Early Adolescent Athletes Research Articles

Reduced Concussion Symptom Burden in Early Adolescent Athletes Using a Head-Neck Cooling Device.

To determine whether an investigational head-neck cooling device, Pro2cool, can better reduce symptom severity compared with standard postconcussion care in early adolescent athletes after a sports-related concussion. Prospective, longitudinal, randomized trial design conducted over a 28-day period. Six pediatric medical centers in Ohio and Michigan. The study enrolled 167 male and female 12- to 19-year-old athletes who experienced a sports-related concussion within 8 days of study enrollment and registering a Sports Concussion Assessment Tool 5 (SCAT5) composite score >7. Pro2cool, an investigational head-neck cooling therapy device, was applied at 2 postinjury time points compared with postconcussion standard of care only. Baseline SCAT5 composite symptom severity scores were determined for all subjects. Sports Concussion Assessment Tool 5 scores for concussed athletes receiving cooling treatment were analyzed across 6 independent postenrollment time points compared with subjects who did not receive cooling therapy and only standard care. Adverse reactions and participate demographics were also compared. Athletes who received Pro2cool cooling therapy (n = 79) experienced a 14.4% greater reduction in SCAT5 symptom severity scores at the initial visit posttreatment, a 25.5% greater reduction at the 72-hour visit posttreatment, and a 3.4% greater reduction at the 10-day visit compared with subjects receiving only standard care (n = 88). Overall, 36 adverse events (increased blood pressure, decreased pulse, and dizziness) were reported, with 13 events associated with the device, of which 3 were classified as moderate in severity. This study demonstrates the efficacy and safety of head and neck cooling for the management of concussion symptoms in adolescent athletes of an age group for which little to no prior data are available.

Relationship between anxiety levels and the performance of early adolescent athletic athletes in trirace numbers

This study aims to examine the relationship between athlete anxiety and triathlete performance in early adolescent athletes. The subjects consisted of 95 athletes who participated in the junior high school O2SN championship. This research was conducted in one day, the anxiety instrument was administered after the championship and the athlete's performance was calculated based on the overall athlete's achievement, which was obtained from the competition committee's official results. The Sport Anxiety Scale 2 (SAS-2) is used in the anxiety instrument, which consists of 15 questions, plus 9 questions about the difficulties of athletes in carrying out competitions for each race number, which are taken from the World Athletics Federation (WAF) manual on the rules or race flow of each race number. The relationship between anxiety and triathlete performance in early adolescent athletics is investigated using Pearson correlation analysis. There is a very strong negative correlation between anxiety and tri-race performance of early adolescent athletes with r = -0.834, and the long jump number is a race number with a high level of anxiety and difficulty based on early adolescent athletes’ perception results. Key words: Anxiety Level, Early Adolescent Athlete Performance, Tri-race Athletics

Muscle and Tendon Morphology in Early-Adolescent Athletes and Untrained Peers.

Adolescent athletes can feature significantly greater muscle strength and tendon stiffness compared to untrained peers. However, to date, it is widely unclear if radial muscle and tendon hypertrophy may contribute to loading-induced adaptation at this stage of maturation. The present study compares the morphology of the vastus lateralis (VL) and the patellar tendon between early-adolescent athletes and untrained peers. In 14 male elite athletes (A) and 10 untrained controls (UC; 12–14 years of age), the VL was reconstructed from full muscle segmentations of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequences and ultrasound imaging was used to measure VL fascicle length and pennation angle. The physiological cross-sectional area (PCSA) of the VL was calculated by dividing muscle volume by fascicle length. The cross-sectional area (CSA) of the patellar tendon was measured over its length based on MRI segmentations as well. Considering body mass as covariate in the analysis, there were no significant differences between groups considering the VL anatomical cross-sectional area (ACSA) over its length or maximum ACSA (UC: 24.0 ± 8.3 cm2, A: 28.1 ± 5.3 cm2, p > 0.05), yet athletes had significantly greater VL volume (UC: 440 ± 147 cm3, A: 589 ± 121 cm3), PCSA (UC: 31 ± 9 cm2, A: 46 ± 9 cm2), pennation angle (UC: 8.2 ± 1.4°, A: 10.1 ± 1.3°), and average patellar tendon CSA (UC: 1.01 ± 0.18 cm2, A: 1.21 ± 0.18 cm2) compared to the untrained peers (p < 0.05). However, the ratio of average tendon CSA to VL PCSA was significantly lower in athletes (UC: 3.4 ± 0.1%, A: 2.7 ± 0.5%; p < 0.05). When inferring effects of athletic training based on the observed differences between groups, these results suggest that both muscle and tendon of the knee extensors respond to athletic training with radial growth. However, the effect seems to be stronger in the muscle compared to the tendon, with an increase of pennation angle contributing to the marked increase of muscle PCSA. A disproportionate response to athletic training might be associated with imbalances of muscle strength and tendon stiffness and could have implications for the disposition towards tendon overuse injury.

