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According to social facilitation theory the presence of others affects individuals’ sporting performance. Although based on extensive research, the theory has been scarcely tested in real sporting environments. However, audience restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic offered rare opportunities to examine effects of spectators’ presence and absence on football players’ performances. To exploit these opportunities, we collected data on individual players’ performances in the English Premier League (47,541 player performances in matches from the start of the 2017/18 season to 23rd January 2022) and Swedish Allsvenskan (25,249 performances in the 2018-2021 seasons). Results show that players’ performances were significantly better in the presence than in the absence of an audience (and the effect of audience presence was moderated by playing home or away) in the Premier League, but not Allsvenskan. Conversely, the effect of audience presence was moderated by average attendance and average stadium filling in and the relative skill of the opponent in Allsvenskan, but not the Premier League. The differences in results could be at least partly due to contextual differences between the two leagues, particularly in the average quality of players (which is higher in the Premier League). The study extends understanding of the complex nature of social facilitation in football, and highlights needs for further rigorous investigation of the mechanisms underlying the detected effects.

Introduction: Healthcare professionals face high levels of stress and emotional demands, highlighting the need for supportive interventions. This study aimed to explore the experiences of healthcare staff participating in group supervision using the creative method of “taping,” which involves arranging figures and symbols to visualize and reflect on complex work situations.

Methods: This qualitative study included fourteen participants divided into four healthcare work groups. Each group engaged in five to six supervision sessions, after which participants took part in individual interviews. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The study was approved by a local ethical review board.

Results: Three main themes were identified: (1) the significance of group supervision for the workgroup and work environment, (2) enhanced recognition and understanding of emotions and behaviors, and (3) support for behavioral change. Participants described increased trust, improved communication, and greater emotional insight. The taping method was perceived as particularly effective in clarifying challenges and fostering shared understanding through visual representation. It also encouraged collective and individual reflection, goal-setting and strategic action, associated with self-regulated learning.

Discussion: The findings suggest that group supervision using the taping method can enhance well-being, strengthen team cohesion, and promote professional development among healthcare staff. This creative approach appears to facilitate emotional awareness and collaborative learning. Further research with larger and more diverse samples is needed to examine the method's broader applicability and long-term effects.

This study aimed to explore the temporal relationships between psychological states and performance among players in the National Hockey League (NHL). We used an intensive longitudinal design, with 22 players reporting their psychological states daily between 7 February 2024, and 14 March 2024. Performance was measured using Game Score (GS), a composite metric based on weighted performance variables to provide an overall objective measure of individual performance, commonly used by teams in the NHL. Bayesian multilevel models were utilised to analyse the data, focusing on temporal effects between psychological states and performance. The results showed that none of the other psychological states predicted subsequent performance. In the opposite direction, performance predicted several different psychological states the following day, where better performance positively predicted positive states and negatively predicted negative states. In summary, psychological states appear to have a small effect on how NHL players perform, whereas how they perform seem to affect a wide range of psychological states the following day.

Background: Participating in youth sports can benefit individuals’ psychological (e.g., fewer depressive symptoms,improved self-esteem), social (e.g., improved social skills, learning to work with others as a team), and physical health-related outcomes (e.g., higher physical activity levels, lower body fat), aligning with global sustainable developmentgoals. Nevertheless, little is known about the magnitude concerning the effects of youth sport participation on suchhealth-related outcomes compared with nonparticipation over time from childhood to adulthood. In this paper, wesystematically review the extant longitudinal research and estimate the effects of youth sport participation on severalpsychological, physical, and social outcomes compared with nonparticipation.

Methods: Electronic database searches were employed to identify English-language peer-reviewed studies pub-lished from the earliest date until October 4, 2024. By using a priori criteria for inclusion and exclusion, we included46 out of 4588 identified individual studies in the systematic review and 38 of the eligible studies for calculationof Cohen’s d effect size estimates.

Results: Together, the follow-up measurements of the included studies varied from 1 to 54 years after baseline,and the sample sizes ranged from 76 to over 50,000 participants. The meta-analysis revealed that youth sport partici-pation had positive and statistically significant low- to medium-sized effects on physical activity, health and wellbeing,and negative small- to medium-sized effects on unhealthy body composition and mental ill-being over time.

Conclusions This study provides evidence that participating in youth sports can have health-promoting effectsthroughout childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. This advocates for collaborative efforts among national gov-ernments, sport governing bodies, communities, and sports clubs to create an accessible and inclusive youth sportenvironment where young people can thrive and reap the health benefits of sport participation.

Increased stress and poor sleep heighten the risk of severe health issues and impair performance and well-being. Using a mixed-method approach, we analyzed a male head coach’s stress and sleep across an international under-21 championship to assess its impact on mental well-being. The ±2 SD method revealed decreased sleep efficiency during and after the tournament. A semistructured interview was conducted before and after the tournament; thematic analysis was used to construct themes and subthemes. Findings showed a notable decrease in sleep duration during the tournament and an increase afterward, with a marked deterioration in sleep efficiency toward the tournament’s end. Despite over 2 decades of top-level coaching experience and attending coach-education programs, the elite coach faced difficulties separating his work and personal life, adversely affecting his stress levels, sleep efficiency, and mental well-being. Posttournament, he experienced exhaustion and required 3 months for complete recovery.

