Virtual Golf, "Exergaming", Using Virtual Reality for Healthcare in Older Adults: Focusing on Leisure Constraints, Participation Benefits, and Continuous Participation Intention.

Exergaming, a new type of sport, combined with virtual reality, has provided new opportunities for the aging population. This study analyzed the differences in leisure constraints, participation benefits, and continuous participation intention in virtual golf (represented as an exergame) depending on the participants' ages. Data collection was conducted from August 2023 to November 2023. A quantitative research design and a convenience sampling method were employed, targeting 310 regular virtual golf participants aged 20 years or older in the Republic of Korea. For comparative analysis, the survey participants were segmented into three groups: Group 1, young adults (18-35 years); Group 2, middle-aged adults (36-55 years); and Group 3, older adults (56-69 years). To compare and analyze participation behaviors in virtual golf, the dependent variables were identified: (a) leisure constraints (four factors) to limit formation and participation in leisure; (b) participation benefits (four factors) to encourage participation in leisure; and (c) continuous participation intention (single factor) to show likelihood to participate in leisure in the future. The results revealed that the young adult group showed statistically high results for costs under leisure constraints (F = 14.949, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.089), and the older adult group reported statistically high results in physical (F = 9.346, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.057) and mental (F = 7.249, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.045) participation benefits and continuous participation intention (F = 6.486, p < 0.01, ηp2 = 0.041). This study confirmed that virtual golf using advanced technology brings physical and mental benefits to older people based on reasonable cost and enables continuous participation in physical activity.

Effects of golf instructors' professional certification levels on amateur golfers' perception of instructor expertise, instructor credibility, and lesson participation intention: testing placebo and nocebo effects.

This study investigated the differences in amateur golfers' perceptions of instructor expertise, instructor credibility, and lesson participation intention depending on the golf instructor's certification level to investigate whether placebo and nocebo effects exist depending on the certification level. Accordingly, the study analyzed 153 amateur golfers with at least 1 year of playing experience, and the results were as follows: First, there was a difference in the perception of instructor expertise among amateur golfers depending on the golf instructor's certification level. Specifically, there were significant differences in perceived performance and teaching skills but no differences in personality and emphasis on basic principles. Second, the participants reported significant differences in their perceptions of instructor credibility depending on the instructor's certification level. Instructor credibility of the tournament professional group was the highest, whereas that of the amateur group was the lowest. Third, the results showed differences in lesson participation intention among amateur golfers depending on the instructor's certification level. Lesson participation intention was higher for semi-professional and tournament professional instructors than for amateur instructors. These results verified the presence of psychological biases, such as placebo/nocebo effects, that result in differences in the perception of instructor expertise, instructor credibility, and lesson participation intention depending on the certification level of instructors. Additionally, based on the data obtained from this study, further research is required to improve the performance of golf instructors and create an efficient teaching environment.

Relationship between Athletes' Big Five Model of Personality and Athletic Performance: Meta-Analysis.

Academic interest in athletic performance is ongoing. To examine the correlation between athletic performance and athletes' personality types, data extraction in line with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines was completed in October 2021, and a meta-analysis was performed using 180 data from 18 selected papers using the "meta" package version 4.8-4 of R Studio 3.3.3. As a result, these selected studies proved to have reliable quality in proceeding with this study via quality assessment. The overall effect of personality on athletic performance (AP) was ESr = 0.124, p < 0.01. Furthermore, only conscientiousness (ESr = 0.178, p < 0.001) and extroversion (ESr = 0.145, p < 0.01), among the five personality types, showed statistically significant results, and these two personality types had a positive correlation with performance. In the publication bias test, this study found that (a) agreeableness had a publication bias; but, with an additional test using trim-and-fill, (b) the effect was not significant enough to be considered. In addition, the analysis of the moderating effects was conducted in four aspects, and all moderating effect analyses showed statistically significant differences between the groups, demonstrating the heterogeneity of this study. Therefore, this study found a significant relationship between personality and athletic performance and showed the importance of conscientiousness and extroversion.

Mental health and governmental response policy evaluation on COVID-19 based on vaccination status in Republic of Korea.