Decreased Physical Activity and Sleep, Not Sport Specialization, Predict Illness in Middle School Athletes.

The relationships between sport specialization, physical activity, sleep, and illness in younger athletes are unknown. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the independent effects of sport specialization, sleep, and physical activity on illness in middle school athletes. Decreased sleep, decreased physical activity, and higher levels of sport specialization will be associated with an increased risk of illness among middle school athletes. Prospective cohort study. Level 4. Parents of middle school-aged children reported baseline sport specialization (low, moderate, or high) as well as sleep duration, physical activity, and illnesses every week throughout the academic year. A mixed-effects logistic regression model was used to assess the association between illness and specialization while accounting for sleep and physical activity for the prior week as fixed effects and each individual as a random effect. A total of 233 children (mean age, 12.1 ± 1.2 years; 61% male) participated, of whom 41%, 25%, and 34% were categorized as low, moderate, and high specialization, respectively. The proportion of individuals who experienced illness did not differ by specialization level (low, 76%; moderate, 70%; high, 59%; P = 0.064). In the multivariable model, the odds of illness compared with the low specialization group was not significantly different for moderate (odds ratio [OR], 0.93; 95% CI, 0.70-1.23; P = 0.61) or high specialization (OR, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.56-1.03; P = 0.073). A decreased risk of illness was associated with greater prior week sleep (OR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.69-0.91; P < 0.001) and physical activity (OR, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.92-0.96; P < 0.001). Sport specialization is not associated with an increased risk of illness among middle school athletes, while increased sleep duration and physical activity appear to reduce the risk of illness. Interventions to promote physical activity and improve sleep may reduce the risk of illness in early adolescent athletes.

Association Between Body Composition And Physical Skills In Early Adolescent Athletes

PURPOSE: This study aimed at appraising the strength of association of body composition components with a set of physical skills in early adolescent athletes. METHODS: A sample of 505 subjects (283 boys and 222 girls) was studied (Age = 13.6 ± 0.8 years, BMI = 20.1 ± 2.4 kg·m−2; mean ± SD). Anthropometric assessments were carried out, and the four-compartment model of De Rose and Guimaraes (1980) was applied to estimate body fat, muscle and bone mass percentages (%FM, %MM and %BM). The model was updated using the simple regression equations for male and female athletes proposed by Withers et al. (1987; cited by Norton, 1996) to calculate body density, and Siri equation (1961) was then applied to compute the percentage of fat mass. The three body composition components were correlated with the following physical skill tests: Handgrip strength (HAST), Abalakov jump (ABJ), 10 m Sprint test (10ST), Sit and reach flexibility (SARF) and Simple eye-hand reaction time (SEHRT). Pearson's r was used to test correlations within each gender stratum. Statistical significance was fixed at the 0.05 level. RESULTS: HAST showed negligible to low correlations with %FM, %MM and %BM (|r| < 0.3); statistical significance was found in all cases except in the correlations with %FM and %MM observed in girls. On the other hand, the correlations of ABJ with %FM and %MM reached moderate magnitudes in the male stratum (r = −0.51 and r = 0.51, respectively); ABJ evidenced significant associations with the three body composition components in both genders. Despite the opposite signs of the coefficients, 10ST presented similar degrees of association to the ones of ABJ. And SARF and SEHRT also showed negligible to low correlations with the three body composition components (|r| < 0.3), being statistically significant the ones of SARF with %FM and %MM found in boys, the one of SARF with %MM found in girls, and the one of SEHRT with %MM found in boys. CONCLUSIONS: The athletes, especially the male ones, with lower %FM and higher %MM tended, though not strongly, to have higher performances in the physical skill tests where the power is decisive. In general, %BM showed weak degrees of association with the physical skills.

