The present study examined whether performance characteristics discriminated between selected and deselected players in talent development programmes. This examination was carried out in talented soccer players, aged 16-18 years using objective measurement instruments. Four domains of multidimensional performance characteristics (physiological, technical, tactical and psychological) were assessed by using a test battery consisting of soccer-specific field tests and questionnaires. Multivariate analyses of covariance revealed that the physiological characteristics peak and repeated shuttle sprint, the technical characteristics of peak and repeated shuttle dribble and the tactical characteristic of 'positioning and deciding', significantly differed between the selected (n=76) and deselected players (n=37), with selected players performing better (P<0.05). Discriminant function analysis showed that the combination of the technical characteristic 'peak dribbling', the tactical characteristic 'positioning and deciding' and the physiological characteristic of 'peak sprinting' classified 69% of talented players correctly. In conclusion, the decisions made by the investigated clubs to either select or deselect players in their talent development programme, whom were aged 16-18 years, were mostly discriminated by aspects of the players' technical, tactical and physiological skill performances. Sports research can play an essential role in investigating the club's perception of important performance characteristics in talented players.
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This study intends to investigate the validity of a self-efficacy measure which is developed for predictive and diagnostic purposes concerning student teachers in competence-based education. CFA results delivered converging evidence for the multidimensionality of the student teacher self-efficacy construct and the bi-factor model as underlying structure, reflecting a teacher competence framework. Factor loadings of the bifactor model evidenced the theoretical assumption that incipient student teachers enter the programme with a global undifferentiated sense of teacher self-efficacy, having teaching experiences a further differentiation takes place to a partly differentiated sense of teacher efficacy. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the measure succeeds in predicting students' first-year outcomes and delivered evidence for the diagnostic value of the scale.
Objective. Hospital in Motion is a multidimensional implementation project aiming to improve movement behavior during hospitalization. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of Hospital in Motion on movement behavior. Methods. This prospective study used a pre-implementation and post-implementation design. Hospital in Motion was conducted at 4 wards of an academic hospital in the Netherlands. In each ward, multidisciplinary teams followed a 10-month step-by-step approach, including the development and implementation of a ward-specific action plan with multiple interventions to improve movement behavior. Inpatient movement behavior was assessed before the start of the project and 1 year later using a behavioral mapping method in which patients were observed between 9:00 am and 4:00 pm. The primary outcome was the percentage of time spent lying down. In addition, sitting and moving, immobility-related complications, length of stay, discharge destination home, discharge destination rehabilitation setting, mortality, and 30-day readmissions were investigated. Differences between pre-implementation and post-implementation conditions were analyzed using the chi-square test for dichotomized variables, the Mann Whitney test for non-normal distributed data, or independent samples t test for normally distributed data. Results. Patient observations demonstrated that the primary outcome, the time spent lying down, changed from 60.1% to 52.2%. For secondary outcomes, the time spent sitting increased from 31.6% to 38.3%, and discharges to a rehabilitation setting reduced from 6 (4.4%) to 1 (0.7%). No statistical differences were found in the other secondary outcome measures. Conclusion. The implementation of the multidimensional project Hospital in Motion was associated with patients who were hospitalized spending less time lying in bed and with a reduced number of discharges to a rehabilitation setting. Impact. Inpatient movement behavior can be influenced by multidimensional interventions. Programs implementing interventions that specifically focus on improving time spent moving, in addition to decreasing time spent lying, are recommended.
