Pierre-Nicolas Lemyre

• Moseid, Nils Fredrik Holm; Lemyre, Nicolas; Roberts, Glyn; Fagerland, Morten; Moseid, Christine Holm & Bahr, Roald (2023). Associations between health problems and athlete burnout: a cohort study in 210 adolescent elite athletes. BMJ Open sport & exercise medicine. 9(1), p. 1–11. doi: 10.1136/bmjsem-2022-001514. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Objectives: We studied associations between the burden of health problems and athlete burnout in a population of athletes from Norwegian Sport Academy High Schools. Methods: This is a mixed prospective/retrospective cohort study. We included 210 athletes, 135 boys and 75 girls, from endurance, technical and team sports. We used the Oslo Sports Trauma Centres Questionnaire for Health Problems to collect 124 weeks of health data. During the first 26 weeks, athletes reported the health data prospectively using a smartphone app. For the following 98 weeks, we collected health data by interviewing athletes at the end of their third year in Sport Academy High School. At the time of the interview, the athletes also completed a web-based questionnaire, including the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire and covering social relations in sports and school, coach relations and living conditions. Results: A greater burden of health problems was associated with a higher score for athlete burnout (B: 0.16, 95% CI 0.09 to 0.22, p<0.001). In a multivariable model, this was true for both illnesses (B: 0.21, 95% CI 0.10 to 0.32, p<0.001), acute injuries (B: 0.16, 95% CI 0.04 to 0.27, p=0.007) and overuse injuries (B: 0.10, 95% CI 0.002 to 0.18, p=0.011). This was also true in gender and sports category subgroups. The coach having a high influence on training week was associated with a lower score for athlete burnout. Conclusion: A greater burden of health problems was associated with greater symptoms of athlete burnout in athletes attending Sport Academy High Schools.

• Charbonneau, Evelyne Felber; Camiré, Martin & Lemyre, Nicolas (2021). Motives for and Experiences of Expatriation to Coach. International Sport Coaching Journal. ISSN 2328-918X. 8(2), p. 153–160. doi: 10.1123/iscj.2019-0079. Full text in Research Archive
• Bentzen, Marte; Kenttä, Göran & Lemyre, Nicolas (2020). Elite football coaches experiences and sensemaking about being fired: An interpretative phenomenological analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH). ISSN 1661-7827. 17(14). doi: 10.3390/ijerph17145196. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Background: Chronic job insecurity seems to be a prominent feature within elite sport, where coaches work under pressure of dismissals if failing to meet performance expectations of stakeholders. The aim of the current study was to get a deeper understanding of elite football coaches’ experiences of getting fired and how they made sense of that process. Method: A qualitative design using semi-structured interviews was conducted with six elite football coaches who were fired within the same season. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was chosen as framework to analyze the data. Results: The results reflected five emerging themes: Acceptance of having an insecure job, working for an unprofessional organization and management, micro-politics in the organization, unrealistic and changing performance expectation, and emotional responses. Conclusion: All coaches expressed awareness and acceptance regarding the risk of being fired. However, they experienced a lack of transparency and clear feedback regarding the causes of dismissal. This led to negative emotional reactions as the coaches experienced being evaluated by poorly defined expectations and by anonymous stakeholders. Sports organizations as employers should strive to be transparent during dismissal. In addition, job insecurity is a permanent stressor for coaches and should be acknowledged and targeted within coach education.

• McNeill, Kylie; Durand-Bush, Natalie & Lemyre, Nicolas (2020). Can learning self-regulatory competencies through a guided intervention improve coaches’ burnout symptoms and well-being? Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology (JCSP). ISSN 1932-9261. 14(2), p. 149–169. doi: 10.1123/jcsp.2018-0019. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  While coaches are considered at risk of experiencing burnout, there is an absence of intervention studies addressing this syndrome. The purpose of this qualitative study was to conduct a self-regulation intervention with five Canadian developmental (n = 2) and elite (n = 3) sport coaches (three men, two women) experiencing moderate to high levels of burnout and examine the perceived impact of this intervention on their self-regulation capacity and experiences of burnout and well-being. The content analysis of the coaches’ outtake interviews and five bi-weekly journals revealed that all five of them learned to self-regulate more effectively by developing various competencies (e.g., strategic planning for their well-being, self-monitoring) and strategies (e.g., task delegation, facilitative self-talk). Four of the coaches also perceived improvements in their symptoms of burnout and well-being. Sport psychology interventions individualized for coaches are a promising means for helping them manage burnout and enhance their overall functioning.

• Bentzen, Marte; Kenttä, Göran; Richter, Anne & Lemyre, Nicolas (2020). Impact of Job Insecurity on Psychological Well- and Ill-Being among High Performance Coaches. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH). ISSN 1661-7827. 17(19). doi: 10.3390/ijerph17196939. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Background: The evaluative nature of high performance (HP) sport fosters performance expectations that can be associated with harsh scrutiny, criticism, and job insecurity. In this context, (HP) sport is described as a highly competitive, complex, and turbulent work environment. The aim of this longitudinal, quantitative study was to explore whether HP coaches’ perceptions of job insecurity and job value incongruence in relation to work would predict their psychological well- and ill-being over time. Methods: HP coaches (n = 299) responded to an electronic questionnaire at the start, middle, and end of a competitive season, designed to measure the following: job insecurity, values, psychological well-being (vitality and satisfaction with work), and psychological ill-being (exhaustion and cynicism). Structural equation model analyses were conducted using Mplus. Results: Experiencing higher levels of job insecurity during the middle of the season significantly predicted an increase in coaches’ psychological ill-being, and a decrease in their psychological well-being at the end of the season. However, value incongruence did not have a significant longitudinal impact. Conclusions: These findings cumulatively indicate that coaches’ perceptions of job insecurity matter to their psychological health at work. Consequently, it is recommended that coaches and organizations acknowledge and discuss how to handle job security within the HP sport context.

• Jordalen, Gro; Lemyre, Nicolas; Durand-Bush, Natalie & Ivarsson, Andreas (2020). The Temporal Ordering of Motivation and Self-Control: A Cross-Lagged Effects Model. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology (JSEP). ISSN 0895-2779. 42(2), p. 102–113. doi: 10.1123/JSEP.2019-0143. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Mechanisms leading to cognitive energy depletion in performance settings such as high-level sports highlight likely associations between individuals’ self-control capacity and their motivation. Investigating the temporal ordering of these concepts combining self-determination theory and psychosocial self-control theories, the authors hypothesized that athletes’ self-control capacity would be more influenced by their motivation than vice versa and that autonomous and controlled types of motivation would predict self-control capacity positively and negatively, respectively. High-level winter-sport athletes from Norwegian elite sport colleges (N = 321; 16–20 years) consented to participate. Using Bayesian structural equation modeling and 3-wave analyses, findings revealed credible self-control → motivation → self-control cross-lagged effects. Athletes’ trait self-control especially initiated the temporal ordering of the least controlled types of motivation (i.e., intrinsic, integrated, and amotivation). Findings indicate that practicing self-control competencies and promoting athletes’ autonomous types of motivation are important components in the development toward the elite level. These components will help athletes maintain their persistent goal striving by increasing the value and inherent satisfaction of the development process, avoiding the debilitating effects of self-control depletion and exhaustion.

• Sabourin, Camille; Trottier, Christiane; Frenette, Eric; Camire, Martin; Drapeau, Vicky & Goulet, Claude [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2019). French Adaptation of the Short Form Youth Experiences Survey for Sport and Life Skills Scale for Sport. Measurement in Physical Education and Exercise Science. ISSN 1091-367X. doi: 10.1080/1091367X.2019.1663351. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Research on positive youth development and life skills in sport has gained considerable attention over the past decades. However, there is a lack of translated questionnaires examining youth development and life skills available to non-English researchers and practitioners. The purpose of this research project was to adapt in French two questionnaires and to accumulate validity evidence of these adaptations. The short form – Youth Experiences Survey for Sport and the Life Skills Scale for Sport were adapted using a procedure based on a transcultural validation methodology applied to psychological measures. This research comprises four studies, which led to the French adaptation and validation process of each questionnaire. In conclusion, the results obtained show that these adapted French questionnaires can now be used to evaluate the perceptions and lived experiences of French-speaking athletes regarding positive youth development and life skills in sport.

• Jordalen, Gro; Lemyre, Nicolas & Durand-Bush, Natalie (2019). Interplay of motivation and self-regulation throughout the development of elite athletes. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health. ISSN 2159-676X. doi: 10.1080/2159676X.2019.1585388. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Recent development in the understanding of human motivation has high-lighted the crucial and reciprocal role of motivation on cognitive processes.In elite sport settings, athletes are subject to external forces that do notnecessarily correspond with their inherent drives. However, they seem todevelop cognitive competencies to cope with external forces, when plan-ning, monitoring, and reflecting on their high-level achievements. Thecurrent study aims to explore likely interactions between motivation andcognitive processes as athletes develop from novice to elite levels. Fivefemale Olympic and World Championship medallists were interviewed.A thematic analysis revealed how motivation and self-regulation compe-tencies interchangeably influenced athletes’career trajectories asynchro-nously. Chronologically, four themes emerged: 1) Motivational shifts evokedplanning and self-control competencies, 2) The external control constrainedathletes’self-regulation, 3) Self-control and reflection in extrinsically drivenathletes, and 4) Elite athletes’multidimensional motivation and self-regulation profile. Initially, intrinsic motivation prompted athletes’participa-tion, but the competitive nature of sport activities led to a shift toward moreexternal forms of motivation. This motivational shift was accompanied bychanges in self-regulation competencies, particularly planning andself-control, rather than self-reflection. Over time, athletes’increased sport-specificself-confidence contributed to further refinement of self-regulationcompetencies and integrated motivational regulations. Rather than explor-ing motivation and cognitive competencies individually, current studyfindings highlight dynamic interactions between these concepts that influ-ences athletes’ongoing development to elite level performances.

