Sports Participation, Health Behaviours, and Body Fat during Childhood and Early Adolescence: A Multiple Mediation

Effects of middle-aged and elderly people's self-efficacy on health promotion behaviors: Mediating effects of sports participation

Objective

This study explores the relationship between self-efficacy, sports participation, and health promotion behavior for middle-aged and elderly people. Therefore, it provides a theoretical reference for improving the quality of life for middle-aged and elderly adults and promoting a healthy lifestyle for the elderly.

Methods

A total of 591 (men: 36.2%; women: 63.8%; age: above 50 years) middle-aged and elderly adults from five cities of Henan Province were selected as the research objects by convenient sampling. The self-efficacy, sports participation, and health promotion behavior scales were used for the questionnaire survey. Amos24.0 was used to test the structural equation model, intermediary function test, and bootstrap analysis. Results: The self-efficacy of middle-aged and elderly people positively impacted health promotion behavior. The path coefficient was 0.439. Sports participation played a partial intermediary role between self-efficacy and health promotion behavior (χ 2/df = 1.785, root mean square error of approximation = 0.036, root mean square residual = 0.021, goodness-of-fit index = 0.967, comparative fit index = 0.976, Tucker-Lewis Index = 0.971) The proportion of intermediary effect was 26.34% (0.100, 0.225).

Conclusion

(1) Self-efficacy can significantly and positively affect health promotion behavior for middle-aged and elderly people; (2) sports participation plays a partial intermediary role between self-efficacy and health promotion behavior. From this point of view, we can enhance the self-efficacy of middle-aged and elderly people and improve their healthy life behavior by advancing sports participation. Thus, it provides theoretical support and practical guidance for promoting national health.

A comprehensive model of disordered eating among aesthetic athletic girls: Exploring the role of body image-related cognitive fusion and perfectionistic self- presentation

The incidence of disordered eating among athlete populations is considerably higher than in the general population. Less well understood is the body image-related emotional processes that might lead to disordered eating attitudes and behaviours, specifically among aesthetic athletic girls. Thus, the aim of the present study was to explore the role that body image-related cognitive fusion plays in disordered eating, and the mediating role of body image-related perfectionist self-presentation on this relationship, in aesthetic athletic girls. This study comprised 142 young female athletes from aesthetic sports, who completed self-report measures. A path analysis was conducted to explore the proposed theoretical model, while controlling for age and zBMI. The path model revealed an excellent fit and explained 71% of the severity of disordered eating. Results showed that body image-related cognitive fusion influences disordered eating behaviours, through the mechanism of body image-related perfectionist self-presentation, even when controlling for age and zBMI. Findings suggested that, in aesthetic athletic girls, the entanglement in body image-related thoughts may be associated with the need to present a perfect body image to others, which may lead to disordered eating attitudes and behaviours, adopted as a means to control weight and body shape. The present study highlights the relevance of body image-related processes in disordered eating and suggests the importance of educational programmes that target the development of more adaptive emotion regulation strategies concerning body image in athletes, particularly from aesthetic sports.

Evaluation of Health-Habits with the S.M.A.R.T. Questionnaire: An Observational Study

The civil education approach uses sports practise as a preventive intervention to increase self-awareness and to help modulate emotion in adolescents. Indeed, sports participation results in a better quality of life, more favourable cardio-metabolic and sleeping profiles and a healthier body composition. Adolescents involved in sport activities also report a higher level of social and emotional skills, and reduced mental health distress. However, the Italian school’s program provides only two hours weekly of physical education, with lack of options and participation. In alignment with the civil educational approach, the research team aims to develop a predictive sport, movement, eating habits, relationships and technologies (S.M.A.R.T.) questionnaire to identify the youths that present a higher risk of delinquency. The following research aims to explore preliminary data from 501 adolescents completing the S.M.A.R.T. The results show that the female group (n = 260) was healthier than the male group (n = 241); particularly, the female group demonstrated a higher level of self-awareness in the use of technologies (p < 0.05). Our results produce the first data set on a cohort of young adolescents in Italy using the S.M.A.R.T. questionnaire. The questionnaire possesses a high response rate and should now be implemented towards validation.