Nuno Corte-Real

Como avaliar a percepção de competência e aceitação social de crianças com paralisia cerebral?Estudo inicial para a determinação das propriedades psicométricas da versão portuguesa da Dutch Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance in Children with Cerebral Palsy

The main purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the Dutch Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance in Children with Cerebral Palsy. The sample was made up of 108 children (60 boys and 48 girls) with cerebral palsy, aged between 4 and 9 years, who suffered hemiplegia, diplegia or quadriplegia and had an IQ of 70 or higher. Most of the children (n=98) attended regular schools (integrated in kindergarten or primary school); indeed, only 10 children attended special schools for children with special needs. A sub-sample of 41 children filled out the scale in two different moments, separated one to two weeks maximum. The results of Pearson correlations between the two administrations (ranging 0.80 to 0.98) and the Cronbachs alpha (ranging 0.69 to 0.93) showed good reliability of the Portuguese version of the Dutch Pictorial Scale. Moreover, the inter-correlations between the four subscales (r=0.60 or higher) as well the mean scores associated by children with different characteristics (age, sex, medical condition) to the different subscales supported the internal validity of the instrument. Therefore, this study provides initial evidence about the psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the Dutch Pictorial Scale, which is why its use is recommended to assess the perceived competence and social acceptance of Portuguese children with cerebral palsy.

Factorial invariance of the satisfaction with life scale in adolescents from Spain and Portugal

BACKGROUND The Satisfaction with Life Scale is one of the most widely used scales to measure the global cognitive judgment of satisfaction with one’s life. METHOD This study assesses the equivalence of the SWLS across Spanish and Portuguese adolescents, using multi-sample Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Participants were Spanish (N = 2183) and Portuguese (N = 4082) junior high school. RESULTS The results provide high support for the internal consistency of both the Spanish and Portuguese versions of this scale. The results also showed that factor structure, factor loadings, could be considered invariant across groups. However, the full scalar invariance between Spanish and Portuguese samples was not found, with the intercept for SWLS item 5 varying across countries. CONCLUSIONS Similar findings have also been found in other cross-national studies with this scale. Implications of the findings are discussed and we conclude that the Spanish and Portuguese versions of the SWLS can be used for cross-national comparisons with Spanish and Portuguese adolescents.

The use of imagery by Portuguese soccer goalkeepers.

Abstract The purpose of this investigation was to study the extent to which Portuguese soccer goalkeepers used imagery, and to examine if and how athletes of different ages differed in their use of imagery. Seventy soccer goalkeepers playing in the two major Portuguese soccer leagues completed the translated versions of the Sports Inventory of Mental Strategies, the Imagery Use Questionnaire for Soccer Players, the Sport Imagery Training and the Sport Imagery Questionnaire. The results showed that imagery was most used in competition than in training, preferably in its visual dimension and from an internal perspective. The results also demonstrated that athletes used imagery both for motivational and cognitive purposes, but the motivational function, namely its general-mastery component, was slightly more used and with more vivid images. After competition and when injured, under-21 athletes used imagery significantly less than their older counterparts.

Avaliações cognitivas, emoções e coping : um estudo com futebolistas portugueses.

Resumen pt: O presente trabalho teve como objectivo analisar os padroes e associacoes das estrategias de coping, da avaliacao cognitiva, da ansiedade e de outras emo...

Personal and social responsibility development: exploring the perceptions of Portuguese Youth football coaches within competitive youth sport

Abstract Youth sport is a valuable context to foster the development of personal and social responsibility (PSR). Within competitive youth sport coaches face many challenges promoting PSR while still being required to win. However, information related to the role played by coaches in PSR development within competitive youth sport is scarce and thus additional research is required. The purpose of this study was to analyse the perceptions of youth coaches on delivering, and barriers to delivering PSR in competitive youth sport. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews conducted with 17 youth coaches who coached under-15 football teams in Portugal. A thematic analysis was performed which generated high (e.g. coaching practice) and low order categories (e.g. positive transference). The findings showed that coaches considered PSR development important in different developmental stages. The relationship between parents and coaches was identified as a key factor. Coaches experienced constraints to their intervention towards PSR development, such as challenging athlete behaviours which were resolved by implementing negative teaching strategies. Coaches also mentioned a low number of strategies to foster transference of PSR to other life domains.

Coaching effectiveness within competitive youth football: youth football coaches’ and athletes’ perceptions and practices

Abstract Competitive youth sport can provide solid grounds for positive youth development (PYD). However, there is need to understand if coaches are facilitating these types of outcomes. The purpose of this study was to analyze how competitive youth sport is used to facilitate PYD. The participants in this study were four youth football coaches and 19 adolescent athletes from competitive leagues at north of Portugal. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, field notes and nonparticipant observations. The majority of the coaches communicated appropriately and facilitated positive interactions with youth athletes. Nevertheless, the participants did not implement an explicit approach towards the development of confidence, character, connection and competence (i.e., 4 C’s) which has been linked to less PYD outcomes. Performance outcomes in certain moments superseded PYD ones. Moving forward, coaches need to comprehend how they can use their interpersonal knowledge to integrate the 4 C’s within competitive youth sport.

Como distinguir jovens atletas que tencionam continuar a praticar desporto dos que não tencionam continuar a fazê-lo?

The aim of this study was to verify whether it was possible to distinguish between young athletes who intended to continue playing sports and those who inten...

How to distinguish between young athletes who intend to continue playing sports and those who do not intend to continue doing it

The aim of this study was to verify whether it was possible to distinguish between young athletes who intended to continue playing sports and those who inten...

Como distinguir entre jóvenes atletas que tienen la intención de continuar practicando deporte de los que no piensan continuar haciéndolo

The aim of this study was to verify whether it was possible to distinguish between young athletes who intended to continue playing sports and those who inten...

Adolescents and health-related behaviors. What influence can the typology of school have?

From the influence of peers in the acquisition of behaviors that could endanger or protect health, we aimed to verify the existence of differences in levels of sport practice, consumption of tobacco and alcohol, and life satisfaction among students of the third Cycle of Basic Education attending two different types of schools in Portuguese Mainland: Basic Schools of second and third Cycles of Basic Education (BS2/3), attended by students aged between 10 and 16 and Secondary Schools with third Cycle of Basic Education (SS/3), attended by students aged between 12 and 18 years. The instruments used were the ‘Inventory of Health-related Behaviors of Adolescents’ (Corte-Real et al. 2004) and the ‘Scale of Satisfaction With Life’, a translated and adapted version of the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS; Diener et al. 1985). The sample consisted of 5624 adolescents (53% ♀ and 47% ♂) aged between 12 and 17 years old ( = 14,33; = 1,359). We found no statistically significant differences in none of the variables, except in the consumption of tobacco, in which we realized that students who attended SS/3 schools had higher intakes compared with adolescents of the same age, who were attending BS2/3 schools. We also concluded that girls showed more pronounced differences in all variables.