BackgroundThe majority of past work on athletes’ use of psychological skills and techniques (PSTs) has adopted a variable-centered approach in which the statistical relations among study variables are averaged across a sample. However, variable-centered-analyses exclude the possibility that PSTs may be used in tandem or combined in different ways across practice and competition settings. With this empirical gap in mind, the purposes of this study were to identify the number and type of profiles of elite athletes’ use of PSTs, and examine differences between these clusters in terms of their self-reported mental toughness.MethodsIn this cross-sectional survey study, 285 Malaysian elite athletes (170 males, 115 females) aged 15–44 years (M = 18.89, SD = 4.49) completed measures of various PSTs and mental toughness. Latent profile analysis was employed to determine the type and number of profiles that best represent athletes’ reports of their use of PSTs in practice and competition settings, and examine differences between these classes in terms of self-reported mental toughness.ResultsOur results revealed three profiles (low, moderate, high use) in both practice and competition settings that were distinguished primarily according to quantitative differences in the absolute levels of reported use across most of the PSTs assessed in practice and competition settings, which in turn, were differentially related with mental toughness. Specifically, higher use of PSTs was associated with higher levels of mental toughness.ConclusionThis study provides one of the first analyses of the different configurations of athletes’ use of PSTs that typify unique subgroups of performers. An important next step is to examine the longitudinal (in) stability of such classes and therefore provide insight into the temporal dynamics of different configurations of athletes’ use of PSTs.

Organizational stressors are a universal phenomenon which can be particularly prevalent and problematic for sport performers. In view of their global existence, it is surprising that no studies have examined cross-cultural differences in organizational stressors. One explanation for this is that the Organizational Stressor Indicator for Sport Performers (OSI-SP; Arnold, Fletcher, & Daniels, 2013), which can comprehensively measure the organizational pressures that sport performers have encountered, has not yet been translated from English into any other languages nor scrutinized cross-culturally. The first purpose of this study, therefore, was to examine the cross-cultural validity of the OSI-SP. In addition, the study aimed to test the equivalence of the OSI-SP's factor structure across cultures. British (n = 379), Chinese (n = 335), and Malaysian (n = 444) sport performers completed the OSI-SP. Confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the cross-cultural validity of the factorial model for the British and Malaysian samples; however, the overall model fit for the Chinese data did not meet all guideline values. Support was provided for the equality of factor loadings, variances, and covariances on the OSI-SP across the British and Malaysian cultures. These findings advance knowledge and understanding on the cross-cultural existence, conceptualization, and operationalization of organizational stressors.

The aims of this study were to assess the cross-cultural invariance of athletes' self-reports of mental toughness and to introduce and illustrate the application of approximate measurement invariance using Bayesian estimation for sport and exercise psychology scholars. Athletes from Australia (n = 353, Mage = 19.13, SD = 3.27, men = 161), China (n = 254, Mage = 17.82, SD = 2.28, men = 138), and Malaysia (n = 341, Mage = 19.13, SD = 3.27, men = 200) provided a cross-sectional snapshot of their mental toughness. The cross-cultural invariance of the mental toughness inventory in terms of (a) the factor structure (configural invariance), (b) factor loadings (metric invariance), and (c) item intercepts (scalar invariance) was tested using an approximate measurement framework with Bayesian estimation. Results indicated that approximate metric and scalar invariance was established. From a methodological standpoint, this study demonstrated the usefulness and flexibility of Bayesian estimation for single-sample and multigroup analyses of measurement instruments. Substantively, the current findings suggest that the measurement of mental toughness requires cultural adjustments to better capture the contextually salient (emic) aspects of this concept.

AimOutpatient experience (OPE) is recognised as an integral component of paediatric training.1 Feedback from trainees suggested that inpatient work often takes priority over OPE. Trainees were pulled from clinics to cover acute work during the day and out-of-hours. The authors reviewed the OPE of our trainees.MethodsThe authors conducted a telephone survey of trainee representatives from ST1–3 (SHO) and ST4–8 (SpR) paediatric and neonatal rotas in hospitals across our region during November 2009.ResultsInformation relating to the quality and quantity of OPE was obtained from all 18 hospitals in the deanery. 21 SHO and 21 SpR rotas were reviewed. Theoretically, 75% of SHO rotas allowed OPE but because of annual leave and floating/flexible cover for other paediatric areas only 30% guaranteed OPE. Most SHOs had the opportunity to attend specialty clinics on an ad-hoc basis. In 35% of rotas SHOs were able to see patients independently. All SpR rotas included some OPE, but the mean number of clinics per week was low (1.2/week (range 0.1–3)). In 57% of rotas SpRs managed their own clinics but only 23% of rotas were designed to allow them to follow up their own patients. Dedicated administrative time was built into 38% of rotas. In places without SpR-led clinics, trainees were often expected to cover other areas in preference to clinics. Trainees felt they received adequate feedback and support from consultants in 90% of rotas. All participating trainees felt that OPE was a good learning opportunity.ConclusionOut-patient training is incorporated into working rotas in many ways, but is generally inadequate to provide the required OPE for trainees at all levels. Due to a stretched workforce trainees are often pulled out of clinic to cover other duties. Combined with the newly designed European Working Time Directive compliant rotas, this has led to the importance of OPE being overlooked. The authors propose to use this information at a regional level to develop departmental rotas that maximise OPE for our trainees.