Transformational parenting and coaching on mental toughness and physical performance in adolescent soccer players: The moderating effect of athlete age

Both parent and coach leadership behaviours are instrumental to adolescent athlete development. Researchers, however, are yet to examine parent and coach leadership influences simultaneously, and at different stages of adolescents’ psychological and physical development. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to understand if the effects of transformational parenting, and transformational coaching on mental toughness and performance varied at different ages during adolescence. Early adolescent (ages 10–14) and late adolescent (ages 15–18) soccer players (n = 334) completed questionnaires assessing their perceptions of their mother’s, father’s, and coach’s transformational leadership, as well as a questionnaire assessing mental toughness. Participants also completed a comprehensive battery of physical fitness tests relevant to soccer. Results indicated that transformational fathering was more strongly associated with levels of mental toughness for early adolescent athletes than it was for later adolescent athletes. Results also indicated that transformational coaching was more strongly associated with physical performance for later adolescent athletes than it was for early adolescents. Overall, these results can inform development models and provide support for future longitudinal studies to assess the impact of parent and coach transformational leadership across different stages of athlete development.

Hemodynamic and ECG responses to stress test in early adolescent athletes explain ethnicity-related cardiac differences

BackgroundEthnicity is an important determinant of athletes' cardiovascular adaptation. Black adolescent and adult athletes exhibit a left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy with a concentric remodelling higher than their Caucasian counterparts. Scant data, however, are available on race-related differences in hemodynamic response of adolescent athletes to exercise and its relation with heart remodelling. We evaluated if race-specific, sport-related structural and electrical remodelling in adolescent athletes of Caucasian and African ethnicity exclusively depends on race itself rather than on different cardiovascular responses to physical exercise. MethodsWe examined 90 adolescent athletes, 60 Caucasian (WA) and 30 Black (BA). All participants underwent thorough clinical, echocardiographic and stress test evaluations. ResultsBA had greater indexed LV mass (LVM/BSA) with increased relative wall thickness (RWT) implying a concentric remodelling. BA showed higher systolic blood pressure (SBP) compared to WA during the whole exercise test. ECG data showed that BA vs WA had a significant shorter QRS duration in each step considered with a significant greater QT dispersion. BA reached a higher relative pressure peak as compared to WA. RWT was strongly influenced by ethnicity and less by SBP at peak of exercise (PE), although LVM/BSA was significantly related to SBP at PE and just marginally to age and not significantly to race. ConclusionsBlack adolescent athletes showed higher SBP during all steps of exercise associated to a different trend. Ethnicity was the main determinant of RWT, suggesting that LV geometry is principally race-related rather than influenced by a different hemodynamic profile to physical activity.

Sportspersonship coaching behaviours, relatedness need satisfaction, and early adolescent athletes’ prosocial and antisocial behaviour

Introduction: Previous research has found that high school athletes’ prosocial and antisocial behaviours were predicted by coaches’ behaviours focused on sportspersonship, as assessed by the Sportsmanship Coaching Behaviours Scale (SCBS). However, these relationships have not been assessed with early adolescents. In line with basic needs theory (BNT), sportspersonship coaching behaviours should be associated with athletes’ prosocial and antisocial behaviours through effects on their sense of relatedness. The two purposes of the present study were: (a) establish further validity and reliability for the SCBS and (b) determine whether relatedness mediates the relationship between coaching behaviours and athletes’ prosocial and antisocial behaviours. Design: Cross-sectional, correlational design. Method: Participants included 246 middle school-aged boys and girls (M age = 11.8, SD = 1.2) involved in a team sport who completed a survey to assess study variables. Results: Analyses showed a good fit to the data for a five-factor model, suggesting the SCBS is appropriate for early adolescents. In line with BNT, perceptions of coaching behaviours were associated with players’ relatedness and, in turn, their prosocial and antisocial sport behaviours. Specifically, modelling good sportsmanship was associated with greater prosocial and fewer antisocial behaviours through relatedness with coaches and teammates. Punishing poor sportsmanship was associated with fewer antisocial behaviours through relatedness with coaches. Conclusion: Collectively, findings support the validity of the SCBS for assessing coaching behaviours focused on sportspersonship and use of BNT for understanding athletes’ sportspersonship.

