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The majority of middle-age children do not meet current physical activity guidelines. There is growing evidence that adults’ physical activity is partially influenced by automatic affective processes, which are derived from affective experiences with physical activity. However, little is known about whether these processes are interrelated with children’s physical activity level. A prospective design was used to examine whether automatic affective processes assessed by an evaluative priming procedure predict physical activity of children. Physical activity of 48 children (8.71 ± 0.71 years; 65% girls) was measured for 1 week with activity trackers. In a linear regression model, automatic affective processes (β = 0.36) significantly predicted physical activity, accounting for 11.02% of variance. These results indicate that physical-activity-related automatic affective processes are associated with children’s physical activity, as has previously been found in adults. This study emphasizes the importance of fostering positive affective experiences associated with physical activity during childhood.

The aim of the present investigation was to provide insight into how postconcussion symptomatology may be altered in individuals exhibiting attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)–related behaviors and examine factors that may be responsible for driving such relationships. A total of 99 individuals were assessed during the subacute phase of concussion recovery. Inattentive symptomatology, but not diagnosis of ADHD, was related to greater concussion-symptom severity and overall symptoms endorsed. Cluster and factor analyses highlighted that the relationship between ADHD symptomatology and concussion symptomatology was not a function of overlapping constructs being assessed (i.e., concussion-related symptomatology was not a proxy of ADHD-related symptomatology). These relationships were not mediated by parental observations of impairments in behaviors associated with executive functioning (i.e., executive dysfunction was not driving the greater concussion-related symptomatology associated with ADHD-related symptomatology). These findings highlight the importance of moving beyond categorical frameworks of ADHD to, instead, consider the continuum of underlying behaviors.

Social interdependence theory proposes that task structure influences performance via social interaction. Using this framework, we examined sport performance. Fifty-six males performed a basketball task under four conditions: as an individual (individual, perform your best) and as a member of a team of two (cooperation, where teammates sought to better their individual performance; means independent competition, where two teams competed sequentially to outperform the other team; means interdependent competition, where two teams competed simultaneously to outperform the other team). Task performance (points) was better during means independent competition than other conditions. Anxiety and effort peaked during the competitions and enjoyment was greater during competition and cooperation than during the individual condition. Emotions, effort, and actions are discussed as explanations for the performance effects. Social interdependence theory provides a valuable framework to understand emotion, motivation, and performance. Team competition can be used to promote effort and enhance performance in sport.

Group settings can help or hinder performances. We conducted two studies in a sporting context. Participants performed alone and in groups in which the other participants served as spectators or as coactors. In Study 1, 33 CrossFit athletes performed a timed fine motor task (stacking cups) and a gross motor task (planks). Plank performance increased in front of spectators and in the coacting condition as compared with the alone condition, whereas stacking performances were not affected by the social context. Study 2 assessed a working memory task (three-back) and a timed obstacle course requiring primarily motor speed. Subjects were 42 sports students. Spectators led to performance deteriorations in the complex cognitive task but to improved performances in the simple motor task, supporting the predictions formulated by Strauss. Future research should investigate whether the effects are mediated by the perception of one’s own performance compared with the group or by personality traits.

The study aimed to identify coach behavior profiles and explore whether athletes from distinct profiles significantly differed on coping and affects experienced within 2 hr before the competition and during the competition (measuring them 2 hr after the competition). A sample of 306 French athletes (M _age = 22.24; SD = 4.91; 194 men and 112 women) participated in the study. The results revealed the emergence of two profiles: (a) a coaching engaged profile that stands out for moderate physical training and planning, technical skills, mental preparation, goal setting, competition strategies, personal rapport, and moderate negative personal rapport; and (b) a less engaged coaching profile with low physical training and planning, technical skills, mental preparation, goal setting, competition strategies, personal rapport, and moderate negative personal rapport. Memberships of coach behavior profiles were not confounded by athletes’ practice experience, athlete’s gender, and coach experience. Results of latent profile analyses with Bose–Chaudhuri–Hocquenghem method (BCH) method revealed that coping and affective states significantly differed across the coach behavior profiles. As a whole, the less engaged coaching profile engenders the worst outcomes in competition. In conclusion, the detection of less adaptive coaching profiles would be crucial to prevent negative outcomes in athletes during the competition. This might be using intervention programs adapted to the peculiarities of athletes from a particular coach behavior profiles.