, p = 0.01) with both parents and a weak negative correlation with father alienation (r = 0.13, p = 0.01). The overall study results show that adolescent communication to father, male gender, a younger age, and a higher SES are important factors in relation to adolescent physical activity.

This study aimed to examine relationships and group differences among adult people’s (aged 18–74) physical activity (PA), expression of stress, depression, emotional intelligence (EI), logical thinking (LT), and overall health assessment. Two hypotheses were formulated before the study. The first hypothesis is that overweight and obesity in young adults (18 to 34 years) females and males, in particular, should increase sharply and this should be associated with decreased PA, abruptly deteriorating subject health, increased stress, depression, and poorer emotion management and EI. Second hypothesis: We further thought that the better people’s reflective thinking, the more they should live a healthier life (e.g., exercise more and eat healthier), their overweight and obesity should be small or none. We aimed to confirm or reject these two hypotheses. We applied a quantitative cross-sectional study design. The study results revealed that during the lifespan of 18–24 and 25–34 years (young adults) there was a sharp increase in overweight and obesity, a decrease in PA (and especially vigorous physical activity (VPA)) (and this was particularly evident in the male), while research participants felt less stress and depression, subjective assessment of health did not change, and EI increased steadily with age (18–24 to 65–74 years). The higher the EI of the research participants from 18–24 to 65–74 years of age the higher their moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), the less stress and depression they felt. Based on the results, it can be said that both females and males prefer PA “with a hot heart rather than a cold mind.” We base this conclusion on the fact that females and males who have the highest EI also have the highest MVPA while LT is not associated with MVPA.

Mood can be considered as a diffuse and global emotional state, with both valence and arousal characteristics, that is not directed towards a specific object. Investigation of moods in specific language and cultural contexts relies on the availability of appropriately validated measures. The current study involved the translation and validation of the Brunel Mood Scale (BRUMS) from English into Lithuanian. The 24-item, 6-factor scale, referred to as the BRUMS-LTU, was administered to 746 participants who were fluent in Lithuanian (nmen = 199 (26.7%), nwomen = 547 (73.3%); age range = 17–78 years, M = 41.8 years, SD = 11.4 years). Confirmatory factor analysis showed an adequate fit of the hypothesized measurement model to the data (CFI  =  0.954, TLI  = 0 .944, RMSEA  = 0 .060 [CI 0.056, 0.064], SRMR = 0.070) and multi-sample analysis supported configural, metric, scalar, and residual invariance across genders. Concurrent measures (i.e., Perceived Stress Scale, Big Five Personality Test) correlated with subscale scores in line with theoretical predictions, supporting both convergent and divergent validity. Internal consistency coefficients of the six subscales were satisfactory. Mood scores varied significantly by gender, with men generally reporting more positive moods than women. Findings support the adequacy of the psychometric properties of the BRUMS-LTU. Thus, the scale can be recommended for use in further psychological studies of mood in Lithuania and may also be useful for applied practitioners.