Personality Determinants of Exercise-Related Nutritional Behaviours among Polish Team Sport Athletes.

A proper diet increases the effectiveness of training and accelerates post-workout regeneration. One of the factors determining eating behaviour are personality traits, including those included in the Big Five model, i.e., neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. The aim of this study was to analyse the personality determinants of peri-exercise nutritional behaviours among an elite group of Polish athletes practicing team sports. The study was conducted in a group of 213 athletes, using the author's validated questionnaire of exercise-related nutrition behaviours and the NEO-PI-R (Neuroticism Extraversion Openness-Personality Inventory-Revised). A statistical analysis was performed using Pearson's linear correlation and Spearman's rank correlation coefficients as well as a multiple regression analysis, assuming a significance level of α = 0.05. It has been shown that the level of the overall index regarding normal peri-exercise eating behaviours decreased with increasing neuroticism (r = -0.18) and agreeableness (r = -0.18). An analysis of the relationship between the personality traits (sub-scales) of the Big Five model demonstrated that the overall index of proper peri-exercise nutrition decreased with the intensification of three neuroticism traits, i.e., hostility/anger (R = -0.20), impulsiveness/immoderation (R = -0.18), and vulnerability to stress/learned helplessness (R = -0.19), and four traits of agreeableness, i.e., straightforwardness/morality (R = -0.17), compliance/cooperation (R = -0.19), modesty (R = -0.14), and tendermindedness/sympathy (R = -0.15) (p < 0.05). A multiple regression analysis exhibited that the full model consisting of all the analysed personality traits explained 99% of the variance concerning the level of the proper peri-exercise nutrition index. In conclusion, the index of proper nutrition under conditions of physical effort decreases along with the intensification of neuroticism and agreeableness among Polish athletes professionally practicing team sports.

Covid-19 impacts on group sports activities and social psychology / Impactos da covid-19 nas atividades esportivas de grupo e na psicologia social / Impactos del covid-19 en las actividades deportivas de grupo y en la psicología social

ABSTRACT Introduction: Sports play an important role in maintaining community health, positively impacting the immune system. Behind the scenes of COVID-19 prevention, the value of exercise has been recognized in both individual and collective health needs. Yet, a current scenario of its use and psychosocial impact has to be documented. Objective: Study the impact of COVID-19 disease on group sports activities and explore residents' social and psychological aspects. Methods: This paper adopts the online survey method by distributing relevant questionnaires to urban residents analyzing the current frequency of group sports activities, individual hobbies, and group sports activities, their distribution areas, organization, and the impacts generated by the pandemic. Results: The surveyed subjects in the study area have good physical activity habits. Male residents prefer ball games, and female residents prefer activities that explore relaxation and communication. Group sports activities have more followers. Conclusion: Despite the good habits verified in the majority of the population, it is necessary to improve outdoor facilities and indoor sports training places and establish a good system for disseminating information about the social-psychological service. Level of evidence II; Therapeutic studies - investigation of treatment outcomes.

RESUMO Introdução: Os esportes desempenham um papel importante na manutenção da saúde comunitária, com impactos positivos no sistema imunológico. Nos bastidores da prevenção da COVID-19, o valor do exercício foi reconhecido tanto nas necessidades individuais quanto coletivas de saúde, porém um cenário atual de sua utilização e seu impacto psicossocial ainda não foram documentados. Objetivo: Estudar o impacto da doença COVID-19 nas atividades esportivas em grupo e explorar os aspectos sociais e psicológicos dos moradores. Métodos: Este artigo adota o método de survey online, distribuindo questionários relevantes aos moradores urbanos analisando a frequência atual das atividades esportivas em grupo, os hobbies individuais e as atividades esportivas em grupo, bem como suas áreas de distribuição, organização e os impactos gerados pela pandemia. Resultados: Os sujeitos pesquisados na área de estudo possuem bons hábitos de atividade física. Os residentes do sexo masculino tendem a preferir jogos de bola enquanto as mulheres preferem atividades que exploram o relaxamento e a comunicação. As atividades esportivas em grupo possuem mais adeptos. Conclusão: Apesar dos bons hábitos verificados na maioria da população, faz-se necessária a necessidade de aprimorar as instalações ao ar livre e nos locais de treino esportivo interno, além de estabelecer um bom sistema de divulgação nas informações sobre o serviço psicológico social. Nível de evidência II; Estudos terapêuticos - investigação dos resultados do tratamento.

RESUMEN Introducción: El deporte desempeña un papel importante en el mantenimiento de la salud de la comunidad, con impactos positivos en el sistema inmunológico. Entre los antecedentes de la prevención del COVID-19, se ha reconocido el valor del ejercicio en las necesidades de salud tanto individuales como colectivas, sin embargo aún no se ha documentado un escenario actual de su uso y su impacto psicosocial. Objetivo: Estudiar el impacto de la enfermedad COVID-19 en las actividades deportivas de grupo y explorar los aspectos sociales y psicológicos de los residentes. Métodos: Este trabajo adopta el método de encuesta en línea mediante la distribución de cuestionarios pertinentes a los residentes urbanos que analizan la frecuencia actual de las actividades deportivas en grupo, las aficiones individuales y las actividades deportivas en grupo, así como sus áreas de distribución, la organización y los impactos generados por la pandemia. Resultados: Los sujetos encuestados en el área de estudio tienen buenos hábitos de actividad física. Los residentes masculinos tienden a preferir los juegos de pelota, mientras que las mujeres prefieren actividades que exploren la relajación y la comunicación. Las actividades deportivas en grupo tienen más seguidores. Conclusión: A pesar de los buenos hábitos constatados en la mayoría de la población, es necesario mejorar las instalaciones exteriores y los lugares de entrenamiento deportivo interior, además de establecer un buen sistema de difusión en la información sobre el servicio psicológico social. Nivel de evidencia II; Estudios terapéuticos - investigación de los resultados del tratamiento.