Objectives: Elite athletes face numerous psychological challenges that can increase their risk of developing mental health problems. Therefore, interventions to promote the mental health of athletes are crucial. Many coaches and sports psychologists use mindfulness and acceptance-based methods to enhance athletes' performance and well-being. This study examined the experiences of elite student-athletes who participated in an online-based mental training programme. The aim was to understand how these students perceive online mental training, identify challenges and opportunities, and assess their impact on coping with challenges and self-reflection.

Methods: A qualitative research design was employed, using semi-structured interviews to capture participants' experiences. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2022). Twenty students from two sports high schools in Sweden completed an online mental training programme based on Gardner and Moore's (2007) Mindfulness-Acceptance-Commitment programme. Ten students participated in semi-structured interviews with four girls and six boys aged 17-19.

Results: Our research yielded four themes: (1) mental training can quickly become demanding, (2) I need to share with someone to develop myself, (3) it can be difficult to talk about the mental aspects, and (4) I now approach the world differently.

In conclusion, coaches and sports psychologists can improve online mental training through personalised feedback, increased interactivity and engagement, the creation of support and community, continuity and regularity, and integration of different methods and techniques in daily activities and practice. Considering these factors, we can adapt online mental training to meet student-athletes needs and optimise their experiences.

The present study examined levels of emotional exhaustion, a key symptom of burnout, in Swedish professional and semiprofessional sport coaches in comparison to the normative values specified in the Maslach Burnout Inventory manual, and to the clinical cutoffs developed by Kleijweg, Verbraak, and Van Dijk. The sample contained 318 Swedish coaches (M_age = 42.7 years, 12% female) working at least 50% full time away from both team (60%) and individual (40%) sports. Our study shows that, in general, coaches in this sample experience lower average levels of exhaustion than normative samples both regarding the Maslach Burnout Inventory and clinical cutoffs. Two groups of coaches did, however, stand out. Coaches living in single households as well as coaches working part time had higher risk of severe levels of emotional exhaustion. These results place coach exhaustion levels in relation to other occupations and highlight that in this sample, the coaching profession does not stand out as more emotionally exhausting than other occupations.

Denna rapport sammanfattar det av Arvsfonden och Riksidrottsförbundet finansierade projektet ”Golf för nya vänner”. Huvudsyftet med projektet var att nå ut med golfsporten till nyanlända och delvis etablerade personer med invandrarbakgrund. Andra delsyften fanns också och de var framförallt att använda att använda golfen för att skapa möjligheter till att få nya sociala nätverk via golfklubbarna och att dessa i förlängningen skulle kunna generera andra utfall som språkträning, kontakter för att få jobb eller bara att få vänner med stark bakgrund i det svenska samhället. Data till projektet har samlats in via intervjuer med nyckelpersoner i och runt projektet samt avstämningar med hur många deltagare olika delar av projektet haft.Sammanställning av den data som finns ser vi att ungefär 20 procent av de som startar i projektet tar grönt kort och ungefär tio procent fortsätter att spela efter det att de tagit grönt kort. Det verkar tydligt att det är lite enklare att få äldre personer att fortsätta spela medan personer under 30 oftare slutar trots att de tagit grönt kort. Ofta ser detta ut att bero på faktorer som inte bara har med vad de tycker om golfsporten att göra utan tidsbrist kopplade till skola, jobb och familj ser ut att spela in. Projektet har haft svårt att nå ut till flickor och kvinnor. Detta är inte unikt för detta projekt varken jämfört med golfen i stort eller idrott för personer med utomeuropeiskt ursprung men ska ändå tas i beaktning. Jämfört med andra liknande projekt som på liknande sätt försökt nå ut till personer utanför golfen och få dem att bli golfare står sig utfallen trots allt bra och de osäkerheterna kopplade till pandemin bör teoretiskt göra att siffrorna från Golf för nya vänner är lägre än de hade kunnat vara. De bi-effekter som vi börjat se i projektet med ”trickle down-effekter” där barn till personer som varit med också engagerats i knatteverksamhet är väldigt intressanta och tyder på att Golf för nya vänner trots allt lyckats sätta stora spår hos vissa deltagare. De engagerade klubbarna har med tiden börjat lära sig strategier för rekrytering där ”gatekeepers” som varit med i projektet själva engagerar sig i rekryteringsprocessen. Om klubbar ligger i mindre kommuner med närmare vägar till nödvändiga kommunkontakter jämfört med större kommuner med längre väg till dessa kontakter skiljer sig dessa strategier något. Andra bieffekter kan vara rent ekonomiska för klubbar där samhällsengagemanget de visar i inkluderingsfrågor också förenklar kontakter med makthavare och ökar intresse från sponsorer.

The present study examined relationships between golfers’ self-perceived emotions (e.g., irritability, nervousness, tension), task-oriented coping, perceived control, and performance during a golf competition. We implemented a process-oriented golf analysis in which competitors rated these variables hole-by-hole in a competitive golf round. Within a two-level Bayesian multivariate autoregressive model, we showed that (a) within persons, emotions and task-oriented coping were reactions that stemmed from performance on the previous hole; and (b) between persons, player skill level predicted both better scores and the ability to limit the influence of negative affect on performance. These findings highlight the complex nature of the relationship between emotions and performance. Future studies might use a similarly ecologically valid research design to more precisely measure aspects of time and potentially moderating effects of player skill level and personality. An increased understanding of the dynamic relationship between emotions and performance can promote the development of effective psychological interventions for optimal performance outcomes.