The aims of this research programme were to a. Further examine and develop an existing self-report measure of Challenge and Threat within a sport context, b. Examine Challenge and Threat self-report with performance in a sport context, c. Further examine the Biopsychosocial Model (BPSM) proposed in relation to Challenge and Threat and sport performance, d. Examine the associations between Challenge, Threat, cortisol response and sport performance, e. Examine self-report of emotions direction and intensity experienced during a sport performance in regard to Challenge and Threat and f. Examine Challenge and Threat in combination with each other in regard to sport performance. These 6 aims were addressed in 3 different empirical studies. Study 1 used a cross sectional study design to explore the validity and reliability of an existing self-report measure of Challenge and Threat. Participants were gym users (n=200, Mage=24.91) and asked to complete the self-report measure before a dart-throwing competition. Study 2 comprised of three different stages. Stage 1; a cross sectional study design to examine the content validity of a pool of existing self-report items to measure Challenge and Threat in a range of athletes (n=25, Mage=22.00). Participants comprised of male and female athletes engaged in various sports (football, n=6, cricket, n=2, swimming, n=5, tennis, n=1, rugby, n=6, netball, n=3, basketball, n=2.). Stage 2, used a cross sectional study design to further examine the construct validity of the remaining items from stage 1. This stage used principle components analysis (PCA) to determine whether Challenge and Threat self-report items were grouped in a particular way (Kline, 1994). Participants were competitive runners (n=197, Mage=37.11) and asked to complete the self-report measure regarding Challenge and Threat before competition. Stage 3 used a cross sectional study design to explore the validity and reliability of the self-report measure of Challenge and Threat developed in stages 1-2 in competitive runners (n=147, Mage =30.06), using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to examine how well the data total fitted the proposed hypothetical model. Finally a quasi-experimental study (study 3) examined the association between Challenge and Threat and shooting performance. This study explored the Challenge and Threat self-report measure and its relationship with performance, emotions and physiological responses. Participants in this study comprised of university student and staff members (n=102, Mage =27.11). Results from study 1 suggested that the existing self-report measure of Challenge and Threat utilised was not suitable for use within a sport context. Results from study 2, stage 1, revealed a pool of self-report items that athletes described as applicable and relevant to their sports performance. Results from study 2, stage 2, suggested that items identified in study 2, stage 1 represented a two component solution, one associated with Threat and the other Challenge. Results from study 2, stage 3 suggested that a 12 item self-report measure was suitable for use within a sport context and that Challenge has a positive association with sport performance. Finally, study 3, suggested that the self-report measure of Challenge and Threat developed in study 2 (stages 1-3) was suitable for use within a sport context. Results from study 3 also suggest that a mixture of Challenge and Threat can have implications for performance outcome. Emotions reported were shown to have associations with Challenge and Threat self-report, as suggested by The Theory of Challenge and Threat States in Athletes (TCTSA). The study findings showed that physiological associations with Challenge and Threat were equivocal. Limitations to the present research programme and directions for future research are discussed.

Service quality is increasingly becoming an important issue for organisations to consider when attempting to satisfy customers and remain competitive in the marketplace. Delivering consistent service quality though appears to present difficulties for many organisations,but this can largely be attributed to the poor understanding of services and the poor understanding of the service quality concept. This thesis has illustrated how services and service quality can be better understood by its review of the literature and by discussing alternative perspectives. Service quality is considered to be a subjective,multi-faceted concept which exists in the mind of each and every individual in a unique way, but which may be partly controlled by understanding customers' separate expectations and their separate perceptions of the service as they pass through the service delivery system. The control and improvement of this service process is considered to be highly dependent upon the organisation's ability to keep customers' expectations within achievable parameters, and upon the service employees' ability to control the customers'perceptions as they pass through the service delivery system. Both the organisation's managers and employees though need to have a good understanding of customers' expectations and perceptions to ensure the consistent delivery of service quality. Several well established research techniques were used to collect empirical data to achieve the research aim in showing how the delivery of service quality can be understood more effectively by using both customers'and employees' perceptions of the service experience. This study illustrated how perceptual gap analysis,service blue printing,and the soft systems methodology can be combined to explore both customers'and employees' perceptions of the service experience. This resulted in the development of a new research technique which has been called 'perceptual blueprinting'. The study was carried out with the collaboration of one organisation in the UK roadside lodge sector where the consistent delivery of service quality is particularly crucial to its continued success. The results from the study have raised some important methodological and substantive issues surrounding the identification and control of service quality in both the roadside lodge sector and service industries in general,and subsequently should provide some value to both acaden-dcs and practitioners alike.