Sex-related differences in left ventricular structure in early adolescent non-professional athletes.

Professional athletes exhibit lower left ventricular wall thicknesses, diameters and mass (in females), with less frequent training-related electrocardiogram (ECG) changes, as compared with controls. We studied the association of sex with left ventricular structure in trained early adolescents. Two hundred and six adolescent Caucasian athletes (mean age 13.8 ± 1.6, range 11.8-16.9 years, 158 males and 48 females), with similar degree of training underwent ECG and echocardiographic measurements of left ventricular diameters, thicknesses and mass, with relative wall thickness as the remodelling index. As compared with females, males exhibited greater maximal wall thickness (males = 8.7 ± 1.2 vs. females = 7.9 ± 0.8) and indexed left ventricular mass (100 ± 18 g/m(2) vs. 79 ± 12, p < 0.001), without differences in relative wall thickness (males = 0.35 ± 0.04 vs. females = 0.34 ± 0.04) and with higher prevalence of ECG-based left ventricular hypertrophy, sinus bradycardia and ST-elevation. An analysis of covariance, using age, body surface area, systolic blood pressure, heart rate and sex as the covariates, reported that sex is a strong predictor of left ventricular mass, maximal wall thickness, left ventricular diastolic diameter and ECG-based left ventricular hypertrophy. In a binary logistic regression model analysis sex, like left ventricular mass, predicted ST-trait elevation. Our results suggest that, in early adolescence, female athletes have lower left ventricular mass and thicknesses compared with males, without geometrical differences. Therefore, sex, independent of age, is a strong determinant of structural parameters also in early adolescent athletes. These data indicate that sex-specific parameters are needed in the pre-participation cardiovascular screening of adolescent athletes.

Can anabolic steroids or human growth hormone affect the growth and maturation of adolescent athletes?

University of VirginiaCan one grow more rapidly during childhood and early adolescence and to a taller than genetically-programmed adult height or to a more robust body composition (lean body mass, LBM, and bone mineral content) by receiv-ing anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS), recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) or recombinant human insulin-like growth factor I (rhIGF-I)? Does an increase in LBM permit an adolescent to reach his/her maximal athletic performance—whether faster (citius), higher in jumping events (altius), and stronger (fortius)? Why would one consider that possible? The more successful late childhood and early adolescent athletes are often more physically mature than their age peers (1). Early maturation seemingly permits these athletes to use the strength and power in athletic endeavors that their aver-age, but especially slowing maturing age-peers have not yet attained. An exception to this concept may be those athletes in the more esthetic sports in which flexibility and a lower center of gravity are more important than size and strength (1).Most sports for males require strength and power; however, at the higher levels of performance and com-petition technique is critical, as well for athletes must produce, control and efficiently use energy to maximize athletic performance. Examples include explosive power in some jumping events or overall technical skill in the pole vault.Early maturing children are taller and stronger than their age-peers. That may confer an athletic advantage at younger ages; however, sport-specific skills are important permitting some of the later-blooming adolescents to catch-up with their earlier-maturing peers in performance and likely overtake them, for they have had the discipline to attain sport-specific skills and are perhaps at lesser risk to “burn-out” and cease participation in that sport.We, as pediatricians, are now being asked to pre-scribe rhGH and AAS to attempt to make normally sized children and adolescents better athletes by making them bigger and stronger. The rationale for taking these ergo-genic effectors is that by bigger and stronger the athlete will perform better. Although the rationale is apparently logical, there are no data to show that such a course will produce more successful athletes when they are adults. In any experimental setting the study design is such that one evaluates the effects of a single agent with all other things being equal