• Wyke, Sally; Bunn, Christopher; Andersen, Eivind; Silva, Marlene N.; Nassau, Femke van & McSkimming, Paula [Show all 34 contributors for this article] (2019). The effect of a programme to improve men's sedentary time and physical activity: The european fans in training (EuroFIT) randomised controlled trial. PLoS Medicine. ISSN 1549-1277. 16(3). doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1002736. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Reducing sitting time as well as increasing physical activity in inactive people is beneficial for their health. This paper investigates the effectiveness of the European Fans in Training (EuroFIT) programme to improve physical activity and sedentary time in male football fans, delivered through the professional football setting. Methods and findings A total of 1,113 men aged 30–65 with self-reported body mass index (BMI) ≥27 kg/m2 took part in a randomised controlled trial in 15 professional football clubs in England, the Netherlands, Norway, and Portugal. Recruitment was between September 19, 2015, and February 2, 2016. Participants consented to study procedures and provided usable activity monitor baseline data. They were randomised, stratified by club, to either the EuroFIT intervention or a 12-month waiting list comparison group. Follow-up measurement was post-programme and 12 months after baseline. EuroFIT is a 12-week, group-based programme delivered by coaches in football club stadia in 12 weekly 90-minute sessions. Weekly sessions aimed to improve physical activity, sedentary time, and diet and maintain changes long term. A pocket-worn device (SitFIT) allowed self-monitoring of sedentary time and daily steps, and a game-based app (MatchFIT) encouraged between-session social support. Primary outcome (objectively measured sedentary time and physical activity) measurements were obtained for 83% and 85% of intervention and comparison participants. Intention-to-treat analyses showed a baseline-adjusted mean difference in sedentary time at 12 months of −1.6 minutes/day (97.5% confidence interval [CI], −14.3–11.0; p = 0.77) and in step counts of 678 steps/day (97.5% CI, 309–1.048; p < 0.001) in favor of the intervention. There were significant improvements in diet, weight, well-being, self-esteem, vitality, and biomarkers of cardiometabolic health in favor of the intervention group, but not in quality of life. There was a 0.95 probability of EuroFIT being cost-effective compared with the comparison group if society is willing to pay £1.50 per extra step/day, a maximum probability of 0.61 if society is willing to pay £1,800 per minute less sedentary time/day, and 0.13 probability if society is willing to pay £30,000 per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY). It was not possible to blind participants to group allocation. Men attracted to the programme already had quite high levels of physical activity at baseline (8,372 steps/day), which may have limited room for improvement. Although participants came from across the socioeconomic spectrum, a majority were well educated and in paid work. There was an increase in recent injuries and in upper and lower joint pain scores post-programme. In addition, although the five-level EuroQoL questionnaire (EQ-5D-5L) is now the preferred measure for cost-effectiveness analyses across Europe, baseline scores were high (0.93), suggesting a ceiling effect for QALYs. Conclusion Participation in EuroFIT led to improvements in physical activity, diet, body weight, and biomarkers of cardiometabolic health, but not in sedentary time at 12 months. Within-trial analysis suggests it is not cost-effective in the short term for QALYs due to a ceiling effect in quality of life. Nevertheless, decision-makers may consider the incremental cost for increase in steps worth the investment.

• Jørgensen, Helene; Lemyre, Nicolas & Holt, Nicholas (2019). Multiple Learning Contexts and the Development of Life Skills Among Canadian Junior National Team Biathletes. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology. ISSN 1041-3200. doi: 10.1080/10413200.2019.1570570. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The purposes of this study were to identify and explore (a) the life skills learning contexts experienced by Canadian junior national team biathletes and (b) the ways in which they learned life skills in these contexts. Nine members of the Canadian junior national biathlon team participated in individual semi-structured interviews. Results of thematic analysis revealed 3 life skills learning contexts: sport, school/work, and family. Participants reported learning life skills by using cognitive processes of observational learning and reflections on experiences. Some athletes reported that life skills learning occurred automatically, which may suggest implicit cognitive learning. Lay Summary: The different contexts in which Canadian junior national team biathletes learned life skills were studied. Nine athletes were interviewed. Athletes learned life skills in sport, school/work, and family contexts. They used cognitive strategies of observational learning and reflecting on experiences. Some athletes thought they learned life skills automatically, which may suggest implicit cognitive learning.

• Lundkvist, Erik; Gustafsson, Henrik; Davis, Paul; Holmström, Stefan; Lemyre, Nicolas & Ivarsson, Andreas (2018). The temporal relations across burnout dimensions in athletes. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports. ISSN 0905-7188. 28(3), p. 1215–1226. doi: 10.1111/sms.13000. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Burnout is a construct that has garnered considerable attention in sport psychology within recent years. Several hypothesized models regarding how the three dimensions (exhaustion, devaluation, and reduced sense of accomplishment) temporally relate to each other have been advanced. One proposal outlined by Maslach and Leiter suggests that exhaustion predicts devaluation which predicts reduced sense of accomplishment. However, there is no consensus among researchers as it has been argued that exhaustion predicts devaluation and reduced accomplishment separately. The aim of this study was to test multiple alternative hypotheses regarding the relationships of the burnout dimensions in athletes. Two samples of Swedish youth elite athletes with differing time spans between measurements were used. Specifically, one sample involved time‐intensive measures collected every week over an eight‐week period, and the other sample included four measurement points across an 18‐month period. Results showed that none of the previously proposed models outlining the temporal relations of burnout dimensions were supported. Statistical analysis of the models including the cross‐lagged predictions of dimensions did not have any statistically significant impact except when exhaustion negatively predicted devaluation between time 1 (month 0) and time 2 (month 6) in the 18‐month sample; this relation faded in the following time points. Further, issues regarding the stability of devaluation and reduced sense of accomplishment emerged as their autocorrelation were very weak in the time‐intensive sample. These findings raise a number of points for further theoretical and practical discussions about the athlete burnout construct.

• Jordalen, Gro; Lemyre, Nicolas; Solstad, Bård Erlend & Ivarsson, Andreas (2018). The Role of Self-Control and Motivation on Exhaustion in Youth Athletes: A Longitudinal Perspective. Frontiers in Psychology. 9. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02449. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The depletion of self-control competencies has been explained by an external shift in motivation, and recent research has emphasized that controlled types of motivation and self-control competencies are positively associated with exhaustion in youth athletes. Using the self-determination theory and self-control theories, this study examined associations between athletes’ motivation, self-control competencies, and exhaustion experiences throughout a competitive season. A total of 321 winter sport youth athletes (173 males, 98 females, and 50 unknown gender; aged 16 to 20 years, M = 17.98, SD = 0.89) participated in this 10-week longitudinal study, including three time points. Using Bayesian structural equation modeling, associations between athletes’ reported level of motivation regulations, self-control, and exhaustion throughout their competitive season were examined in two mediation models. Constructs were associated in a conceptual and consistent manner. Simple mediation models showed credible indirect and direct effects of motivation on exhaustion via self-control within amotivation, and intrinsic, integrated, identified, and external regulation analyses. These credible effects were not replicated in the focused mediation model, when controlling for self-control and exhaustion autoregressive effects. However, direction of effects in both models was consistent and congruent. Findings consistently supported the interplay between motivation and exhaustion via self-control in youth athletes over an important competition period of the year. Autonomous and controlled motivation interacted with self-control and respectively predicted perceived exhaustion negatively and positively. Thus, autonomous self-control motives are important in preventing negative sport participation development over time. However, simple and focused mediation models showed different results, suggesting a necessity for accurate considerations of analytical methods chosen to investigate longitudinal mediation. Specifically, future studies need to carefully consider the time interval between measurement time points when investigating changes in dynamic psychological constructs, and include autoregressive longitudinal effects in order to predict change in levels of the outcome over time.

• Bentzen, Marte; Lemyre, Nicolas & Kenttä, Göran (2016). Development of exhaustion for high-performance coaches in association with workload and motivation: A person-centered approach. Psychology of Sport And Exercise. ISSN 1469-0292. 22(1), p. 10–19. doi: 10.1016/j.psychsport.2015.06.004. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Objectives: The aim of the current study was twofold. First, to explore whether there were different trajectories of exhaustion among high-performance coaches over the course of a competitive season. Then, to investigate whether workload-related variables and motivational regulations were associated with exhaustion class membership. Methods and design: 299 high-performance coaches responded to an online survey at the start, middle, and end of a competitive season, assessing exhaustion, workload, work home interference (WHI), recovery, and motivational regulations. Latent class growth analyses were used to identify different trajectories of perceived exhaustion. Further, multinomial logistic regression examined class associations for workload-related variables and motivational regulations at the start and at the end of competitive season. Results: Four different trajectories of perceived exhaustion among coaches were identified, termed respectively “High” (10%), “Increase” (15%), “Decrease” (4%) and “Low” (71%). Higher levels of workload and WHI were associated to classes with higher levels of exhaustion. Higher levels of recovery, and intrinsic and identified regulations were associated to classes with lower levels of exhaustion. Adaptive and maladaptive profiles were identified. Conclusions: Different trajectories of exhaustion among high-performance coaches over the course of a competitive season were found. A maladaptive profile was associated with higher perceived workload and WHI, as well as lower levels of recovery, intrinsic and identified regulations, when compared to the adaptive profile.

• Bentzen, Marte; Lemyre, Nicolas & Kenttä, Göran (2016). Changes in Motivation and Burnout Indices in High-Performance Coaches Over the Course of a Competitive Season. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology. ISSN 1041-3200. 28(1), p. 28–48. doi: 10.1080/10413200.2015.1053160. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Being subject to a great range of demands is believed to increase burnout propensity in high-performance coaches. This study is the first to explore whether the 4-step self-determination theory process model is a valuable framework to better understand the process influencing burnout and well-being in high-performance coaches (N = 343, M = 40.33 years) throughout a competitive season. Findings indicated that coaches on average increased in burnout and decreased in well-being. Hypotheses were to a large extent supported: change in perceived environment → change in psychological need satisfaction → change in autonomous motivation → change in burnout and well-being.

• Hatfield, Johannes Lunde & Lemyre, Nicolas (2016). Foundations of Intervention Research in Instrumental Practice. Frontiers in Psychology. 6. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.02014. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The goals of the present study are to evaluate, implement, and adapt psychological skills used in the realm of sports into music performance. This research project also aims to build foundations on how to implement future interventions to guide music students on how to optimize practice toward performance. A 2-month psychological skills intervention was provided to two students from the national music academy's bachelor program in music performance to better understand how to adapt and construct psychological skills training programs for performing music students. The program evaluated multiple intervention tools including the use of questionnaires, performance profiling, iPads, electronic practice logs, recording the perceived value of individual and combined work, as well as the effectiveness of different communication forms. Perceived effects of the intervention were collected through semi-structured interviews, observations, and logs.