This thesis seeks to contribute to a better understanding of the effects of tourism on the host population, within the context of planning for regional development. In the Badenoch-Strathspey District of the rural Scottish Highlands, various surveys were undertaken to obtain a wide range of information on historical trends, policies and planning, use of resources, the tourist industry and the resident population. To provide a framework for assessing effects, a set of key indicators was devised. Many are subjective in nature, and a major challenge of this research has been to obtain suitable measures for each indicator. Effects could not be 'proved', given the absence of a controlled experiment, so many of the observations are suggestive rather than conclusive, or deduced rather than based on inferential statistics. The explanation of effects required a detailed assessment of the tourist industry, so that actual mechanisms of change could be isolated. It was found that the most profound changes affecting residents stemmed from development and growth in general, leading to the integration of residents in the mainstream of national economic and social trends. Tourism had some unique effects and exacerbated others. Most significant of the positive effects were the creation of new opportunities for jobs, incomes, and leisure, while a shortage of housing and some crime and social disruption were the main negative effects. The demands of large-scale developments for importing staff and using mainly unskilled and female labour had the greatest effect which could be attributed uniquely to tourism. However, the attainment of a winter season and an emphasis on sports and large facilities increased the value of tourism by providing more all-year jobs for males. Overall, it was concluded that the benefits brought by recent developments had outweighed the costs and problems to residents and the local authorities. In assessing the implications of the case study, analysis focussed on key policy-related questions. Most significant of these was the question of concentration versus dispersal of developments. It was concluded that a large-scale concentration was most appropriate for generating major changes, but that it eventually became desirable to limit the dominance of the concentration in order to disperse more widely the benefits that could be obtained from tourism.

There are currently no calibration models that allow whole body density in professional footballers to be estimated. As such, there is a need to develop practical calibration models in order to make sound body composition judgements. The aim of this thesis is threefold. Firstly, to examine the measurement reliability of a range of anthropometric measures, residual lung volume, air displacement plethysmography and hydrostatic weighing. Secondly, to establish reliability and precision of body composition measures used within existing calibration models which estimate whole body density from the criterion of hydrostatic weighing. Thirdly, to develop and cross-validate new calibration models for professional footballers.

Recreation has been a major force in enhancing the quality of life in a modern society. The provider must try to fulfil the requirements of the recreational users and has to focus on the quality of the products it delivers. As a recreational destination the National Park must offer opportunities to satisfy the diverse needs and requirements of the visitors. This involves establishing recreational participation patterns, preferences and the related demands and benefits to the users. In turn, a suitable user fee must be established and explained to recreational users in order to enhance their appreciation of costs. The study focuses on the evaluation of recreational usage of the National Park. The data acquired from the survey in the area established the background of the visitors in terms of socio-economics, leisure and recreation patterns, travel characteristics, on-site recreation attributes and the interrelationships between various activities. Besides, users perspectives in relation to the incremental and improvement of the facilities, the environment and related management approaches were recognised. These findings can be useful for the development of an integrated management approach leading to social and ecological balance. In addition recreational preferences were established by valuation of the opportunities of Taman Negara based on the willingness to pay responses of the user groups. Recreational use of the Park was later evaluated using the contingent valuation method. The demand for recreation use of the Park in its existing condition is attributed to foreigners, income, education, those not visiting friends or relatives during vacation, visitors pursuing specific recreational activities, visitors accompanied by friends and visitors accompanied by their families. The demand for improved facilities is related to Malaysians, urban residents, income, education and visitors participated in bird and wildlife observation. The recreational value for existing opportunities of the Park was RM211,939 per annum and value for opportunities if improved was RM304,086 per annum. The benefits gained by the recreationists for existing opportunities was RM175017 and RM267,164 per annum for improved opportunities. The suggested entrance fees were RM3.00 for existing opportunities and RM8.00 for improved opportunities based on total revenue obtained by the management. Finally information of recreational usage and its management highlighted from the study could be used to aid the formulation of the National Park policy and better management of this area.

