Based on self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000), an experimental study with middle school students participating in a physical education task and a correlational study with highly talented sport students investigated the motivating role of positive competence feedback on participants' well-being, performance, and intention to participate. In Study 1, structural equation modeling favored the hypothesized motivational model, in which, after controlling for pretask perceived competence and competence valuation, feedback positively predicted competence satisfaction, which in turn predicted higher levels of vitality and greater intentions to participate, through the mediation of autonomous motivation. No effects on performance were found. Study 2 further showed that autonomous motivation mediated the relation between competence satisfaction and well-being, whereas a motivation mediated the negative relation between competence satisfaction and ill-being and rated performance. The discussion focuses on the motivational role of competence feedback in sports and physical education settings.

The objective of this investigation was to evaluate and expand the goal-orientation model of depression vulnerability proposed by B. M. Dykman (1998), which posits that a performance orientation creates a vulnerability to depression through repeated failure. This hypothesis was tested in 5 studies with students in Grades 5 and 6. A performance-approach goal orientation was associated positively with achievement, effort, and persistence and negatively with anxiety and depression. Stress and causal components of the theory were supported by results of structural equation modeling, which suggested that negative affect, low achievement, and depression are correlates of performance-avoidance goals. Empirical evidence supported the hypothesis that early negative effects of a performance-approach orientation may be due to the presence of avoidance motivation. Findings suggest that dichotomizing performance goal orientations is instrumental to a sound understanding of motivation, achievement-related processes, and depression.

The present study examined the link between attachment, social support and well-being in young and older adults. The results from multi-group path analyses showed significant between-group differences in the links between attachment, perceived support and well-being. Anxious attachment and well-being were inversely associated and this was stronger for the younger group than it was for the older group. Avoidant attachment was negatively related to perceived support satisfaction in the older age group only, and perceived support mediated the effects of avoidant attachment on mental health and loneliness in the older group. Generally, perceived satisfaction with support was more strongly related with well-being in older adults. The results point to differential links of insecure attachment styles with perceived support in different life-stages and to related cognitive, emotional and social processes.

The present study assessed the impact of sample size on the power and fit of structural equation modeling applied to functional brain connectivity hypotheses. The data consisted of time-constrained minimum norm estimates of regional brain activity during performance of a reading task obtained with magnetoencephalography. Power analysis was first conducted for an autoregressive model with 5 latent variables (brain regions), each defined by 3 indicators (successive activity time bins). A series of simulations were then run by generating data from an existing pool of 51 typical readers (aged 7.5-12.5 years). Sample sizes ranged between 20 and 1,000 participants and for each sample size 1,000 replications were run. Results were evaluated using chi-square Type I errors, model convergence, mean RMSEA (root mean square error of approximation) values, confidence intervals of the RMSEA, structural path stability, and D-Fit index values. Results suggested that 70 to 80 participants were adequate to model relationships reflecting close to not so close fit as per MacCallum et al.'s recommendations. Sample sizes of 50 participants were associated with satisfactory fit. It is concluded that structural equation modeling is a viable methodology to model complex regional interdependencies in brain activation in pediatric populations.

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To avoid potential delays in ASD diagnosis, clinicians should consider ASD in young children presenting with ADHD symptoms.

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