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has continued since the outbreak in December 2019. People experience depression and anxiety due to government policies and restrictions on physical activity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to compare and analyze people's experiences of COVID-19 blues, sports policy awareness, and participation intention according to their vaccination status. METHODS: This quantitative study used an online survey to collect demographic information, vaccination status, and variables. Data validity and reliability were verified through confirmatory factor analysis, and Cronbach's alpha coefficients were calculated using SPSS/AMOS 23.0. Finally, this comparative study was conducted using multivariate analysis of variance to investigate the differences in the dependent variables between the groups. RESULTS: The vaccinated group had higher scores for all factors related to COVID-19 blues (F = 19.147; p < .05; partial η2 = .046) and government policy (market responsiveness: F = 5.669, p < .05, partial η2 = .014; policy performance: F = 6.997, p < .05, partial η2 = .017; policy satisfaction: F = 7.647, p < .05, partial η2 = .019), apart from the intention to participate in sports (F = .014, p > .05, partial η2 = .000); these results demonstrate that people with COVID-19 blues and relatively high confidence in government quarantine policies were more likely to be vaccinated. In addition, all participants gave sports-participation intention the highest rating, regardless of their vaccination status; this reflects the current situation, in which individual activities are limited. CONCLUSIONS: This study analyzed the mental health of vaccinated and unvaccinated groups in Korean adult men, their perceptions of government policies, and their willingness to engage in physical activity. The findings are meaningful and highlight useful directions for future research. This study provides evidence which can help alleviate the mental damage caused by government quarantine policies and enable a better understanding of the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of this study provide important data for understanding the COVID-19 pandemic.

Key Attributes and Clusters of the Korean Exercise Healthcare Industry Viewed through Big Data: Comparison before and after the COVID-19 Pandemic.

This study aims to predict the characteristics of the exercise healthcare industry in the post-pandemic era by comparing the periods before and after the coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak through big data analysis. TEXTOM, the Korean big data collection and analysis solution, was used for data collection. The pre-pandemic period was defined as 1 January 2018-31 December 2019 and the pandemic period as 1 January 2020-31 December 2021. The keywords for data collection were "exercise + healthcare + industry". Text mining and social network analysis were conducted to determine the overall characteristics of the Korean exercise healthcare industry. We identified 30 terms that appeared most frequently on social media. Four common (smart management, future technology, fitness, and research) and six different clusters (sports education, exercise leader, rehabilitation, services, business, and COVID-19) were obtained for the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods. Smart management, future technology, fitness, and research are still important values across both periods. The results provide meaningful data and offer valuable insights to explore the changing trends in exercise healthcare.

Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on Burnout Owing to Perfectionism in Elite Athletes Based on the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS) and Athlete Burnout Questionnaire (ABQ).

Previous studies have shown that burnout negatively affects athletes' mental health. To further explore this subject, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis by combining data from previous studies. This study followed the PRISMA guidelines for systematic and reliable research and completed data extraction using 10 databases and 8 keywords in December 2021. There were 93 cases of initially extracted data from the selected articles (n = 14) and the meta-analysis was conducted using the "meta" package, version 4.8-4 of R Studio 3.3.3, with data (k = 77) excluding other-oriented perfectionism data (k = 16). The results showed that self-oriented perfectionism had a negative effect on sports devaluation (SD) (ESr = -0.246, p < 0.001), and socially prescribed perfectionism had a positive effect on emotional/physical exhaustion (ESr = 0.150, p < 0.05) and SD (ESr = 0.138, p < 0.05). Furthermore, the test for publication bias showed that no groups had asymmetrical data, and four moderator analyses were conducted to prove the heterogeneity (I2) of the total effect size; however, there was no difference among groups (QB), thereby resulting in unexplained variance. Consequently, this study presents variable data that determine the effects of perfectionism and burnout on elite athletes.

COVID-19 Obesity: Differences in Infection Risk Perception, Obesity Stress, Depression, and Intention to Participate in Leisure Sports Based on Weight Change.

This study examined the impact of COVID-19 on individuals' weight change and mental health by analyzing differences in risk perception, obesity, stress, depression, and intention to participate in leisure sports during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected in the Republic of Korea between June and August 2022. This study included 374 individuals aged ≥ 20 years who regularly participated in leisure sports. A comparative analysis subdivided the participants into two groups based on weight changes during the pandemic: weight loss and maintenance (Group 1) and weight gain (Group 2). These formed the independent variable. The dependent variables were (a) infection risk perception, (b) obesity stress, (c) depression, and (d) intention to participate in sports. The results revealed statistically significant differences between the two groups in infection risk perception, obesity stress, and depression factors, but not in the intention to participate in sports. This study demonstrated the impact of COVID-19 on weight changes and mental health. These findings can guide future quarantine strategies to control new infectious diseases and policies to prevent obesity and stress.

Differences in Stress, Stress-Coping Behavior, and Quality of Life Based on the Performance of Korean Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour Players.

Maintaining world-class performance, irrespective of the influence of various psychological factors, is the most important task for professional athletes. By recognizing and coping with profession-related stress, athletes can improve their performance and maintain their quality of life as a professional. This study compared and analyzed the stress, stress-coping behavior, and quality of life of world-class athletes based on their objective performance. Data were collected from 234 professional golfers active on the Korean Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour and Dream Tour. Using performance as an independent variable, one-way multivariate variance analysis was performed for comparative analysis. The results indicated that professional tour golf players showed statistically significant differences in (a) stress from fellow players, (b) performance-related stress, and (c) passive stress-coping behavioral factors. Groups with higher levels of performance experienced more stress than their counterparts and coped with stress through a more passive attitude. Importantly, efforts to improve performance under fierce competition and lead a better life are essential for maintaining psychological stability.