The aim of this investigation is to contribute to an understanding of the leisure behaviour and needs of young people in multi-ethnic urban areas in Malaysia. Over a thousand boys and girls of two age cohorts (14--15 years old; 16--17 years old) and of Malay, Chinese or Indian origin from six secondary schools took part in the survey. They completed a questionnaire which asked them about their involvement in extracurricular activities at school (sports and games, clubs and uniformed movements), commitment to school, self-esteem and their pursuits outside school (like leisure activities, homework and tuition). A smaller sample of 85 boys and girls were also interviewed to show the variety of differences in the survey. Pupils' involvement in school activities was found to be related to sex, age, academic attainment, ethnic origin, school commitment and self-esteem. Participation was more common among girls; in older age groups; among the academically able; and among Malay pupils. Participants in school activities showed high school commitment and high self-esteem. Only a minority of pupils were non-participants in extracurricular activities. Their self-esteem tended to be low and their mean score on commitment to school was below average. Commitment to school was not related to social class, academic attainment or ethnic origin in the sample surveyed. A large proportion of non-academic pupils expressed favourable attitudes towards school. No differences in school commitment were observed among pupils of different ethnic backgrounds. Positive relationships among self-esteem and academic attainment, social class, high status school and age were found. A common factor which was related to involvement in a wide range of leisure pursuits and school-related activities (such as homework) was academic attainment. Pupils in the low attainment group were more likely to pursue a greater number of leisure activities than pupils in the high attainment group who, in turn, were more likely to pursue school-related activities. Pupils from schools of high status and advantaged home background were more likely to be involved in school-related activities than leisure activities. Leisure activities were seen as offering opportunities to those who may seek satisfaction and personal identity denied to them in the school environment. The results show that the activities, interests and stresses of Malaysian adolescents are similar in many ways to those of adolescents in developed societies. There are differences in the patterns of leisure activities among the different ethnic groups, Malay, Chinese and Indian; and these can be linked to the contrasting cultural and ethnic traditions of Malaysia. But there are also basic similarities in the attitudes and values of the young people, and this is interpreted as an encouraging sign fdr social integration and national identity in Malaysia.

Recognising the importance of sport as a major political and economic tool as well as a lucrative avenue for boosting its international sporting image, the government of Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) has increased its interest in elite sport over the past 20 years. This has ranged from the enactment of policies at the parliamentary level to the establishment of state agencies geared towards promoting and enhancing the delivery of sport. While this has positively impacted the performance of athletes at the Olympics and other international events there exists considerable room for improvement so as to maintain and improve the country’s competitiveness. This would prove a challenge in the long run given T&T’s limited available resources. Current research has suggested that investment into state–run elite sporting structures (NTIDs) can help maximise state resources and reduce costly errors by effectively identifying and developing talent. Considering the above, the aim of this thesis was to construct an NTID system capable of being successfully introduced in T&T. To achieve this, a multipronged approach involving a mixture of empirical research and secondary data analysis was used. Firstly, a novel anthropometric and physiological testing battery was used to develop reference data and discriminate between junior male cricketers of differing playing abilities. This was followed by a retrospective analysis of the career histories of successful athletes in an effort to identify a suitable development pathway for nurturing future players. Considering that research has suggested that culture has a major impact on the structure of NTIDs, the last study compared the architecture of NTIDs in cultural context. The results of the above tests were successfully used to generate a hypothetical NTIDs for T&T. It is important to note that this thesis only represented the initial stages of the construction of the NTIDs and further research is required to test its efficacy.

