PURPOSE This study investigated the associations between mental health and physical activity with all-cause mortality in persons with disability. METHODS A total of 595 participants (39.3% women) aged 45≥ years, who participated in the Korean longitudinal study of aging (KLoSA) were included in this study. The Korean version of mini-mental state examination (K-MMSE) and the center for epidemiologic studies depression scale (CES-D) were used to assess cognitive impairment and depressive symptoms, respectively. The participants were classified into active and inactive groups based on physical activity of 150 min/week. Cox’s proportional regression analyses were used to determine the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of mental health and physical activity relating to all-cause mortality. RESULTS During the follow-up period (11.8±4.1 years), a total of 218 (36.6%) deaths occurred from all-causes. Participants in the inactive group had significantly higher cognitive impairment (p =0.046), depressive symptoms (p =0.001), and all-cause mortality (p=0.037) than those in the active group. Compared to participants in the normal (HR=1), cognitive impairment (HR=2.229, 95% CI=1.645-3.020, p<0.001), and depressive symptoms groups (HR=1.542, 95% CI=1.136-2.091, p<0.001), those in the inactive group had significantly higher HR related to all-cause mortality. However, in the active group, cognitive function and depressive symptoms were not associated with all-cause mortality. CONCLUSIONS The current finding suggests that the promotion of physical activity may play an important role in preventing premature death from all-causes in persons with disability, especially among those with mental health problems.
Purpose The present study explores educational values of professional coaches from perspectives as educators while they are giving the players sports coaching. Since free agent system was introduced in 1999 at Korean Baseball Organization(KBO) league, the socio-economical differences between players and coaches are getting bigger and bigger. In this situation, professional coaches tend to have more difficulties in interacting with the players. The study focuses on looking into professional coaches' educational agony and reward. Also, it highlights their educational values as educators rather than coaches. Methods Two professional baseball coaches and a TV commentator participated in the study: all past professional players, and professional coaches for more than 10 years. The researchers collected data through semi-structured in-depth interviews; each participant was interviewed three times. The researchers recorded and transcribed all of the interviews; then, the researchers reread the interview transcripts and inductively produced codes for themes whenever emergent codes appeared. Verbatim quotations from the interviews are excerpted in the present research report. Results The findings indicate that, first, the participants are all highly motivated in giving lessons to the players. They all helped the players overcome the difficulties and be good players. They emphasized the importances of endeavors and attitudes during their lessons to be well-received by the players. Second, the participants agreed that good coaches should have the ability to find the potentials of the players and have personality to gain the players' trust. They always have to work and study hard to keep expertises. Conclusions This study argues that the participants are playing their roles in a sport coaching area not only as coaches, but also as educators.
PURPOSE This study investigated differences in gaze entropy according to skill level and temporal occlusion in table tennis serve reception. METHODS Study participants were divided into a skilled group (n = 6) and a novice group (n = 6). The study task involved sitting in front of a monitor while wearing an eye tracker, watching 36 serve videos, and predicting whether the ball’s length would be short or long by pressing the "Top" (short serve) or "Bottom" (long serve) pad on the selection response pad. RESULTS Overall, the later the temporal occlusion level, the faster the reaction time and the higher the judgment accuracy. At temporal occlusion levels 2 and 3, skilled participants showed higher judgment accuracy than novices. Analysis of heatmap and gaze entropy revealed that novices exhibited visual search toward the ball across all temporal occlusion levels (T1, T2, T3) and had high gaze entropy. In contrast, skilled participants generally showed visual search to the racket area depending on the temporal occlusion level, with low gaze entropy at T1 and T2, and a tendency for increased gaze entropy at T3. CONCLUSIONS Compared to novices, skilled participants had lower gaze entropy and fixated more on the racket area when predicting table tennis serves. Similarly, novices focused more on the ball than on the racket. The study also proposed the value of using heatmap and Shannon entropy for this type of analysis.