A Gap between Relaxation of Government Quarantine Policy and Perceptions of COVID-19 among the General Public in Sports: Focusing on Vaccination Status.

Although an increasing number of people are getting vaccinated for COVID-19 and quarantine policies are easing owing to fatigue from high-intensity social distancing, people's fear remains. This study attempted to determine the appropriateness of quarantine policies that are gradually easing by comparing and analyzing sports participation and respiratory infection perception recognized by sports participants according to vaccination status. Data were collected from 302 ordinary Korean citizens aged 20 or older for three months from November 2021 in the Republic of Korea. From the survey respondents, data on the main factors of this study included (a) demographic information, (b) vaccination, (c) loyalty in sports, (d) behavioral intention to participate in sports, (e) infection anxiety from others, and (f) risk perception of COVID-19. As a result, the survey respondents, subdivided into an unvaccinated group (Group 1) and a vaccinated group (Group 2), derived statistically significant results on sports participation and respiratory infection perception. Specifically, survey participants who had completed all secondary vaccinations showed a relatively higher (a) loyalty in sport (M = 3.789), (b) behavioral intention for participation in sport (M = 4.056), and (c) infection anxiety from others (M = 3.548), but showed a relatively lower (a) risk perception of COVID-19 (sensitivity) (M = 3.494). The results of this study could be utilized as valuable data to minimize the gap between the relaxation of government quarantine policy and perceptions of COVID-19 among the general public in sports, which have not yet been clarified.

The Effects of Leisure Activities on Self-Efficacy and Social Adjustment: A Study of Immigrants in South Korea.

This study classified leisure activity types into active, passive, and social leisure activities based on theory, and focused on determining the type that has a significant influence on the self-efficacy and social adjustment of immigrants staying in South Korea. The results of multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), including post-hoc analysis using SPSS 23.0, were as follows: in principle, immigrants who participate in active or social leisure activities perceive their self-efficacy and social adjustment to be high. Differing slightly from this, the passive leisure activity type, which includes activities such as reading alone, listening to music, and surfing the web, may relieve their stress or provide them with psychological stability, but it was not found to be helpful in their adjustment to the new culture. The significance of this study lies in the finding that leisure activities help immigrants with social adjustment, in addition to physical and psychological aids that are already well known. We hope that the findings of the present study can be used as basic data for helping immigrants with smooth social adjustment and increasing their quality of life.

Changes in the Type of Sports Activity Due to COVID-19: Hypochondriasis and the Intention of Continuous Participation in Sports.

This study focused on empirically analyzing sport activity participants' perceptions of hypochondriasis caused by fear of infection and changes in continuous participatory behavior patterns. To this end, a comparative analysis was conducted with a focus on the forms of participation and age of sport activity participants. For the final comparative analysis, a 2 × 3 factorial multivariate analysis of variance was conducted after confirming the validity and reliability of data based on 229 questionnaires collected from healthy respondents who have never been infected with COVID-19. The results showed statistically significant differences between worry about illness, which is a subscale of hypochondriasis, disease phobia, thanatophobia, and intent to continue according to age. Statistically significant differences were also found when considering the type of sport for worry about illness, which is a subscale of hypochondriasis, disease phobia, symptom preoccupation, and intent to continue. Furthermore, interaction effects between the two independent variables, i.e., age and type of sport, were found for disease phobia, a subscale of hypochondriasis, and thanatophobia. In summary, age and type of sport, which are important factors for the COVID-19 infection and symptoms, were found to affect the sport activity patterns. These results proved that COVID-19 may have caused the participants to have different perceptions depending on their characteristics and change their form of continuous participation. These findings will provide useful data for predicting the perception and behavioral patterns of sports participants if diseases like COVID-19 occur in the future. They also show how to live a healthy life through exercise.

Impact of the Family Environment on Juvenile Mental Health: eSports Online Game Addiction and Delinquency.

Family types in Asian countries are rapidly changing as the society is changing. Thus, in this study, we analyzed and compared how the newly evolving family types (multicultural/dual-income) affect adolescents' online game addiction, delinquency, and online gaming (eSports) participation motivation. Multiple regression analysis was performed to examine the causal relationships between the variables, and multivariate analysis of variance and analysis of variance were performed for comparative analyses. The results indicate that adolescents from dual-income families scored significantly higher on all factors related to juvenile delinquency and addiction factors ("salience", "tolerance" and "withdrawal"). Additionally, adolescents from multicultural families revealed significantly higher scores on an addiction factor, "mood modification". Lastly, adolescents in dual-income families were motivated to play online games to pass the time, and adolescents in multicultural families play online games to engage in social interaction. Results of this study may provide the answers required to help address societal issues related to adolescents in a changing society.