• Jordalen, Gro; Lemyre, Nicolas & Durand-Bush, Natalie (2016). Exhaustion Experiences in Junior Athletes: The Importance of Motivation and Self-Control Competencies. Frontiers in Psychology. 7. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01867. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Quality of motivation, self-control competencies, as well as past performance experience influence sport participation outcomes in developing athletes. Studies have shown that junior athletes high in self-determined motivation are less prone to experience burnout, while self-control competencies help developing athletes to be conscious and deliberate in their self-regulatory efforts toward elite sport performances and avoid negative sport participation outcomes. Combining the self-determination theory framework and psychosocial theories of self-regulation, the aim of this crosssectional study was to examine how various types of motivation and self-control competencies together are associated with the development of burnout symptoms in junior athletes. High-level Norwegian winter-sport athletes from elite sport academies (N = 199; female n = 72; 16–20 years of age) consented to participate. Associations between six types of motivational regulation, self-control, and indices of exhaustion were investigated. We hypothesized that athletes’ self-control competencies are important to operate successfully, and influenced by different types of motivation, they are expected to help athletes avoid negative sport participation outcomes such as emotional and physical exhaustion. Structural equation modeling analyses were conducted to analyze these relationships, and results revealed some multifaceted associations. When identifying antecedents of sport participation exhaustion and burnout, there is a need to go beyond the unique framework of motivation theories, and explore what cognitive competencies ensure fulfillment of motivation desires. In the current study, differences in junior athletes’ quality of motivation influenced self-control competencies when predicting exhaustion. Interestingly, young athletes driven by self-determined (intrinsic, integrated, and identified), and controlled (introjected and amotivation) regulations in association with self-control offered the strongest negative and positive associations with exhaustion, respectively. Findings clearly indicate that motivation and self-control competencies are meaningfully interrelated when assessing burnout propensity in young developing athletes.

• McNeill, Kylie; Durand-Bush, Natalie & Lemyre, Nicolas (2016). Understanding coach burnout and underlying emotions: a narrative approach. Sports Coaching Review. ISSN 2164-0629. doi: 10.1080/21640629.2016.1163008. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The purpose of this study was to investigate coaches’ subjective experiences of burnout in order to shed light on the complex emotional nature of this syndrome. Five full-time paid coaches (two women and three men) experiencing burnout participated in an in-depth individual interview as part of a larger 13-week intervention study. A content analysis of the interview data resulted in the construction of five non-fictional short stories highlighting the emotions underlying the coaches’ experiences of burnout. The coaches described a variety of emotions including anxiety, anger, apathy and dejection, which had negative implications upon their well-being and coaching practice. Emotions were linked to the three dimensions of burnout; that is, emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and reduced personal accomplishment. Findings support calls for intervention research to help coaches manage their emotions and prevent burnout.

• Nassau, Femke van; Ploeg, Hidde P. van der; Abrahamsen, Frank Eirik; Andersen, Eivind; Anderson, Annie S. & Bosmans, Judith E. [Show all 39 contributors for this article] (2016). Study protocol of European Fans in Training (EuroFIT): a four-country randomised controlled trial of a lifestyle program for men delivered in elite football clubs. BMC Public Health. 16:598, p. 1–15. doi: 10.1186/s12889-016-3255-y. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Background: Lifestyle interventions targeting physical activity, sedentary time and dietary behaviours have the potential to initiate and support behavioural change and result in public health gain. Although men have often been reluctant to engage in such lifestyle programs, many are at high risk of several chronic conditions. We have developed an evidence and theory-based, gender sensitised, health and lifestyle program (European Fans in Training (EuroFIT)), which is designed to attract men through the loyalty they feel to the football club they support. This paper describes the study protocol to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the EuroFIT program in supporting men to improve their level of physical activity and reduce sedentary behaviour over 12 months. Methods: The EuroFIT study is a pragmatic, two-arm, randomised controlled trial conducted in 15 football clubs in the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and the UK (England). One-thousand men, aged 30 to 65 years, with a self-reported Body Mass Index (BMI) ≥27 kg/m2 will be recruited and individually randomised. The primary outcomes are objectively-assessed changes in total physical activity (steps per day) and total sedentary time (minutes per day) at 12 months after baseline assessment. Secondary outcomes are weight, BMI, waist circumference, resting systolic and diastolic blood pressure, cardio-metabolic blood biomarkers, food intake, self-reported physical activity and sedentary time, wellbeing, self-esteem, vitality and quality of life. Cost-effectiveness will be assessed and a process evaluation conducted. The EuroFIT program will be delivered over 12 weekly, 90-minute sessions that combine classroom discussion with graded physical activity in the setting of the football club. Classroom sessions provide participants with a toolbox of behaviour change techniques to initiate and sustain long-term lifestyle changes. The coaches will receive two days of training to enable them to create a positive social environment that supports men in engaging in sustained behaviour change. Discussion: The EuroFIT trial will provide evidence on the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the EuroFIT program delivered by football clubs to their male fans, and will offer insight into factors associated with success in making sustained changes to physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and secondary outcomes, such as diet.

• Hatfield, Johannes Lunde; Halvari, Hallgeir & Lemyre, Nicolas (2016). Instrumental practice in the contemporary music academy: A three-phase cycle of Self-regulated Learning in music students. Musicae Scientiae. ISSN 1029-8649. doi: 10.1177/1029864916658342. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The purpose of the present study was to test an adapted model of self-regulated learning (Zimmerman, 1989) in the context of higher music education (n = 204). The following four hypotheses were tested: 1) Forethought phase constructs such as goal setting, self-efficacy, and time management were hypothesized to positively predict the use of psychological skills (i.e., self-observation, arousal-regulation, imagery, concentration, and self-control); 2) The use of psychological skills was expected to predict self-reflection phase constructs such as coping and perception of progress; 3) The links from the forethought phase to the reflection phase of the model were predicted to be indirect through psychological skills; 4) Self-reflection phase constructs were expected to positively predict forethought phase constructs. Applying Structural Equation Modeling, hypotheses 1 and 2 were partly supported. Regarding hypothesis 3, goal setting was indirectly positively linked to coping and perception of progress through self-observation and self-control. Self-efficacy was indirectly positively linked to coping through arousal-regulation. A follow-up multiple regression analysis was conducted in regard to hypothesis 4. The self-reflection phase constructs positively predicted forethought phase activities. Moreover, the study verified adaptive cyclical learning in the music students who were self-regulated learners.

• Bentzen, Marte; Lemyre, Nicolas & Kenttä, Göran (2015). The process of burnout among professional sport coaches through the lens of self-determination theory: a qualitative approach. Sports Coaching Review. ISSN 2164-0629. 3(2), p. 101–116. doi: 10.1080/21640629.2015.1035050. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Using a qualitative retrospective approach, this paper investigates how some work-related demands led to burnout among four professional coaches. Self-determination theory (SDT) offered a sound theoretical framework to better understand the motivational process leading to serious negative outcomes (Ryan & Deci, 2002). Findings indicated that all coaches experienced working in a maladaptive environment, exemplified by experiencing very heavy workloads, a lack of leader support, and work-related conflicts. These experiences had a detrimental effect on the coaches' motivation. Psychological need thwarting and a shift towards a more controlled form of motivation explained why coaches became increasingly at risk for burning out, a process that evolved over time. All four coaches experienced a wide range of burnout symptoms. Findings from this study highlight the importance for sports organizations to better cater for the psychological needs of professional coaches to prevent burnout.

• Kristiansen, Elsa; Roberts, Glyn & Lemyre, Nicolas (2015). The sport parents' and entourage's perspectives. In Parent, Milena & Chappelet, Jean-Loup (Ed.), Routledge handbook of sports event management. Routledge. ISSN 9780415858649. p. 183–202. doi: 10.4324/9780203798386-10. Full text in Research Archive
• Solstad, Bård Erlend & Lemyre, Nicolas (2014). Why Coaches should Encourage Swimmers' Efforts to Succeed. Journal of Swimming Research. ISSN 0747-5993. 22(1). Full text in Research Archive
• Ommundsen, Yngvar; Lemyre, Nicolas; Abrahamsen, Frank Eirik & Roberts, Glyn (2013). The role of motivational climate for sense of vitality in organized youth grassroots football players : Do harmonious and obsessive types of passion play a mediating role? International Journal of Applied Sports Sciences. ISSN 1598-2939. 25(2), p. 102–117. doi: 10.24985/ijass.2013.25.2.102. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The mediating role of types of passion in the relationships between motivational climates and subjective vitality was examined among 283 experienced young Norwegian grassroots football players (aged 12-16 years). A Structural Equation Model (SEM) based path model revealed that mastery climate predicted subjective vitality directly as well as mediated by harmonious passion and through a chain in which harmonious passion fuelled obsessive passion, in turn facilitating vitality. The former was the stronger mediation path of the two. A performance climate was unrelated to obsessive passion. The pattern of results generally supports the proposed motivational climate–passion–vitality link. However, the observed mediation chain involving also a positive mastery climate–obsessive passion–vitality link invites further examinations to better understand both young football players’ subjective meaning making of harmonious and obsessive passion.

• Isoard-Gautheur, Sandrine; Guillet-Descas, Emma & Lemyre, Nicolas (2012). A Prospective Study of the Influence of Perceived Coaching Style on Burnout Propensity in High Level Young Athletes: Using a Self-Determination Theory Perspective. The Sport Psychologist. ISSN 0888-4781. 26(2), p. 282–298. Full text in Research Archive
• Donahue, Eric G.; Forest, Jacques; Vallerand, Robert J.; Lemyre, Nicolas; Crevier-Braud, Laurence & Bergeron, Eliane (2012). Passion for work and emotional exhaustion: the mediating role of rumination and recovery. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being. ISSN 1758-0846. 4(3), p. 341–368. doi: 10.1111/j.1758-0854.2012.01078.x. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The purpose of the present research is to present a model pertaining to the mediating roles of rumination and recovery experiences in the relationship between a harmonious and an obsessive passion (Vallerand et al., 2003) for work and workers' emotional exhaustion. Two populations were measured in the present research: namely elite coaches and nurses. Study 1's model posits that obsessive passion positively predicts rumination about one's work when being physically away from work, while harmonious passion negatively predicts ruminative thoughts. In turn, rumination is expected to positively contribute to emotional exhaustion. The results of Study 1 were replicated in Study 2. In addition, in the model of Study 2, obsessive passion was expected to undermine recovery experiences, while harmonious passion was expected to predict recovery experiences. In turn, recovery experiences were expected to protect workers from emotional exhaustion. Results of both studies provided support for the proposed model. The present findings demonstrate that passion for work may lead to some adaptive and maladaptive psychological processes depending on the type of passion that is prevalent.

