The present study findings confirm that children are able to learn healthy backpack habits which might prevent future low back pain.

The goal was to assess the relation between the acceptance of using gamesmanship and cheating in sports and the type of motivational climate created by coaches and parents. The sample consisted of 110 soccer, basketball, and handball players from the Balearic Islands competition (70 boys, 40 girls; M age = 14.7 yr., SD = 2.1, range 10-19). As for the motivational climate generated by coaches, task climate was negatively related to the acceptance of gamesmanship and cheating, but ego climate was related to higher acceptance. Motivational climate generated by parents was not related to acceptance of cheating or gamesmanship.

Resumen: El objetivo de este estudio es analizar las relaciones entre la autodeterminación, la disposición de orientación a metas, y el clima motivacional percibido por jóvenes deportistas, así como su impacto sobre los componentes somáticos y cognitivo de la ansiedad competitiva, y sobre la aceptación del uso del engaño y la astucia en el deporte. Se administraron los instrumentos PMCSQ, TEOSQ, BRSQ, CDED y SAS-2 a 270 jugadores de fútbol, balonmano y baloncesto (Media de edad = 14.67; DT = 1.53). Las relaciones de dependencia e independencia probabilística de las variables estudiadas fueron establecidas mediante una red Bayesiana implementada con Netica y Tetrad IV, que fue validada. Posteriormente, se modificaron hipotéticamente los valores de probabilidad de algunas variables dependientes en la red Bayesiana para analizar la variación sobre las probabilidades de las variables independientes. Los resultados muestran diferentes relaciones de dependencia estadística entre la motivación autodeterminada y la motivación de logro, respecto de la ansiedad competitiva, y evidencian una controvertida relación entre los climas motivacionales percibidos y las orientaciones de tarea y de ego de los jugadores. Asimismo, se observa el papel residual de la ansiedad somática y el rol instrumental de la aceptación del engaño y la astucia. Palabras clave: Ansiedad; clima motivacional; redes bayesianas; probabilidades bayesianas; autodeterminación; orientación a metas; deporte juvenil; fútbol.Title: A Bayesian Analysis of the motivation, motivational climate and anxiety in young competitive team players. Abstract: The aim of this study is to analyze the relationship between the self-determinated motivation, the goal orientation and the perceived motivational climate and their impact on the cognitive and somatic components of the competitive anxiety in young athletes, and their acceptance of the use of cheating and gamemanship in sport. We administered PMCSQ, TEOSQ, BRSQ, CDED and SAS-2 to 270 football, handball and basketball players (Mean age = 14.67, SD = 1.53). Probabilistic relationships of dependence and independence of the variables were studied by a Bayesian network (BN), developed using Netica and Tetrad IV. After the validation of the BN, we instantiated hypothetical probability values of several dependent variables in order to analyze the variation of the probability of the independent variables. Results show different statistical dependence relationships between the self-determined motivation and achievement motivation, respect to the competitive anxiety, and also show a controversial relationship between the perceived motivational climate and the task and ego orientation of the players. It also shows the residual role of the somatic anxiety, and the instrumental role of the the use of cheating and gamemanship. Key words: Anxiety; motivational climate; bayesian networks; bayesian likelihoods; self-determination; goal orientation; youth sports; football. IntroducciónDesde los inicios de la psicología del deporte ha ex...

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The athletes’ psychological disposition is a factor that is increasingly considered by researchers as a key to sports performance, even as a mediator between the physical, technical and tactical abilities of the athlete and their competitive performance, thus acquiring great relevance in training and in sports performance. The purpose of this study is to analyze the psychological characteristics of young soccer players and their relation to their performance perception, made both by the player herself and by their coaches. The sample is composed of 108 women ( M age = 15.53, SD age = 1.05), with ages between 13 and 17 years (13 years, n = 1, 14 years, n = 18, 15 years, n = 36, 16 years, n = 29, 17 years, n = 24), and with a sport practice experience of 7.27 years on average ( SD = 2.64). For to address this aim, we used the Psychological Characteristics related to the Sport Performance Questionnaire (CPRD) and the Psychological Skills Inventory for Sports (PSIS). In addition, regarding the evaluation of performance perception, an ad hoc short questionnaire was created, composed by one question addressed to the player and one directed to the coach. The results indicate that the group of players of the under-16 category obtained higher scores in all the psychological dimensions than the U-18 players, showing significant differences in Team Cohesion ( p < 0.048). Regarding the degree of congruence between the player’s psychological features, and the player’s and coach’s performance perceptions, the results show statistically significant and negative correlations between the Team Cohesion factor and the athlete’s own outcome perception for the match #1 (rxy = -0.479; p < 0.001), and match #2 (rxy = -0.402; p < 0.01). The results of this study may contribute to establish the differences between different constellations of psychological characteristics according to the categories of competition and their relationship with the perception of performance. This knowledge can be used by sports professionals: coaches, psychologists, physical educators, etc., in order to help athletes to reach their maximum performance.

Abstract:The aim of this study is to rank some features that characterize the psychological dynamics of cooperative team work in order to determine priorities for interventions and formation: leading positive feedback, cooperative manager and collaborative manager features. From a dataset of 20 cooperative sport teams (403 soccer players), the characteristics of the prototypical sports teams are studied using an average Bayesian network (BN) and two special types of BNs, the Bayesian classifiers: naive Bayes (NB) and tree augmented naive Bayes (TAN). BNs are selected as they are able to produce probability estimates rather than predictions. BN results show that the antecessors (the "top" features ranked) are the team members' expectations and their attraction to the social aspects of the task. The main node is formed by the cooperative behaviors, the consequences ranked at the BN bottom (ratified by the TAN trees and the instantiations made), the roles assigned to the members and their survival inside the same team. These results should help managers to determine contents and priorities when they have to face team-building actions.

This study attempts to analyze the relationship between two key psychological variables associated with performance in sports – Self-Determined Motivation and Competitive Anxiety – through Bayesian Networks (BN) analysis. We analyzed 674 university students that are athletes from 44 universities that competed at the University Games in Mexico, with an average age of 21 years (SD = 2.07) and with a mean of 8.61 years’ (SD = 5.15) experience in sports. Methods: Regarding the data analysis, firstly, classification using the CHAID algorithm was carried out to determine the dependence links between variables; Secondly, a BN was developed to reduce the uncertainty in the relationships between the two key psychological variables. The validation of the BN revealed AUC values ranging from 0.5 to 0.92. Subsequently, various instantiations were performed with hypothetical values applied to the “bottom” variables. Results showed two probability trees that have extrinsic motivation and amotivation at the top, while the anxiety/activation due to worries about performance was at the bottom of the probabilities. The instantiations carried out support the existence of these probabilistic relationships, demonstrating their scarce influence on anxiety about competition generated by the intrinsic motivation, and the complex probabilistic effect of introjected and identified regulation regarding the appearance of anxiety due to worry about performance.