PURPOSE This study aimed to explore the re-socialization process of college soccer players who rejoin college soccer clubs after dropping out. METHODS A case study approach was employed, and participants were selected using the snowball sampling method. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, participant observation, and literature reviews. The authenticity of the data was validated through triangulation, member checking, and peer debriefing. All research procedures were conducted following approval from the institutional review board. RESULTS The study revealed several key findings. First, participants faced numerous challenges during the re-socialization process into sports, including interpersonal, academic, and emotional difficulties. Second, distinctive features of the re-socialization process emerged, including the determination and effort required for adapting to university life, support from socialization agents within the university, and rapid re-socialization following dropout. Third, experiences within collegiate soccer clubs indicated low barriers to entry for former athletes, academic success through complementary relationships, a hierarchical culture familiar to student-athletes, and enhanced satisfaction in interpersonal relationships and a sense of belonging. CONCLUSIONS This study underscores the importance of institutional support that enables college athletes to participate in sports clubs, facilitating the successful re-socialization of athletes who have dropped out.
PURPOSE This study aimed to develop a team building program for a middle school soccer team in order to verify its effects. METHODS A total of 50 middle school soccer players participated in the needs analysis, and 10 middle school soccer players participated the preliminary program. In addition, a total of 37 ‘S’ middle school soccer players and 2 coaches participated the final team building program to identify its effects. The team building program was developed through the following sequence: program goal setting, organization of program activities, and the pretest. Three types of questionnaires and a self-report were utilized to verify the effects of the team building program. RESULTS The team building program was developed based on interpersonal relationships, goal setting, and communication. The level of team cohesion, team communication, and coach-athletes interaction significantly increased through this program. Furthermore, the effects of stress relief and self-improvement were revealed through the self-report. CONCLUSIONS The team building program was determined to be effective and has various benefits. It is expected to contribute to the growth of middle school soccer players if coaches actively participate in the program with their athletes.
Purpose The purpose of this study was to further understand how out-of-school adolescents’ self-esteem and interpersonal relations have changed in a peer mentoring basketball program and what they have experienced for the program It was action research of qualitative research method. Methods 4 out-of-school adolescents in the adolescents Center of C-si were selected as the participant. The data was collected by in-depth interviews, participant observation, and research journal. The collected data was then analyzed by an inductive categorical system. Results The findings were summarized as follows: the out-of-school adolescents showed somewhat low self-esteem and difficulties of interpersonal relations at an early stage participating in the peer mentoring basketball program. However, their self-esteem and interpersonal relations have been gradually changed during the program. First, they participated in various mentoring activities and self-expression activities. Their self-esteem has been improved as they found their real values, communicated with others, and lived with their confidence. Second, they overcame personal relations with fear and indifference of others, extended personal relations, and sympathized with others to solve the problem that they had as interpersonal relations. Conclusions The out-of-school adolescents has positively changed their self-esteem and interpersonal relations through the peer mentoring basketball program. We expect that out-of-school adolescents could overcome their difficulty and live well their life in the future.
Purpose This study was to investigate the systematic application of the life skills program and its effects in a sport setting. Methods Participants were 14 college students(8 males and 6 females) majoring in Taekwondo. Survey tools were utilized to measure items of life skills and journals. Data analyses were conducted by using Excel program and inductive content analysis. Results First, life skills in this study consisted of goal setting, self-talk, imagery, cognitive restructuring. Life skills program has undergone a procedure, such as the introduction, training, development, application, and evaluation. Second, the average scores of life skill variables have been changed according to measured points. Specifically, the average scores of goal setting and self-talk were highly increased over time and the average score of imagery indicated gradual rising line. The average score of negative thought was slightly reduced over time. Third, regarding effects of this program, participants’ responses were categorized into six components; performance enhancement, positive thoughts, chances of change, goal setting, struggling efforts, and motivation formation. Further, participants stated this program was a great opportunity to develop these components. Conclusion The application of life skills program in sport settings will contribute to participants’ life span developmental change in cognitions, emotions, and behavior.