Analysis of wheelchair falls in team sports at the Paralympic Games: video-based descriptive comparison between the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 games.

OBJECTIVES: To identify the fall characteristics of athletes in wheelchair rugby and wheelchair basketball during the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games and descriptively compare these with those of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: We obtained video footage from the International Paralympic Committee of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games that included 8 teams from each of the 18 wheelchair rugby and 10 wheelchair basketball games (men and women). The data were analysed to evaluate the number of falls, class difference (low or high pointer), time of play during the fall, phase of play, contact with other athletes, fall direction, fall location and the body part that first contacted the floor during the fall. These data from the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 games were compared. RESULTS: Overall, 430 falls (rugby, 104; men's basketball, 230 and women's basketball, 96) occurred (average per game ±SD: 5.8±3.1, 23.0±5.4 and 9.6±5.0, respectively). Significant differences in class, direction, fall location and body part point of contact between the three sports were observed. In wheelchair rugby, falls occurred mainly in high pointers and tended to be more lateral due to contact. In wheelchair basketball, falls occurred more in female high-pointers and in male low pointers, with more forward falls due to forward contact. Unlike in the Rio 2016 games, no difference between the events based on the presence or absence of contact was observed in the Tokyo 2020 games. CONCLUSIONS: The number of falls increased in Tokyo 2020 compared with Rio 2016, with no significant difference in the characteristics of falls between the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 games. Only in men's wheelchair basketball, the number of falls in low pointers significantly increased in the Tokyo 2020 games when compared with that in the Rio 2016 games.

A Moderated Mediation Analysis of the Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Well-Being and Sport Readiness of Italian Team Sports Players: The Role of Perceived Safety of the Training Environment.

BACKGROUND: The protective restrictions (e.g., lockdowns, quarantines, social and physical distancing) consequent to the global pandemic caused by COVID-19 posited new challenges to athletes practicing competitive team sports. This study aimed to gain an understanding of the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on the well-being and sports readiness to train and to compete of competitive female and male athletes practicing outdoor (i.e., rugby, soccer) and indoor (i.e., volleyball, basketball) team sports who were active during the Italian first and second waves of COVID-19. METHODS: An online survey assessing demographic characteristics, perceived safety of the training environment, COVID-19 risk, fear of COVID-19, well-being, and sport (training and competition) readiness was administered to 619 team sports players. We examined differences by gender, previous COVID-19 experience, and team sport setting (i.e., outdoor vs. indoor). A moderated mediation analysis was conducted to assess the impact of perceived COVID-19 risk and fear of COVID-19 on athletes' well-being and sports readiness, using perceived safety of the training environment as a mediator and gender and sport setting as moderators. RESULTS: Indoor team sports and female athletes showed higher perceived COVID-19 risk, while athletes with no-COVID-19 experience reported higher fear of COVID-19. Perceived COVID-19 risk (directly and via perceived safety of the training environment) and fear of COVID-19 were negatively associated with athletes' well-being and sports readiness. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlighted an understanding of the psychological implications of the COVID-19 pandemic, emphasizing the role of the perceived safety of the training environment on athletes' well-being and sports readiness. Future studies may advance safety-based interventions to promote well-being and a safer return to sport.

Bayesian analysis of home advantage in North American professional sports before and during COVID-19.

Home advantage in professional sports is a widely accepted phenomenon despite the lack of any controlled experiments at the professional level. The return to play of professional sports during the COVID-19 pandemic presents a unique opportunity to analyze the hypothesized effect of home advantage in neutral settings. While recent work has examined the effect of COVID-19 restrictions on home advantage in European football, comparatively few studies have examined the effect of restrictions in the North American professional sports leagues. In this work, we infer the effect of and changes in home advantage prior to and during COVID-19 in the professional North American leagues for hockey, basketball, baseball, and American football. We propose a Bayesian multi-level regression model that infers the effect of home advantage while accounting for relative team strengths. We also demonstrate that the Negative Binomial distribution is the most appropriate likelihood to use in modelling North American sports leagues as they are prone to overdispersion in their points scored. Our model gives strong evidence that home advantage was negatively impacted in the NHL and NBA during their strongly restricted COVID-19 playoffs, while the MLB and NFL showed little to no change during their weakly restricted COVID-19 seasons.

Team-to-team transmission of COVID-19 in ice hockey games - a case series of players in Finnish ice hockey leagues.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic suspended nearly all team sports globally. The pro series have resumed playing by creating safe bubbles or massive testing protocols. Amateur level sports have also restarted seasons without possibility for such precautions. Our aim was to report the epidemiology of COVID-19 in an amateur ice hockey team and the team-to-team transmission during two games. METHODS: A descriptive brief report based on public statements by the local health authorities and the teams involved. RESULTS: An asymptomatic carrier of COVID-19 in a U-20 ice hockey team infected 22 of 28 team mates. The day before the first players had symptoms, the team had returned from a two games away trip. A few days later COVID-19 was detected in both opposing teams and they were ordered to quarantine. During the two weeks quarantine a total of 24 players from the two opposing teams tested positive. Some of these players were training with senior teams and three additional infected players were detected in two senior teams. In total, 49 infections were detected in five ice hockey teams, and six teams were in quarantine for two weeks. CONCLUSION: An asymptomatic player can potentially endanger the whole season of a team and put opponents in danger as well. We report massive team-to-team transmission of COVID-19 in the U-20 Finnish National Hockey League. In order to prevent spread of COVID-19 in amateur-level team sports, suitable protocols should be established and adopted into daily use.