International audienceIn the present research, we sought to extend the 3 Â 2 achievement goal model recently proffered in the school domain to the sport domain. We did so by conducting two studies focused on the development and initial validation of the 3 Â 2 Achievement Goal Questionnaire for Sport (3 Â 2 AGQ-S). Study 1 (n ¼ 679), devised items for the questionnaire and demonstrated that data from the questionnaire nicely fit the proposed 3 Â 2 model, showed a better fit to the 3 Â 2 model than to alternative models, and indicated that each goal variable had good internal consistency. Study 2 again documented the strong psychometric properties of the measure, and additionally linked the goal variables to other constructs central to the achievement goal literature. The establishment of this measure allows extensive study of the 3 Â 2 achievement goal model in the sport domain, and promises to yield deeper insights into the nature of achievement motivation in such contexts

International audienc

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The Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) and its version for groups (TSST-G) are the gold standard for inducing acute psychosocial stress in human experimental settings and have been used in numerous studies since the early 1990s. The TSST and the TSST-G lead to effects on different physiological and psychological markers, such as salivary cortisol, anxiety, and emotional states. These effects were assessed with quantitative methods comparing pre-test and post-test measures with statistical analyses. But to date, no qualitative analyses have been conducted to examine the meaningful experience of participants during the TSST and the TSST-G. This study is the first to conduct qualitative investigations to further clarify the stressful experience of participants confronted with these procedures. Preliminary results showed as expected that the TSST and the TSST-G effectively induced psychosocial stress, with cortisol levels, cognitive anxiety, somatic anxiety, and arousal increases, and with pleasure and dominance decreases. At the qualitative level, the results evidenced that the two theoretically stressful components of the TSST and the TSST-G, namely social-evaluative threat and uncontrollability, were experienced as stress-inducing by the participants. Two case studies confirmed these findings. But the results also showed on one hand that psychosocial stress is a dynamic phenomenon, with important fluctuations throughout the tasks (mainly for the TSST-G); and on the other hand that despite the similar physiological and psychological responses between the TSST and the TSST-G evidenced by the literature, the experience of the participants was both similar and specific. Use of a qualitative method allowed us to provide a complementary point of view to understand the meaningful experience of participants during these stressful procedures, apprehending the dynamic of the subjective stress experience without disrupting it.

Background Falls are a common phenomenon among people aged 65 and older and affect older adults’ health, quality of life, and autonomy. Technology-based intervention programs are designed to prevent the occurrence of falls and their effectiveness often surpasses that of more conventional programs. However, to be effective, these programs must first be accepted by seniors. Objective Based on the technology acceptance model, this study aimed to examine the acceptance among older adults before a first use of a virtual reality headset (VRH) used in an intervention program designed to prevent falls. Methods A sample of 271 French older adults (mean age 73.69 years, SD 6.37 years) voluntarily and anonymously filled out a questionnaire containing the focal constructs (perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment, perceived ease of use, intention to use, fall-related self-efficacy, and self-avoidance goals) adapted to the VRH, which was designed to prevent falls. Results The results of the structural equation modeling analysis showed that intention to use the VRH was positively predicted by perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment, and perceived ease of use. Perceived usefulness of the VRH was also negatively predicted by fall-related self-efficacy (ie, the perceived level of confidence of an individual when performing daily activities without falling) and positively predicted by self-avoidance goals (ie, participating in a physical activity to avoid physical regression). Conclusions A better understanding of the initial acceptance among older adults of this VRH is the first step to involving older adults in intervention programs designed to prevent falls using this kind of device.

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Purpose: There is currently no scale assessing test anxiety in physical education (PE), despite the specificities of this class (e.g., body image, failure in front of peers). Accordingly, the aim of the present study was to develop a specific scale named the “Revised Test Anxiety and Regulatory Dimension of Anxiety in Physical Education” (RTAR-PE). Method: Self-report data were collected from 281 (Study 1) and 390 (Study 2) students in French schools (age range: 13–18 years). Results: Study 1 showed that the RTAR-PE scale has acceptable psychometric properties. Study 2 confirmed the results of Study 1 and showed the convergent, discriminant, and predictive validities of the scale. Gender differences were found, with girls showing higher PE test anxiety than boys. Discussion/Conclusion: The RTAR-PE is a newly available scale assessing the different facets of test anxiety in PE (worry, self-focus, bodily symptoms, somatic tension, and perceived control) considering the specificities of this class.

After more than 20 years since the introduction of ecological and dynamical approaches in sports research, their promising opportunity for interdisciplinary research has not been fulfilled yet. The complexity of the research process and the theoretical and empirical difficulties associated with an integrated ecological-dynamical approach have been the major factors hindering the generalisation of interdisciplinary projects in sports sciences. To facilitate this generalisation, we integrate the major concepts from the ecological and dynamical approaches to study behaviour as a multi-scale process. Our integration gravitates around the distinction between functional (ecological) and execution (organic) scales, and their reciprocal intra- and inter-scale constraints. We propose an (epistemological) scale-based definition of constraints that accounts for the concept of synergies as emergent coordinative structures. To illustrate how we can operationalise the notion of multi-scale synergies we use an interdisciplinary model of locomotor pointing. To conclude, we show the value of this approach for interdisciplinary research in sport sciences, as we discuss two examples of task-specific dimensionality reduction techniques in the context of an ongoing project that aims to unveil the determinants of expertise in basketball free throw shooting. These techniques provide relevant empirical evidence to help bootstrap the challenging modelling efforts required in sport sciences.