PURPOSE This study compares the effects of video group and metaverse group counseling for student athletes to analyze differences in immersion, sychological skills learning effects, and each approach’s participation experiences. METHODS Twenty-four high school archery students were divided into three groups: a metaverse experimental, a video comparison, and a control group. For the experimental and comparative groups, 10 non-face-to-face psychological skills training sessions were conducted. With the control group, results were compared and analyzed by measuring psychological skills and social presence pre- and post-training. Additionally, analysis of the qualitative effects of psychological skills training was performed. RESULTS The psychological skill test’s quantitative analysis of the video comparison group showed a more significant effect in anxiety control factors than the metaverse experimental and the control groups. Moreover, in the social presence test, both the metaverse and the video groups showed significant differences in social presence and satisfaction; furthermore, Scheff post-verification results showed that the two environments’ satisfaction was significantly higher than that of the control group. Qualitative analysis confirmed that the metaverse and video groups experienced psychological, technical, and relational changes in common. CONCLUSIONS Although the metaverse group using avatars was likely to increase immersion, both the video and the metaverse groups were effective in psychological skills training, suggesting that the training effect may vary depending on the non- face-to-face environment’s stability and participation method. Future studies should examine effects of applying the metaverse platform to sports psychological skills training and various psychological support activities by solving the metaverse environment’s technical limitations.
PURPOSE This study aimed to investigate the effects of accelerated rehabilitation exercise on physical fitness, lower extremity isometric strength, and blood variables in older adult women diagnosed with degenerative osteoarthritis. METHODS A total of 29 older adult women diagnosed with degenerative osteoarthritis residing in G city participated in the study, and 19 participants, excluding dropouts, took part in the experiment. They underwent exercise twice a week for 60 minutes per session over a period of 12 weeks. Pre- and post-experiment, the older adult fitness assessment (SFT), lower extremity isometric strength, and blood variables were measured. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 25.0, and paired sample t-tests were conducted to examine the effects before and after exercise. RESULTS The study results showed significant differences in body mass index (BMI) before and after exercise (p<0.05), and the older adult fitness assessment (SFT) showed significant differences in all items (p<0.01). Lower extremity isometric strength showed significant differences in absolute (Nm) and relative (%BW) values of 20° right flexion muscle (p<0.01). In terms of blood variables, significant differences were observed in creatine and ESR before and after exercise (p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS This study’s results suggest that regular physical activity and rehabilitation exercise programs can positively impact the muscular strength, cardiovascular endurance, exercise function, and blood composition of older adult women diagnosed with degenerative osteoarthritis. It is indicated that conducting future research, including periodic exercise programs, could be beneficial in promoting sustained exercise participation.
[Purpose] This study aims to examine necessity and characteristics of the K-OVEP, and discuss ways of settle and spread the program stably through cases applied in school settings. [Methods] To do so, educational components and curriculum of the K-OVEP was represented by analyzing references, developmental materials, and program application. This study was examined through the application process and observation of long-term program of the K-OVEP from two types of educational fields, 2 elementary schools and 2 middle schools. In order to examine if the K-OVEP achieves the aim of the IOC and the K-OVEP, basic level study was conducted to 187 students who participated in the program in 2016. The questionnaire consisted of three categories; ‘cognition part’ through the Olympic games and the Olympic values, ‘value part’ regarding five educational themes of the OVEP, and ‘interest part’ asking interest and involvement in sports activities, participants answered the questionnaire before and after the education. [Results] We found that K-OVEP is an integrated value based educational program regarding Olympics, stresses personality education, encourages students to explore their career, and is a process oriented education. The results showed that the K-OVEP achieved the educational goals in every categories and questions, and educational effects in sports activity looked different among schools and the environments. [Conclusion] This study was performed to participants at first year of the introduction of the K-OVEP, so in order to keep track of learners’ significant change continuously, expansion of participants, steady development of various new programs, development of assessment tools, experts training and follow-up studies will be required.