• Ommundsen, Yngvar; Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas; Abrahamsen, Frank Eirik & Roberts, Glyn C. (2010). Motivational climate, need satisfaction, regulation of motivation and subjective vitality A study of young soccer players. International Journal of Sport Psychology. ISSN 0047-0767. 41(3), p. 216–242. Full text in Research Archive
• Roberts, Glyn C.; Abrahamsen, Frank Eirik & Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas (2009). Motivation in sport and physical activity: An achievement goal interpretation. In Kaplan, Avi; Karabenick, Stuart A. & Groot, Elisabeth De (Ed.), Culture, self and motivation : essays in honor of Martin L. Maehr. Information Age Publishing. ISSN 9781607521082. p. 98–122. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Over the past twenty years, research in sport, physical education, and exercise contexts focusing on motivation has adopted a social cognitive approach (see Roberts, 1984; Roberts, et al, 2007). In particular, the achievement goal approach has become an important conceptual avenue to address motivation in physical activity. This chapter summarizes the research on achievement goals in sport and exercise.

• Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas; Hall, Howard & Roberts, Glyn C. (2008). A social cognitive approach to burnout in elite athletes. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports. ISSN 0905-7188. 18(2), p. 221–234. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0838.2007.00671.x. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The purpose of this study was to investigate athlete burnout from a social-cognitive perspective by examining the relationship between social cognitive motivational variables at the start of a season and signs of burnout in elite athletes at the end of the season. Participants were 141 (F=60, M=81) elite winter sport athletes competing in Alpine skiing, Biathlon, Nordic Combined, Nordic skiing, and Speed skating. Participants completed a comprehensive motivation assessment package at the start of the season and a further burnout inventory at season's end. Results indicated that motivational dispositions, measures of the achievement climate, perceived ability and dimensions of perfectionism were associated with burnout in a conceptually consistent manner. Furthermore, the elite athletes could be grouped into two motivational profiles based on variables measured at the start of the season, one being adaptive and the other maladaptive. At season's end, the two different motivational profiles yielded distinctively different responses on an inventory assessing signs of burnout. The current findings strengthen the claim that burnout in elite athletes may not simply be "motivation gone awry" as Gould has suggested, but an inevitable consequence of exhibiting a maladaptive motivational profile.

• Smith, Alan L.; Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas & Raedeke, Thomas D. (2007). Advances in athlete burnout research. International Journal of Sport Psychology. ISSN 0047-0767. 38(4), p. 337–341. Full text in Research Archive
• Ommundsen, Yngvar & Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas (2007). Self-regulation and strategic learning : the role of motivational beliefs and the learning environment in physical education, Psychology for physical educators : student in focus / Jarmo Liukkonen ... [et al.] (editors). Human Kinetics. p. 141–173. Full text in Research Archive
• Ommundsen, Yngvar; Roberts, Glyn C.; Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas & Abrahamsen, Frank Eirik (2007). What makes for a psychologically healthful versus risky soccer engagement? the motivational climate, psychological well-being and ill-being, The role of physical education and sport in promoting physical activity and health. University of Jyväskylä. p. 268–275. Full text in Research Archive
• Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas; Roberts, Glyn C. & Stray-Gundersen, Jim (2007). Motivation, overtraining, and burnout: Can self-determined motivation predict overtraining and burnout in elite athletes? European Journal of Sport Science (EJSS). ISSN 1746-1391. 7(2), p. 115–126. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The aim of this study was to determine whether quality of self-determined motivation at the start of the competitive season in elite athletes and symptoms of overtraining can predict athlete burnout propensity at the end of the season. The participants were 141 elite winter sport athletes. In September, at the beginning of the season, the athletes responded to a self-determined motivation questionnaire, while they answered questions assessing overtraining symptoms and burnout in March, at the end of the season. Findings indicated that self-determined motivation and symptoms of overtraining were negatively and positively linked respectively to dimensions of athlete burnout. The results suggest that self-determined motivation and symptoms of overtraining are both independently linked to signs of burnout in elite athletes and that although no moderating effect was found, pairing self-determined motivation with symptoms of overtraining increased the prediction of burnout in athletes at the end of the season. Our findings are in line with those of recent research (Cresswell & Eklund, 2005; Lemyre, Treasure, & Roberts, 2006) and support a motivational approach to study burnout in elite athletes.

• Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas; Treasure, Darren C. & Roberts, Glyn C. (2006). Influence of variability in motivation and affect on elite athlete burnout susceptibility. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology (JSEP). ISSN 0895-2779. 28(1), p. 32–48. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Forty-four elite swimmers (F = 19, M = 25) participated in the present study designed to examine shifts along the self-determined motivation continuum, as well as swings in negative and positive affect, to predict susceptibility to athlete burnout. Each week the participants were asked to record positive and negative affect states. Swimmers' affect swing was calculated using mean intraindividual standard deviation scores as an indicator of intraindividual variance. Every third week the athletes' level of self-determined motivation to participate in swimming was compiled on a self-determination index. A motivational trend slope for the whole season was computed for each swimmer. Results indicated that shifts in the quality of motivation were reliable predictors of all burnout dimensions. In addition, results of the regression analyses showed that swimmers experiencing increased variability in negative affect were more at risk for burnout. These two psychological constructs reliably predicted burnout potential in elite swimmers.

• Ommundsen, Yngvar; Roberts, Glyn C.; Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas & Miller, Blake W. (2006). Parental and coach support or pressure on psychosocial outcomes of pediatric athletes in soccer. Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine. ISSN 1050-642X. 16(6), p. 522–526. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Objective: The purpose of this article was to examine supportive and/or pressuring influences of parents and coaches on young athletes? maladaptive perfectionist tendencies, relationship to friends and competency perceptions in soccer. Previous research has revealed that parents and coaches may give rise to both enjoyable and stressful sport experiences for the pediatric athlete, and they are able to influence whether young people decide to quit sport or continue their participation. Less, however, is known about the relation of supportive versus pressuring parental and coach behaviours on the quality of athletes? achievement striving, relationships to friends in sport and their competence perceptions. Such knowledge may help create a better psychological sport experience for pediatric athletes. Data Sources/Synthesis: A questionnaire based cross-sectional field study was carried out among 677 young Norwegian soccer players (aged 10-14 years; Boys n= 504; Girls n= 173, taking part in the Norway Cup international youth soccer tournament in 2001. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) with follow-up canonical correlation was used to examine multivariate relationships between supportive and pressuring behaviour and athletes? psychosocial experiences. Results: Joint pressuring parental and coach behaviours related positively to maladaptive achievement striving, as indicated by over concern for mistakes, doubt about one?s soccer actions and lowered perceptions of soccer competence. Mirroring these findings, a predominantly supportive coach created psychological climate was related linearly to a pattern of psychological outcomes comprising high quality of friendship, positive competency perceptions, as well as absence of achievement striving specific worries. Conclusions: Supportive, mastery oriented coach influence seems beneficial for constructive psychosocial outcomes in pediatric athletes, whereas athletes experiencing social pressure to excel from coaches and parents jointly may benefit less psychosocially through sport.

• Ommundsen, Yngvar; Roberts, Glyn C.; Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas & Miller, Blake W. (2005). Peer relationships in adolescent competitive soccer: Associations to perceived motivational climate, achievement goals and perfectionism. Journal of Sports Sciences. ISSN 0264-0414. 23(9), p. 977–989. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between the perceived motivational climate, achievement goals, perfectionism and indices of peer relationships in a sample of young male and female Norwegian soccer players. The sample consisted of 1719 experienced soccer players (1231 males, 488 females) aged 12-19 years (mean = 14.9 years) participating in the Norway Cup international youth soccer competition. The players responded to a questionnaire measuring perceived peer acceptance and quality of friendship in soccer, perceived motivational climate, achievement goals and perfectionism in soccer. Canonical correlation analyses revealed that young female players who perceived the motivational climate as predominantly mastery oriented, and who were moderately task oriented and scored negatively on maladaptive perfectionism, reported better relations with their peers in soccer. Constructive peer relations were evident in that they scored positively on companionship with their best friend in soccer; they perceived this friend as being loyal and of allowing free discussion, and they reported being socially accepted by their peers in soccer. Mirroring these findings, young male players who perceived the motivational climate as predominantly performance oriented, who had a moderately negative score on task orientation but a quite strong positive score on maladaptive perfectionism, reported negative relationships with peers in terms of these aspects. They also reported being in conflict with their best soccer friend. The findings suggest that the qualities of motivation have a systematic relationship with peer acceptance and the quality of friendship in male and female youth soccer. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between the perceived motivational climate, achievement goals, perfectionism and indices of peer relationships in a sample of young male and female Norwegian soccer players. The sample consists of a cross-sectional study of 1785 male (n= 1231) and female (n= 488) experienced soccer players (aged 12-19 years; Mean age = 14.9)) taking part in the Norway cup international youth soccer tournament. Players responded to a questionnaire measuring perceived peer acceptance and quality of friendship in soccer, perceived motivational climate and achievement goals as well as perfectionism in soccer. Canonical correlation analyses revealed that young female players who perceived the motivational climate as predominantly mastery oriented, and who were moderately task oriented and scored negatively on maladaptive perfectionism reported better relations with their peers in soccer. Constructive peer relations were evident in that they scored positively on companionship with their best friend in soccer; they perceived their best soccer friend as being loyal, and as allowing free discussion and their reported being socially accepted by their peers in soccer. Mirroring these findings, young male players perceiving the motivational climate as predominantly performance-oriented, revealing a moderately negative score on task orientation combined with a quite strong positive score on maladaptive perfectionism reported negative relationships with peers in terms of these aspects. They also reported being in conflict with their best soccer friend. The findings suggest that the qualities of motivation have a systematic relationship with peer acceptance and the quality of friendship in male and female youth soccer.

