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Purpose: Athletes struggle with bone stress injuries despite the many risk factors reported in previous studies. However, the relationship between body weight measurement frequency and risk of stress fractures has yet to be investigated. Thus, the purpose of this study is to seek the link between body weight measurement frequency and the occurrence of stress fractures. Method: This cross-sectional study included female athletes who were requested to fill out an anonymous online survey regarding their personal background, including the history of amenorrhea and stress fractures. In addition, the frequency at which they measured their body weight and composition and whether they had to report the same to their coaches and seniors were asked. Results: A total of 172 collegiate female athletes for 28 different types of sports participated in this study. Among the included athletes, 35.7% had a history of amenorrhea, whereas 29.7% had a history of stress fractures. A total of 57.0% of the athletes answered that in their team, they measure their body weight on a regular basis, and 33.1% of the athletes answered that they reported the data to their coaches. Logistic regression analysis revealed that those who measured their body weight at least once a day had a higher risk of sustaining stress fractures than did those who measured their body weight less than once a day (OR = 2.36, 95% CI 1.06-5.27, p = .04). Conclusion: Body weight measurement frequency was associated with the risk of stress fractures in female collegiate athletes.
RESUMEN
The optimization of athletes' wellbeing has been increasingly considered essential both in the academic and practical fields of high-performance sports. Various organizations, such as the International Olympic Committee, have highlighted its importance, particularly mental health. Moreover, the increased attention to athlete wellbeing in sport policy debates at the national level has led to the development and implementation of a support system for athletes' mental wellbeing in some countries. Nevertheless, the literature is limited to understanding the case of Japan. Interestingly, only 0.8% of the literature is available on "athlete" and "wellbeing" in Japanese compared to English journals up to 2019. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify (a) the current state of wellbeing of Japanese university student-athletes, (b) the level of knowledge about athlete wellbeing, and (c) the athletes' perception of the availability of wellbeing support in the national sports federations, (d) the athlete experience of support services, and develop the types of national support athletes expect and need from the government and national sports federations in the future. As a pilot study, a total of 100 Japanese university student-athletes (43 male, 57 female) from 17 Olympic and seven Paralympic sports completed an online survey. Consequently, the state of their wellbeing was self-perceived as good in all dimensions (i.e., physical, mental, educational, organizational, social, and financial). Moreover, the results showed low recognition of the term "athlete wellbeing" and a lack of knowledge of the availability and accessibility of appropriate support services. The results also showed that Japanese university student-athletes rarely seek help from experts, while 45% indicated "no one" to talk to. Interestingly, however, most athletes considered each dimension of wellbeing important in relation to their performance development. Based on the results, it is necessary to develop an education program, guidelines, and detection systems and improve information accessibility. Given that this pilot study's validity, reliability, and feasibility were verified, further studies should focus more on the wellbeing of Japanese elite athletes in high-performance sports (i.e., Olympic and Paralympic athletes).
RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Empirical studies between anger and anger-provoking cognitive variables in children and adolescents are lacking, despite numerous studies on internalising and externalising problems. AIM: The purpose of this study was to develop new questionnaires for anger-provoking cognitive errors and automatic thoughts, and examine relationships between anger, cognitive errors, and automatic thoughts in children and adolescents. METHOD: Participants were 485 Japanese children and adolescents aged 9-15 years old (254 females; average age 12.07; SD = 1.81). They completed the Anger Children's Cognitive Error Scale (A-CCES) and the Anger Children's Automatic Thought Scale (A-CATS), which were developed in this study, as well as the Anger Scale for Children and Adolescents and the Japanese version of Short Spence Children's Anxiety Scale. RESULTS: Both the A-CCES and the A-CATS had adequate reliability (internal consistency) and validity (face validity, structural validity and construct validity). A hierarchal regression analysis indicated that automatic thoughts were positively and moderately related to anger (ß = .37) after controlling for age, gender, anxiety symptoms, cognitive errors and interaction term. Moreover, a mediation analysis indicated that automatic thoughts significantly mediated the relationship between cognitive errors and anger (indirect effect, 0.24; 95% CI: .020 to .036). CONCLUSIONS: This study developed the new questionnaires to assess anger-provoking cognitive errors and automatic thoughts. In addition, this study revealed that automatic thoughts rather than cognitive errors are associated with anger in children and adolescents.