The training regimes associated with competitive sport place athletes under both physical and psychological stress. Moreover, there are many further unique stressors associated with competitive sport (e.g., injury risk). This environment can leave athletes susceptible to a number of negative outcomes. Two important outcomes associated with the psychosocial and physiological consequences of sport are burnout syndrome and overtraining syndrome. Burnout and overtraining can have a number of cognitive, affective, motivational, and behavioral consequences (Goodger, Gorely, Lavallee, & Harwood, 2007; Meesuen et al., 2013). Subsequently, sport and exercise psychologists have sought to identify factors that may predispose athletes to these syndromes with a view to reducing their deleterious effects. One factor that has shown particular promise is perfectionism (see Hill & Curran, 2016). Although the existing literature has provided evidence for a relationship between perfectionism and burnout, an over-reliance on cross-sectional correlational designs has meant that conclusions regarding temporality and/or causality have been limited (Taris, 2000). Moreover, the only extant longitudinal study has several methodological limitations (Chen, Kee, & Tsai, 2009). As such, the first three studies of this thesis investigate the longitudinal direct, reciprocal, and mediational effects between perfectionism and athlete burnout. Finally, no study has investigated if perfectionism may predict changes in the susceptibility to overtraining syndrome over time. Using training distress as a marker of overtraining syndrome, the final study of this thesis sought to determine whether perfectionists are predisposed to experience training distress. Study one investigated perfectionism and burnout in junior athletes over a period of three months and the findings showed that perfectionistic strivings predicted decreases in burnout, whereas perfectionistic strivings predicted increases. Replicating and extending study one, study two investigated whether the two dimensions of perfectionism showed interaction effects in predicting changes in burnout in adult athletes over three months. The results of study two showed that the two dimensions of perfectionism interacted, with perfectionistic strivings buffering the incremental effect of perfectionistic concerns. Study three sought to examine whether the quality of motivation would mediate the longitudinal relationship between perfectionism and burnout in junior athletes over a period of six months. The findings of study three showed that autonomous motivation mediated the longitudinal negative relationship between perfectionistic strivings and burnout at both the between- and within-person level, whereas controlled motivation mediated the longitudinal positive relationship between perfectionistic concerns and burnout at the between-person level only. Study four investigated whether the two dimensions of perfectionism also showed divergent relationships with training distress in junior athletes over a period of three months and the findings showed that whereas perfectionistic strivings had a negative cross-sectional association with training distress, perfectionistic concerns had a positive association. Moreover, perfectionistic concerns predicted increases in training distress over the three month period, whereas perfectionistic strivings did not. Taken together, perfectionistic concerns appear to be a factor predisposing athletes to a higher risk of experiencing burnout and training distress, whereas perfectionistic strivings may be a protective factor. These divergent relationships may be explained by autonomous and controlled motivation. With this, the findings of the present thesis provide further evidence for the important role that perfectionism plays in sport.

According to self-determination theory (SDT; Ryan & Deci, 2000), the quality of support (autonomy support versus controlling) from important others is an important predictor of psychological need satisfaction, and subsequent engagement in health-conducive behaviours, such as physical activity and healthy eating. In this dissertation, four research studies grounded on SDT are presented. Results from these studies highlighted the important link between autonomy support and psychological need satisfaction. In turn, these studies showed that need satisfaction supported better psychological well-being and health-conducive behaviours. The findings also underscored the detrimental effects of controlling behaviours. For instance, such behaviours were found to be related to the thwarting of psychological needs, and in turn higher psychological ill-being and maladaptive outcomes, such as unhealthy eating behaviours. Motivation contagion effects were also examined in one study. The results suggested that practitioners’ quality of support provided may vary as a function of their perceived motivation of a client. Findings from our studies have implications for researchers and important others (e.g. spouse) of individuals engaging in weight management. Possible areas for future research, such as the design of new interventions based on the tenets of SDT, are discussed.

Conservative non-pharmacological evidence-based management options for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) primarily focus on developing physiological capacity. With co-morbidities, including those of the musculoskeletal system, contributing to the overall disease severity, further research was needed. This thesis presents a critical review of musculoskeletal management approaches used in COPD, which concluded there is insufficient evidence for using musculoskeletal interventions in COPD management. With a paucity of literature exploring chest wall flexibility and clinical guidelines advocating research into thoracic mobility exercises in COPD, a focus on thoracic spine motion analysis was taken. Soft tissue artefact (STA) threatens the validity of existing in vivo measurement techniques. Having measured and reported unacceptable levels of STA, an alternative approach was developed and tested for reliability as part of this thesis. This technique, along with other measures, was subsequently used to evaluate cervico-thoracic musculoskeletal changes and their relationship with pulmonary function in COPD. In summary, subjects with COPD had reduced spinal motion, altered posture and increased muscle sensitivity compared to controls. Reduced spinal motion and altered neck posture were associated with reduced pulmonary function and having diagnosed COPD. Results from this thesis provide evidence to support inception of a clinical trial of flexibility exercises in COPD.