• Roberts, Glyn C.; Ommundsen, Yngvar; Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas & Miller, Blake W. (2004). Cheating in sport. In Spielberger, Charles D. (Eds.), Encyclopedia of applied psychology. Elsevier Inc.. p. 313–322. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Recent research reveals that understanding the achievement goal of a person may help to explain cheating in sport. Achievement goals have dispositional elements as well as situational determinants, and both have been associated with cheating and moral action in sport. The more ego involved the person, the more the person cheats. Reducing cheating may be achieved through coach education and by deemphasizing normative comparisons

• Ommundsen, Yngvar; Roberts, Glyn C.; Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas & Treasure, Darren C. (2003). Perceived motivational climate in male youth soccer : relations to social-moral functioning, sportspersonship and team norm perceptions. Psychology of Sport And Exercise. ISSN 1469-0292. 4(4), p. 397–413. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Aim: To investigate the relationship between the perceived motivational climate, sportspersonship, social-moral functioning and team norms in a sample of young male Norwegian soccer players. Hypotheses: It was expected that a performance- oriented motivational climate would be associated with lower levels of social-moral functioning, sportspersonship and the perceptions of team norms that would approve of illegitimate behaviours in soccer. By contrast, a mastery-oriented climate was hypothesised to be beneficial with respect to social-moral functioning, sporstspersonship and morally constructive team norm perceptions. Method: A cross-sectional study of 279 male soccer players (aged 12-14 years) taking part in the international youth soccer tournament, The Norway cup, was conducted in which players responded to a questionnaire measuring different dimensions of social-moral functioning, including moral judgements, priority for more mature social-moral motives or reasons faced with moral dilemmas, amoral and sportspersonship behaviours and team norm perceptions. Results: Canonical correlation analysis coupled with multivariate analysis of variance showed that players who perceived the motivational climate as predominantly mastery oriented reported more mature levels of social-moral reasoning and better sportspersonhip behaviours. These players also were less apt to report amoral behaviour and perceive team norms as strongly disapproving of pro-aggressiveness. In contrast, players perceivingthe motivational climate as predominantly performance-oriented were more apt to report amoral behaviours in soccer and were less likely to express sportspersonship behaviour. Conclusions: The findings illustrate the importance of studying motivationalconditions in order to provide an understanding of social-moral functioning, sportspersonship and social-moral team norms in youth soccer.

• Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas; Roberts, Glyn C. & Ommundsen, Yngvar (2002). Achievement goal orientations, perceived ability, and sportspersonship in youth soccer. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology. ISSN 1041-3200. 14(2), p. 120–136. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The present study was designed to examine the contribution of goal orientations and the influence of perceived ability as a moderating factor in predicting sportspersonship in competive youth soccer. Participants were 511 Norwegian male youth soccer players, from ages 13 to 16, participating in the Norway cup International Football Tournament. Findings revealed that high task-oriented participants consistently endorsed personship. However,participants who were high in ego orientation and high in taskorientation only partially endorsed low sportspersonship. Perceived ability was a significant factor in that players high in ego orientation and low in perceived ability experessed the lowest respect for rules and officials and endorsed cheating behaviour to reach their goals. In contrast, participants high in perceived ability and low in ego orientation expressed the highest level of respect for rules and officials. In this study, being high or low in ego orientation had a significant effect on sportspersonship

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• Moseid, Nils Fredrik Holm; Lemyre, Nicolas; Roberts, Glyn; Fagerland, Morten; Moseid, Christine Holm & Bahr, Roald (2025). A spirited mind in a broken body - associations between health problems and motivation. Full text in Research Archive
• Moseid, Nils Fredrik Holm; Lemyre, Nicolas; Roberts, Glyn; Fagerland, Morten Wang; Moseid, Christine Holm & Bahr, Roald (2024). Totalbelastning og utrbrenthet hos unge utøvere. Full text in Research Archive
• Moseid, Nils Fredrik Holm; Lemyre, Nicolas; Roberts, Glyn; Fagerland, Morten Wang; Moseid, Christine Holm & Bahr, Roald (2024). Motivation and athlete burnout in the injured athlete. Full text in Research Archive
• Moseid, Nils Fredrik Holm; Lemyre, Nicolas; Roberts, Glyn; Fagerland, Morten Wang; Moseid, Christine Holm & Bahr, Roald (2024). No Pain No Gain: Associations Between Health Problems, Motivation and Coach Relation. Full text in Research Archive
• Moseid, Nils Fredrik Holm; Moseid, Christine Holm; Lemyre, Nicolas; Fagerland, Morten & Bahr, Roald (2021). Injury, illness and coaching style - associations with burnout in young elite athletes. British Journal of Sports Medicine. ISSN 0306-3674. 55, p. A24–A24. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2021-IOC.55. Full text in Research Archive
• Moseid, Nils Fredrik Holm; Moseid, Christine Holm; Bahr, Roald; Lemyre, Nicolas & Fagerland, Morten (2021). Injury, illness and coaching style: associations with burnout in young elite athletes. Full text in Research Archive
• Moseid, Nils Fredrik Holm; Moseid, Christine Holm; Bahr, Roald & Lemyre, Nicolas (2019). Skade, sykdom, trenerstil: Sammenheng med utbrenthet hos unge eliteidrettsutøvere. Full text in Research Archive
• Moseid, Nils Fredrik Holm; Moseid, Christine Holm; Bahr, Roald & Lemyre, Nicolas (2019). Health Problems and Athlete Burnout- a study of 210 Young Elite Athletes. Full text in Research Archive
• Moseid, Nils Fredrik Holm; Bahr, Roald; Lemyre, Nicolas & Moseid, Christine Holm (2019). Health of the young elite athlete. Full text in Research Archive
• Moseid, Nils Fredrik Holm; Bahr, Roald; Lemyre, Nicolas & Moseid, Christine Holm (2019). Skade, sykdom, trenerstil: Sammenheng med utbrenthet hos unge eliteidrettsutøvere. Full text in Research Archive
• Bentzen, Marte; Kenttä, Göran & Lemyre, Nicolas (2017). Well-being for sports coaches:: equality between coaches in abledbodied elite sport and paralympic sport? Full text in Research Archive
• Bentzen, Marte; Kenttä, Göran & Lemyre, Nicolas (2017). Elite Football Coaches Experiences and Sensemaking about Being Fired, An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Full text in Research Archive
• Bentzen, Marte; Richter, Anne; Kenttä, Göran & Lemyre, Nicolas (2017). The Impact of Job Insecurity and Value on Psychological Well- and Ill-being among High-Performance Coaches. Full text in Research Archive
• Bentzen, Marte; Sørensen, Marit & Lemyre, Nicolas (2016). From "I love" to "I must" – The lived experiences of a professional equestrian coach about being in a severe burnout process. Full text in Research Archive
• Bentzen, Marte; Lemyre, Nicolas & Kenttä, Göran (2016). Exhaustion and cynicism needs to be targeted differently – a study among Paralympic coaches. Full text in Research Archive
• Bentzen, Marte; Lemyre, Nicolas & Kenttä, Göran (2015). Variation in the Ability to Meet Recovery Demands Explains Susceptibility to Burnout in Elite Soccer Coaches. Full text in Research Archive
• Bentzen, Marte; Lemyre, Nicolas & Kenttä, Göran (2015). Basic Psychological Needs Thwarting and Shift in Quality of Motivation: Markers of Exhaustion in Professional Sport Coaches. Full text in Research Archive
• Bentzen, Marte; Lemyre, Nicolas & Kenttä, Göran (2013). Advances in sport-based burnout research-Determinants of burnout in high-level sport coaches. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology (JSEP). ISSN 0895-2779. 35, p. S14–S14. Full text in Research Archive
• Lemyre, Nicolas (2012). Cheating in sport science: A case study and panel discussion-The responsibilities of universities to respond to data fraud. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology (JSEP). ISSN 0895-2779. 34, p. S11–S11. Full text in Research Archive
• Bentzen, Marte & Lemyre, Nicolas (2011). Prevention of burnout among elite sport coaches: The mediating role of positive emotions and satisfaction with work. Full text in Research Archive
• Miller, Blake W.; Miller, Blake W.; Abrahamsen, Frank Eirik; Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas; Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas & Roberts, Glyn C. [Show all 9 contributors for this article] (2009). Predicting Sportspersonship in Competitive Youth Sport: How Influential are Coaches Anyway? Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Previous research has indicated that perceptions of the motivational climate may predict affect and behavior in sport more than individual goal orientations (see Roberts, 2001). However, investigation of the motivational climate and goal orientations as predictors of sport morality is lacking in the literature. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the predictive qualities of both the coach created motivational climate and player goal orientations regarding sportspersonship in organized youth soccer. Participants were 714 (N=512 male, N= 202 female, 12-14 years) youth soccer players from teams competing in a large international tournament. The PMCSQ (Seifriz et al., 1992), the POSQ (Roberts et al., 1998) were utilized to measure players? climate perceptions and their goal orientations respectively, while the MSOS (Vallerand et al., 1997) was employed to measure sportspersonship. A series of multiple regression analyses were conducted in order to regress mastery and performance climate perceptions and task and ego goal orientations over the four emerging sportspersonship subscales, namely respect for ones commitment to sport, respect for social conventions, respect and concern for one?s opponent, and lastly respect and concern for the rules and officials. For all of the four regression analyses, mastery climate emerged as the strongest predictor of sportspersonship. For three of the four regression models (commitment, social conventions, and rules/officials) task orientation also emerged as a positive, yet weaker predictor of sportspersonship than a mastery climate. In light of these findings it appears that in fact coaches do have a strong influence on the sport morality of youth athletes, and clearly a mastery climate emphasis is important if fair play and sportspersonship in the competitive youth sport arena is desired. Mastery climate structure and focus will also be discussed in respect to the coaching and mentoring of youth in organized competitive sport.

• Ommundsen, Yngvar; Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas; Abrahamsen, Frank Eirik & Roberts, Glyn C. (2008). Passion for soccer: Does it mediate the influence of the motivational climate on young players¿ sense of vitality? Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Types of passion were investigated in relationship to motivational climate and subjective vitality in youth soccer. Participants were 283 experienced young soccer players (aged 12-16 years) taking part in the Norway Cup soccer tournament 2004. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to examine the construct validity of the harmonious and obsessive passion constructs, and Structural Equation Modelling analyses were utilized to test hypothesized paths between predictor, mediator and outcome variables. Subjective vitality was positively predicted by a mastery climate, harmonious passion and obsessive passion. In line with expectations, paths linking a positive mastery climate, harmonious passion and subjective vitality were also observed. Current findings illustrate the value of combining tenets of achievement goal theory (Nicholls, 1989) with the integrative sequence model of passion ((Vallerand et.al., 2003). However, the study findings also demonstrated the need for re-specification of the passion scales noticeably based on the positive relation found between obsessive passion and subjective vitality. Within the context of youth soccer, there is a need for further validation of the concepts of harmonious versus obsessive passion (Vallerand et al., 2006).

• Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas; Roberts, Glyn C.; Ommundsen, Yngvar & Abrahamsen, Frank Eirik (2007). Passion and the motivational patterns of youth football players. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Recent research investigating passion in sport participants (see Vallerand et al., 2006) reveals that harmonious and obsessive passions represent a great source of motivation for sport involvement. However, while harmonious passion has been associated with adaptive achievement striving, obsessive passion has been linked to maladaptive achievement outcomes such as increased stress and negative affect, interpersonal conflicts and unhealthy sport persistence. The present study was designed to examine the contribution of two types of passion (Vallerand et al., 2003) in predicting the perfectionist dispositions, the achievement goals as well as the perception of the team motivational climate of youth elite soccer players. Participants were 283 competitive football players (M= 177; F=106; 12-16 y/o) competing in the Norway Cup International Football Tournament. Findings revealed that young football players demonstrating high levels of obsessive passion for their sport reported having high personal standards as well as feeling concerned about making mistakes when playing football, these athletes were high ego orientation and perceived the team motivational climate as being performance oriented. When athletes balanced their obsessive passion with a high sense of harmonious passion, they expressed being simultaneously high in task and ego orientation, they also felt they had high personal standards when playing football and perceived the team climate as being mastery oriented. The findings support a dualistic model of passion in sports (Vallerand et al., 2006). Harmonious and obsessive passion yields qualitatively different motivational patterns in youth football participants.

• Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas (2007). Les déterminants psychologiques de l'épuisement sportif chez l'athlète d'élite. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Au cours des vingt dernières années, l¿augmentation considérable des charges d¿entraînement chez les athlètes ainsi que des modifications structurelles du sport d¿élite ont vraisemblablement contribué à l¿apparition croissante de problèmes d¿adaptation à l¿entraînement sportif (e.g., Coakley, 1992; Gould, 1996; Raglin & Wilson, 2000). Adoptant un modèle de recherche médical, plusieurs études physiologiques ont examiné divers aspects reliés aux problèmes d¿adaptation à l¿entraînement, dont entre autre l¿épuisement sportif (voir Steinacker & Lehmann, 2002). Peu de recherche utilise toutefois une approche psychologique se penchant sur les antécédents et conséquences de cet état débilitant. Issu à la fois de besoins essentiels insatisfaits et d¿attentes non réalisées, l¿épuisement sportif est caractérisé par le désillusionnement progressif, engendrant des symptômes psychologiques et physiques qui mènent à un sentiment diminué d¿estime de soi (Freudenberger, 1980; Gold & Roth, 1993). Les athlètes impliqués dans l¿atteinte d¿un objectif convoité sont susceptibles de souffrir d¿épuisement sportif au cours de périodes d¿effort physiologique et/ou psychologique prolongées (e.g., Gould & Dieffenbach, 2002; Silva, 1990). Lorsqu¿ils souffrent d¿épuisement sportif, les athlètes démontrent communément des signes de fatigue chronique, des troubles de sommeil, des signes de dépression et un sentiment d¿impuissance (Silva, 1990; Smith, 1986). Leur performance en est inévitablement affectée. Une rémission complète de l¿épuisement sportif peut nécessiter plusieurs mois, voire des années de repos et d¿arrêt de la compétition (e.g., Kellmann, 2002). Jusqu¿ici, les processus qui peuvent mener un athlète à l¿épuisement n¿ont pas été identifiés, et la plupart des études effectuées sur l¿épuisement sportif sont dépourvues de cadres théoriques appropriés. Le but de ce projet de recherche est de proposer un cadre théorique motivationnel à l¿intérieur d¿une approche multidisciplinaire afin de mieux comprendre les déterminants psychologiques et physiologiques de l¿épuisement sportif chez les athlètes d¿élite. Au total, six études ont été complétées. Ce projet de recherche présente des résultats qui supportent l¿utilisation d¿un cadre motivationnel à l¿intérieur d¿une approche multidisciplinaire pour mieux comprendre les facteurs qui influencent le développement des symptômes de l¿épuisement sportif chez les athlètes d¿élite. Les buts d¿accomplissement des athlètes ainsi que la qualité de leur motivation autodéterminée représentent deux variables qui sont reliées à l¿épuisement sportif. Lorsque nous avons étudié l¿épuisement sportif chez les athlètes d¿élite à l¿aide d¿une approche multidisciplinaire, les résultats ont démontré que les variables motivationnelles expliquent 50% de variance additionnelle à la prédiction obtenue en étudiant seulement les variations hormonales.

• Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas; Treasure, Darren C. & Roberts, Glyn C. (2006). A qualitative account of the factors linked to symptoms of overtraining and burnout in elite athletes. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology (JSEP). ISSN 0895-2779. p. 111–112. Full text in Research Archive
• Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas (2006). Psychological Aspects of the Overtraining Syndrome. ?. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  An initial sign of NFOR is the tendency to become totally passive versus active in recovery (Davis et al., 2002). Negative behavioural shifts that can correlate with NFOR & OTS may include lesser tendencies to re-hydrate, eat, and sleep in a regulated way; to attend regimens for dry-land training and stretching; and to meet one?s social needs. When studying the current body of research on overtraining, we find that there are are alternative psychological markers to the POMS, that may better elucidate the process behind NFOR & OTS. Stress-Recovery Model seems to be a very good tool to increase awareness in athletes to avoid OTS. Affect swings may be an important marker of psychological distress. Changes in self-determined motivation may predict OTS. Maladaptive achievement goals and motivational climate, as well as perfectionistic tendencies, passion and athlete identity should be address when an athlete seeks to recover from NFOR and OTS.

• Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas (2006). Suksessfaktorer: Hva skal til for å oppnå suksess i RG? Mental treningsplanlegging: Konkurranseforberedelser og rutiner. Full text in Research Archive
• Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas (2006). Mental Prestasjonstrening for RG Utøvere Hva skal til for å oppnå suksess? Full text in Research Archive
• Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas (2006). Mestringens betydning for motivasjon. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Mestringsorientering og prestasjonsorientering. Kvaliteten på motivasjonen er viktig. Mestringsmotivasjonen er av høyere kvalitet. Toppidrettsutøvere har både sterk mestrings- og prestasjonsorientering. Identifisere målet og fokusere på prosessen som må til for å nå målet.

• Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas (2006). Behov for mental trening i norsk svømming. Full text in Research Archive
• Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas; Roberts, Glyn C. & Treasure, Darren C. (2006). When motivation goes wrong: Using a motivational approach to understand athlete burnout. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Studies were conducted during the year leading to the Olympics and involved a total of 194 athletes. Results revealed that elite winter sport athletes who are ego involved, that is, focusing on normative comparisons, preoccupied with achieving unrealistic goals, doubting their own actions and ability, as well as having a coach and parents who emphasized performance outcomes, were clearly more at risk of developing signs of burnout than task involved athletes.

• Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas; Kuczka, Kendy; Treasure, Darren C. & Roberts, Glyn C. (2006). A Qualitative Account of the Factors Linked to Overtraining and Burnout in Elite Athletes. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology (JSEP). ISSN 0895-2779. p. 144–144. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The research project support the proposed link between OTS and athlete burnout (Kenttä & Hassmén, 2002) and suggest that in the case of elite athletes OTS may in fact be a precursor of athlete burnout. Four of the five athletes reported having little input on the content of their training and that they competed because they felt that it was expected of them. Some athletes felt that they had to perform to justify and keep their scholarship, while one athlete mentioned disliking swimming but stuck with it to fulfill family expectations. All interviewed athletes felt emotionally exhausted from their season. These findings support the use of a motivational framework to study maladaptive performance outcomes in elite athletes.

• Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas; Roberts, Glyn C.; Abrahamsen, Frank Eirik & Ommundsen, Yngvar (2006). Passion, Motivation and Well-Being in Youth Soccer Players. Full text in Research Archive
• Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas (2006). Determinants of Burnout in Elite Athletes: A Multidimensional Perspective. Full text in Research Archive
• Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas; Roberts, Glyn C.; Abrahamsen, Frank Eirik & Ommundsen, Yngvar (2006). Passion, Motivation, and Well-Being in Youth Soccer Players. Full text in Research Archive
• Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas (2005). Viktige psykologiske årsaker ved overtrening og utbrenthet hos toppidrettsutøvere Psychological Determinants of Overtraining and Burnout in Elite Athletes. Full text in Research Archive
• Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas (2005). Determinants of Burnout in Elite Athletes: A multidimensional approach. Full text in Research Archive
• Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas (2005). Les Déterminants du Burnout chez les Athlètes d?Élite. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Ce projet de recherche supporte l?utilisation d?un cadre motivationnel, à l?intérieur d?une perspective psycho-physiologique, pour mieux comprendre le burnout chez les athlètes d?élite. Également, les changements hormonaux semblent représenter d?importants marqueurs de burnout. Les buts d?accomplissement des athlètes, ainsi que la qualité de leur motivation sont liés aux signes de burnout. Lorsque nous avons examiné les marqueurs hormonaux et motivationnels, nous avons trouvé que les variables motivationnelles expliquaient plus de 50% de la variation à la propensité au burnout au-delà de la prédiction offerte par les changements hormonaux seuls.

• Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas; Treasure, Darren C. & Roberts, Glyn C. (2005). Influence of Variability in Motivation and Affect on Elite Athlete Burnout Susceptibility. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  An elite American collegiate swim team (N=53, female=21, male=32, age 18-24) was recruited to participate in this study. Each week, athletes completed a logbook recording how they felt on a series of positive and negative affect states (PANAS; Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988). Every third week, athletes completed a short motivation questionnaire (SIMS; Pelletier, Fortier, Vallerand, Tuson, Brière, & Blais, 1995) assessing their current level of self-determination to participate in swimming. For the purpose of the present study, we computed an index of relative autonomy, labeled self-determination index. Burnout dimension (ABQ; Raedeke & Smith, 2002) scores were assessed at the end of the season. The current study investigated the intensity and swings in positive and negative affect in elite swimmers during the course of the last 20 weeks of the season, as well as shifts in self-determined motivation throughout the whole season as a predictor of burnout dimensions at season?s end. Using the slope of the regression line between dates and SDI scores, values representing motivational trend scores for the whole season were computed for each athlete. Next, mean intra-individual standard deviation scores for the whole season were computed and used as indicators of PA and NA swings. Study findings indicate that shifts in the quality of motivation from more self determined to less self determined criteria were reliable predictors of all burnout dimensions, thus supporting Gould (1996) that burnout may be motivation going awry. When swimmers experienced a shift in motivation toward lower self-determination, they were more at risk for burning out. Affect, negative affect in particular, added to the prediction equation. When swimmers experienced increased variability in negative affect, they were more at risk for burnout. The implications of this study to the training of elite athletes are clear. A decrease in quality of motivation throughout the season increases the risk of feeling burned out at the end of the season. Thus, this study supports the value of using a motivational perspective to study athlete burnout (e.g., Gould, 1996; Raedeke, 1997). This study is unique in that beyond the variance explained by shifts of motivation, it also looked at the contribution of intra-individual variance in affect. While NA added to the prediction of all burnout sub-dimensions, variation in PA only helped predict emotional and physical exhaustion at season?s end. If athlete burnout is truly a multidimensional syndrome (Smith, 1986), we believe that further research should combine complimentary perspectives in order to fully understand the mechanisms behind its development. In addition to combining complimentary psychological theories, research should investigate the interplay of physical and psychological variables and the role of the environment in creating the social conditions that may make athletes vulnerable to maladaptive training responses including burn out. This later line of inquiry may be particularly enlightening for researchers interested in burnout given the findings that have demonstrated the positive relationship between autonomy supportive social conditions and psychological well-being in many contexts (Deci & Ryan, 2000).

• Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas; Kuczka, Kendy; Treasure, Darren C. & Roberts, Glyn C. (2005). Thriving or Burnout? Elite Athletes Telling their Stories. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  In sports, it has been suggested that overtraining and burnout share diagnosis characteristics such as performance loss, fatigue, exhaustion, and mood disturbance (Kenttä & Hassmén, 2002). However, the assumption is that when an athlete is overtrained, motivation remains, whereas the burned out athlete will typically show signs of demotivation, sport devaluation, cynicism and typically experience chronic fatigue, poor sleep patterns, depression, helplessness and performance impairment. Based on recent findings supporting the use of a motivational framework to differentiate between thriving and burned out individuals, the aim of this study was to qualitatively examine factors contributing to the experiences of thriving athletes and athletes experiencing burnout within the same elite sport environment. Participants were five thriving athletes (F=3; M=2) and five burned out athletes (F=2; M=3), selected from a sample of 53 elite swimmers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted within a month of the end of the competitive season. The interviewer was blind to the selection criteria and to any personal information about of the participants. Thriving athletes were low on burnout scores, satisfied with their season, reached their goals, and were rated by the coaches as exceeding expectations, while burned out athletes scored high on burn out, did not reach their goals, were disappointed with their performance, and were rated as performing below expectations. In general, thriving athletes were happier with their performances, happier with life outside sports, felt that they had more input over the content of their training program than their burned out teammates. While thriving athletes reported participating in swimming for highly intrinsic reasons, the burned out athletes trained and competed because they felt that it was expected of them.

• Ommundsen, Yngvar; Roberts, Glyn C.; Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas & Miller, Blake W. (2005). Quality of peer relationships and patterns of adaptive and maladaptive achievement striving in adolescent competitive soccer – do they interrelate? Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Competitive sport may offer an important context where peer acceptance and friendship can be established or hindered. The aim of this study is to build upon findings from Ommundsen et.al.,(2005) and examine the genuine impact of differential achievement goal variables and specific sub-dimensions of perfectionism upon indices of quality of peer relations among Norwegian soccer players. 1785 male (n= 1231) and female (n= 488) experienced soccer players (aged 12-19 years; Mean age = 14.9) taking part in the Norway cup international youth soccer tournament responded to a questionnaire (For measurements and psychometric details, see JSS; Ommundsen et.al., (2005). Results revealed that the predictor set of achievement striving variables were able to account for between 6 and 16% of variance in the peer relationship variables. In term of peer acceptance, a mastery climate (beta=.10, p<.001) and adaptive perfectionism as measured by personal standards (beta = .11, p<.001) were found to be positive predictors, whereas performance climate (beta = -.07, p<.01), maladaptive perfectionism in terms of doubt about action (beta = -.07, p<. 01), and concern over mistakes (beta = -.15, p<.001) were found to be negative predictors. In term of quality of friendship as measured by loyalty & free discussion, a mastery climate (beta=.15, p<.001), a task goal (beta =.11, p<.001), adaptive perfectionism as measured by personal standards (beta = .16, p<.001) were all found to be positive predictors, whereas the opposite pattern were found for maladaptive perfectionism in terms of parental expectations (beta= -.06, p<.05, parental criticism (beta= -.08, p <.01), doubt about action (beta = -.05, p<. 05), and concern over mistakes (beta = -.13, p<.001). In term of quality of friendship as measured by companionship, a mastery climate (beta=.14, p<.001), a task goal (beta =.10, p<.001), adaptive perfectionism in terms of personal standards (beta = .11, p<.001) were all found to be positive predictors, whereas negative predictors were maladaptive perfectionism as measured by parental expectations (beta= -.16, p<.001, doubt about action (beta = -.06, p<. 05), and concern over mistakes (beta = -.14, p<.001. In terms of low quality of friendship as measured by conflict in friendship, an ego goal (beta =.07, p<.001), maladaptive perfectionism in terms of parental expectations (beta = .14, p<.001, and concern over mistakes (beta = .08, p<.01) were found to be positive predictors, whereas negative predictors were a task goal (beta = -.06, p<.01), and adaptive perfectionism in terms of personal standards (beta = -.08, p<.001). Apparently, when players become preoccupied with being better than other team members, they may come to look upon each other as competitors within the team and be less willing to invest socially in each other to obtain team success at the expense of their own individual success. Further, maladaptive perfectionists being concerned about making mistakes, parental expectations and criticism as well as doubting their own achievement related actions may come to express anger towards fellow players for not performing up to perfectionist standards. This may in turn threaten the development of friendship and peer acceptance as well as bring young players into conflict with their team friends. Findings suggest that motivational and achievement striving patterns may impact on peer acceptance and quality of friendship relations in adolescent soccer.

• Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas; Treasure, Darren C.; Roberts, Glyn C.; Stray-Gundersen, Jim; Kuczka, Kendy & Kathy, Matt (2005). Thriving and non-thriving elite athletes : identifying markers using data triangulation. Full text in Research Archive
• Ommundsen, Yngvar; Roberts, Glyn C.; Miller, Blake W. & Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas (2005). Moralsk læring i fotball. Full text in Research Archive
• Ommundsen, Yngvar; Roberts, Glyn C.; Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas & Miller, Blake W. (2004). Peer relationships in adolsescent competitive soccer. associations to perceived motivational climate, achievment goals and perfectionism. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Competitive sport may offer an important context where peer acceptance and friendship can be established and developed. Situational and personal factors may, however, hinder or facilitate the development of constructive peer relations in sport. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between the perceived motivational climate, achievement goals, perfectionism and indices of peer relationships in a sample of young male and female Norwegian soccer players. 1785 male (n= 1231) and female (n= 488) experienced soccer players (aged 12-19 years; Mean age = 14.9) taking part in the Norway cup international youth soccer tournament responded to a questionnaire measuring perceived peer acceptance and quality of friendship in soccer, perceived motivational climate in soccer, achievement goals as well as adaptive and maladaptive aspects of perfectionism. Multivariate multiple regression analyses with follow-up canonical correlation analyses were conducted to examine association between the predictor and criterion variable set. The overall multivariate relationship was significant for both genders; Boys, Wilk’s lambda = .74, F (24,4260) = 16,31, P<.001, Girls, Wilk’s lambda = .84, F (24,1668) = 3,34, P<.001. Thus, for both boys and girls, motivational climate, achievement goals, and perfectionism were significantly related to the peer relationship variables. For both boys and girls, one unique significant solution seemed to best describe and explain the relationship between the set of variables. It was found that young female players who perceived a predominantly mastery oriented motivational climate, who were task oriented and scored low on maladaptive perfectionism reported better relations with their peers in soccer. In contrast, young male players perceiving the motivational climate as predominantly performance-oriented, being low on task orientation and high on maladaptive perfectionism reported worse relationships with peers. Results among the young male players suggest that achievement striving characterized by a strong focus on social comparison, besting others and a maladaptive perfectionist focus may be detrimental to the development of constructive peer relations within the team. Results among the female players were of a similar kind as revealed by a significant association between a strong mastery climate, a task goal and the absence of maladaptive perfectionism one the one hand and high level of quality of friendship and social acceptance on the other. Apparently, when players preoccupied with being better than other team members, they may come to look upon each other as competitors within the team and be less willing to invest socially in each other to obtain team success at the expense of their own individual success. Further, maladaptive perfectionists may come to express anger towards fellow players for not performing up to perfectionist standards. This may in turn threaten the development of friendship and peer acceptance.The findings illustrate the importance of motivation on peer acceptance and quality of friendship relations in youth sports.

• Treasure, Darren C.; Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas; Standage, Martyn & Ntoumanis, Nikos (2004). A Longitudinal Examination of Motivation Orientation and Basic Needs Satisfaction in a Sample of Elite Level Swimmers. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Consistent with SDT, perceptions of an autonomy-supportive environment provided the social context required to sustain levels of intrinsic motivation across the swim season. Aligned with basic needs theory, the satisfaction of the innate needs (T2) served to accentuate levels of positive affect (T3) when controlling for positive affect responses (T2). Conceptually coherent findings for negative affect and vitality emerged, but these failed to reach statistical significance. Despite a small sample size, results of our longitudinal study support various theoretical tenets of SDT and the application of the model to elite sport settings. From an applied perspective, our results suggest that coaches should seek to create training environments that afford athlete choice, understanding, and personal volition should they wish to promote self-determined motivation and well-being.

• Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas & Roberts, Glyn C. (2004). Overtraining and Athlete Burnout: a Self-Determination Theory Perspective. Full text in Research Archive
• Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas; Roberts, Glyn C.; Treasure, Darren C.; Stray-Gundersen, Jim & Matt, Kathleen S. (2004). OVERTRAINING AND BURNOUT IN ELITE ATHLETES: WHEN PHYSIOLOGY MEETS PSYCHOLOGY. Full text in Research Archive
• Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas; Roberts, Glyn C.; Treasure, Darren C.; Stray-Gundersen, Jim & Matt, Kathleen S. (2004). Overtraining and athlete burnout: a psycho-physiological perspective. Full text in Research Archive
• Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas; Roberts, Glyn C.; Stray-Gundersen, Jim; Treasure, Darren C. & Matt, Kathleen S. (2004). Psychological and Physiological Determinants of Overtraining and Burnout in Elite Swimmers. Full text in Research Archive
• Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas; Stray-Gundersen, Jim; Treasure, Darren C.; Matt, Kathleen S. & Roberts, Glyn C. (2004). Physiological and Psychological Monitoring of Overtraining and Burnout in Elite Swimmers. Full text in Research Archive
• Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas (2004). Surentraînement et épuisement chez les athletes d'élite. Full text in Research Archive
• Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas; Roberts, Glyn C.; Stray-Gundersen, Jim; Treasure, Darren C. & Hall, Howard (2003). Can achievement goals and levels of perfectionism predict burnout in elite level athletes? Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The purpose of the present study was to investigate the influence of pre-season achievement goal orientations and levels of perfectionism in predicting a sample of elite level athletes’ burnout at season’s end. Participants were 77 national team athletes who competed at the 2002 winter Olympics and 97 junior national athletes competing in five winter sports. Achievement goal orientations were assessed with the POSQ (Roberts & al., 1998) and perfectionism with the MPS (Frost et al., 1990) before the commencement of the race season, while athleteburnout was recorded at season’s end with the ABM (Raedeke & Smith, 2002). Results of three hierarchical stepwise regression procedures showed that task orientation before the start of the competitive season was negatively related to having a reduced sense of accomplishment, being emotionally and physically exhausted, and experiencing sport devaluation at the end of the season. Ego orientation prior to season was positively related to experiencing sport devaluation. Having high personal standards also negatively predicted a reduced sense of accomplishment and experiencing exhaustion at the end of the season. Being concerned over personal mistakes and having doubts about their own action before the start of the racing season was a significant predictor of having a reduced sense of accomplishment at the end of the season. Results showed that motivational dispositions and levels of perfectionism are significantly related to athlete burnout. Further research is needed to evaluate how these findings may influence long-term competition adherence, goal achievement at the elite level, and potential athlete burnout.

• Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas; Roberts, Glyn C.; Stray-Gundersen, Jim & Treasure, Darren C. (2003). Can motivation at season start predict the development of burnout in elite athletes? Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Burnout has been defined as a state of mental, emotional, and physical exhaustion brought on by persistent devotion to a goal, the achievement of which may not be realistic (Freudenberger, & Richelson, 1985). Recently, as inter-disciplinary research has taken a closer look at athlete burnout, some researchers (Gould et al, 1996; Hall et al., 1997) have suggested that “motivation gone awry” may play an important role in the onset of burnout. In the attempt to better understand the determinants of athlete burnout, this study looked at the quality of motivation in elite athletes before the start of the competitive season, and whether it predicted levels of burnout at season’s end. Participants were 45 Norwegian 2002 Winter Olympic Team athletes and 96Norwegian national level athletes competing in Nordic Skiing and Alpine Skiing, Biathlon, Speed Skating and Nordic Combined. Athletes ranged from 17 to 32 years of age. More than 50% of the participants were national team members and had already competed at the World Cup or World Championship level. During the month of September 2002, the athletes answered a translated version of the Sport Motivational Scale (SMS; Pelletier et al., 1995). To register levels of athlete burnout, athletes were asked to complete a translated version of the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire (ABQ; Raedeke & Smith, 2002) within two weeks of season’s end. Results of hierarchical stepwise regression analysis indicated that levels of intrinsic motivation at season start were negatively related, while levels of amotivation were positively related to feeling emotionally and physically exhausted at the end of the season. Amotivation was also positively related to experiencing a reduced sense of accomplishment and a feeling of devaluation of participation in the sport. Levels of introjected regulation at season’s start were positively related to experiencing a reduced sense of accomplishment. Interestingly, no relationship was found between levels of extrinsic motivation and theexperience of exhaustion and devaluation at the end of the season. Healthy levels of intrinsic motivation seem to offer a possible buffer to the experience of burnout while amotivation seems to be a strong predictor. Amotivation has often been seen as a product of burnout, however it could also be argued that it is a motivational antecedent of burnout. Future research focused on understanding the motivational determinants and consequences of burnout should be designed to study the causal and temporalpattern of relationships among motivational constructs and burnout in elite level sport.

• Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas; Roberts, Glyn C.; Stray-Gundersen, Jim; Treasure, Darren C.; Müller, Erich & Schwameder, Hermann [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2003). Burnout in elite level athletes: An achievement goal perspective. Full text in Research Archive
• Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas; Roberts, Glyn C. & Ommundsen, Yngvar (2002). Achievement goal orientations, perceived ability and sportspersonship in youth soccer. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The present study was designed to examine the contribution of goal orientations and the influence of perceived ability as a moderating factor in predicting sportspersonship in competitive youth soccer. Participants were 511 Norwegian male youth soccer players, from age 13 to 16, participating in the Norway Cup International Football Tournament, and male and female participants in the following year’s competition. Findings revealed that high task oriented participants consistently endorsed sportspersonship. However, participants who were high in ego orientation and high in task orientation only partially endorsed low sportspersonship. Perceived ability was a significant factor in that players high in ego orientation and low in perceived ability expressed the lowest respect for rules and officials and endorsed cheating behavior to reach their goals. In contrast, participants high in perceived ability and low in ego orientation expressed the highest level of respect for rules and officials. In this study, being high or low in ego orientation had a significant effect on sportspersonship.

• Miller, Blake W.; Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas; Roberts, Glyn C. & Ommundsen, Yngvar (2002). Motivational climate and sportspersonship: An investigation of gender differences in competitive youth soccer. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The purpose of this presentation was to investigate the influence of perceived motivational climate and gender on sportspersonship behavior of competitive youth soccer players. Participants were 512 boy and 202 girl Norwegian youth football players (12-14 years old) competing in an international football tournament. A 2x2x2 (gender, mastery climate high/low, performance climate high/low) MANOVA produced no interaction effects, but main effects for gender, performance climate, and mastery climate did emerge. Post hoc analyses of the simple main effects found that boys did differ from girls in sportspersonship, in that boys were more sportspersonlike than girls on one of the four sportspersonship dimensions. In addition, players perceiving a high mastery climate endorsed sportspersonship more than those players perceiving a low mastery climate, and players perceiving a high performance climate were less likely to endorse sportspersonship than players perceiving a low performance climate. Boys perceiving a strong performance climate reported lower sportspersonship, while girl players who reported perceiving a strong performance/moderate mastery climate reported higher sportspersonship.

• Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas; Roberts, Glyn C. & Ommundsen, Yngvar (2002). Perfectionism and motivation in youth soccer players: An achievement goal perspective. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The findings clearly illustrated that certain aspects of perfectionism were related to ego states of involvement.

• Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas & Roberts, Glyn C. (2002). Achievement goals, perfectionism and percieved ability in elite Winter sport athletes. Full text in Research Archive
• Ommundsen, Yngvar; Roberts, Glyn C.; Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas & Treasure, Darren C. (2002). Perceived motivational climate in male youth soccer: Relations to social-moral functioning, sportspersonship and team norm perceptions. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Aim: To investigate the relationship between the perceived motivational climate, sportspersonship, social-moral functioning and team norms in a sample of young male Norwegian soccer players. Hypotheses: It was expected that a performance- oriented motivational climate would be associated with lower levels of social-moral functioning, sportspersonship and the perceptions of team norms that would approve of illegitimate behaviours in soccer. By contrast, a mastery-oriented climate was hypothesised to be beneficial with respect to social-moral functioning, sporstspersonship and morally constructive team norm perceptions. Method: A cross-sectional study of 279 male soccer players (aged 12-14 years) taking part in the international youth soccer tournament, The Norway Cup, was conducted in which players responded to a questionnaire measuring different dimensions of social-moral functioning, including moral judgements,sportspersonship orientations, priority for more mature social-msocial-moral motives or reasons faced with moral dilemmasoral reasoning levels, amoral and sportspersonship behaviours and team norm perceptions. Results: Canonical correlation analysis coupled with multivariate analysis of variance showed that players who perceived the motivational climate as predominantly mastery oriented reported more mature levels of social-moral reasoning and better sportspersonhip behaviours. These players also were less apt to report amoral behaviour and perceive team norms as strongly disapproving of pro-aggressiveness. In contrast, players perceiving the motivational climate as predominantly performance-oriented were more apt to report amoral behaviours in soccer and were less likely to express be sportspersonship orientedbehaviour. Conclusions: The findings illustrate the importance of studying motivational conditions in order to provide an understanding of social-moral functioning, sportspersonship and social-moral team norms in youth soccer.

• Miller, Blake W.; Roberts, Glyn C.; Ommundsen, Yngvar; Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas; Papaioannou, Athanasios & Goudas, Marios [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2001). Moral functioning in soccer : the influence of gender and perceived motivational climate. Full text in Research Archive
• Kahrs, Nina & Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas (2001). A Report on the evaluation of the process of integration of sport for disabled into the Norwegian Olympic Committee and Confederation of Sport : a competence perspective. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  A formal commitment has been made by the Norwegian Confederation of Sports (NIF) to encourage the different sport federations to integrate sport for the disabled to their program. In 1997, these three organisations were merged into one: the NorwegianSport Federation for the Disabled (NFI). This organisation aims at integrating the disabled in mainstream sports. This organisational development is a considerable challenge, and its success will largely depend on the competence displayed within the NIF/NFI. The Norwegian University of Sport and P. E. was given the mandate to evaluate the integration process. The main area examined was competence, and how competence influenced the process of integration. The aim of the current paper is to offer a report on the present state of competence found within the NIF/NFI. The article is based on the &#8220;Evaluation of the integration process in Norwegian sports: first report (Spring 1999)&#8221;. Interviews and questionnaires were used to collect the data. Five objective criteria were used to investigate the level and the characteristics of the current competence in the respective sport federations.Results have been gathered from 35 interviews (from administrators of 20 different sport federations) and 73 questionnaires. Of the 20 sport federations questioned, 15 revealed to have &#8220;little competence&#8221;, while five of them reported to have &#8220;some competence&#8221;. Unfortunately, none of the sport federations reported having &#8220;good&#8221; or &#8220;very good competence&#8221;. Within the surveyed sport federations, formal competence regarding APA and disabled sports was identified as low. The results of the current study imply that a much-needed educational program should beoffered to the different sport federations. We believe that additional knowledge will lead to a change of attitude within the federations and favour changes regarding the integration of disabled sports.

• Lemyre, Pierre-Nicolas (2001). Doing sport psychology research in Norway: "Understanding the realtionship between achievement goals, perceived ability and s ortspersonship in Norwegian youth football". Full text in Research Archive

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