Noger (2009) suppose qu’au-delà d’un certain seuil, la pratique peut conduire à des risques psychologiques. De plus en plus d’études se sont intéressées au burnout sportif (i.e. syndrome d’accomplissement réduit, d’épuisement physique et mental, et de dévalorisation du sport ; Raedeke, 1997). L’objectif de cette thèse est d’examiner le processus du burnout chez des adolescents engagés dans des filières d’accès au haut niveau à travers trois axes. Le premier a porté sur la validation et la révision du questionnaire du burnout sportif. Le second, a porté sur l’évolution du burnout. Les résultats de l’étude 2 ont montré que l’accomplissement réduit diminue, l’épuisement augmente puis diminue, et enfin, la dévalorisation du sport augmente entre 13 et 19 ans ; et que les filles ont des scores supérieurs aux garçons sur deux dimensions. De plus, plus un athlète a un sentiment d’accomplissement réduit et d’épuisement, plus il dévalorise son sport. Réciproquement, il pourra se sentir plus épuisé dans un premier temps puis son sentiment d’épuisement diminuerait. Dans le troisième axe, les études 3 et 4 ont examiné l’influence de l’entraîneur sur le burnout – à partir de la théorie de l’autodétermination et des buts d’accomplissement – et montre que plus un athlète perçoit que son entraîneur est contrôlant, moins il se sent autonome et autodéterminé et plus il aura de risques de burnout. De plus, plus un athlète perçoit que son entraîneur instaure un climat impliquant l’ego, plus il poursuit des buts maîtrise-évitement et plus il y aura de risques de burnout. Une dernière étude a confirmé que le burnout est multidimensionnel et comporte des différences interindividuelles / Noger (2009) evokes that beyond a certain threshold, the sport can lead to psychological risks for health. In this perspective, studies have focused on the athlete burnout (i.e. syndrome of reduced accomplishment, physical and mental exhaustion and sport devaluation ; Raedeke, 1997).The objective of this thesis is to examine the process of burnout in adolescent athlete enrolled in elite training structures through three lines of research. The first line has focused on conceptual breakthrough in athlete burnout. The second line has focused on the development of burnout in sports, taking into account the effects of gender and the causal influences between the dimensions. The results of study 2 showed that reduced accomplishment diminish, exhaustion raise then diminish, and sport devaluation raise from 13 to 19 years old; and also that girls have higher scores than boys on two dimensions. The results also highlighted that the more an athlete has a sense of reduced accomplishment and exhaustion, the more he devalues his sport. Reciprocally, he could feel more exhausted initially and then to feel less and less exhausted. The third line of research studies 3 and 4 examined the influence of the coach on burnout – from the self-determination theory and the achievement goal theories – and showed that an athlete perceiving a controlling coach, feels less autonomous and self-determined and he will be prone to have higher burnout. Meanwhile, an athlete perceiving that his coach creates an ego-involving climate, pursues mastery avoidance goals and be likely to develop higher burnout. A final study confirmed that athlete burnout is multidimensional and includes inter-individual differences

Much has been researched and written on the concept of intelligence in the last century and while much of it has been applied in educational settings and commercial organisations, little has been investigated and applied within a sports context. Early research in the 1970s identified sport intelligence as comprising primarily of reaction time and recall and it was only in 2002, some 30 years later, that it again appeared in the literature with sport intelligence being considered a psychological characteristic of Olympic champions. The research of Gould, Diffenbach and Moffet (2002) into sport intelligence hypothesised that sport intelligence included having “the ability to analyse, being innovative, being a student of the sport, making good decisions, understanding the nature of elite sport, and being a quick learner” (p. 5). Later research by Blue (2009) proposed a comprehensive model of sport intelligence as it applied to golf wherein he posited that sport intelligence – albeit in a golfing context – comprised a ‘competition’ and ‘developmental’ intelligence. Other than the thematic assessment of Gould et al. (2002) and the golf-specific study of Blue (2009) no literature, data or research was available internationally, on the African continent nor in South Africa. The researcher responded to the call for further research and decided to complete a qualitative, exploratory study in South Africa. The research commenced by covering what was available on sport intelligence literature and to build on it by reviewing and considering general intelligence theories. Both orthodox and unorthodox approaches were considered and the review suggested that sport intelligence would conceptually and theoretically consist of a number of dimensions and constructs including a series of cognitive processes like memory, reasoning, problem solving, decision making and other rational processes. The third source of literature was a review of sport psychology and it emphasised the importance and significance of emotional, motivational and other psychological factors in addition to the influences of personality. The literature review led to the researcher identifying 14 hypotheses which were explored with 15 credible sport participants, whereafter a thorough content analysis of the 14 hypotheses was performed. 13 of the 14 initial hypotheses were accepted with one included as a theme within another. The thematic assessment resulted in the identification and development of a systems model of sport intelligence comprising six components as follows:  A neurophysiological component;  A cognitive/rational component;  An emotional/affective component;  A team/group component;  A societal/ecological component; and  A metaphysical component. The investigation and analyses furthermore indicated that the components do not exist in isolation of one another and each dimension seems of equal significance. The data suggested a parallel process and dynamic interplay between these components and this led to a systemic perspective being adopted when synthesising the model into a logical and coherent framework. Each of the components were critically evaluated from a cognitive and systemic perspective. The systemic perspective proposed challenges the view that performance is not only an individual endeavour but also a systemic endeavour. / Psychology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Consulting Psychology)

Le Sens Communautaire est important pour le bien-être et le développement social positif des adolescents (Pretty, 2002 ; Cicognani et al., 2006; 2012). Cependant, peu d'études ont fourni des informations significatives sur les mécanismes qui peuvent conduire à la construction d'une communauté dans le sport (Warner, 2011). L'objectif de cette thèse est de contribuer à la définition d'une communauté sportive, en examinant les mécanismes sous-jacents à la formation d'un Sens Communautaire dans des contextes sportifs à l'adolescence. Pour cela, un premier chapitre présente une revue de littérature sur le Sens Communautaire et un deuxième chapitre examine la littérature sur le sens communautaire sportif, et la participation sportive à l'adolescence. Par la suite deux axes de recherches sont proposés. Le premier axe comprend deux études qualitatives. Les résultats de ces études ont révélé que la communauté sportive comprend en particulier, les parents, l'entraineur et les pairs sportifs. Il émerge une difficulté pour ces jeunes athlètes à maintenir des relations avec des pairs non sportifs. Le deuxième axe comprend deux études quantitatives. La première étude a porté sur la validation du questionnaire du Sens Communautaire Sportif à l'Adolescence (SCSA), en langue française et italienne. La seconde étude a porté sur la compréhension des processus de ce SCSA en mettant en évidence ses relations avec le climat perçu des parents, de l'entraineur, des pairs non-sportifs, et de l'engagement sportif. Les résultats ont montré qu'à l'adolescence, le SCSA influence de manière significative l'engagement, et que la relation entre le climat perçu des pairs non-sportifs et l'engagement sportif est médié par le SCSA / The Sense of Community is important for the well-being and positive social development of adolescents (Pretty, 2002; Cicognani et al., 2006, 2012). However, a few studies have provided significant information on the mechanisms that can lead to the construction of a community in sport (Warner, 2011). The objective of this thesis is to contribute to the definition of a sport community, examining the mechanisms underlying the formation of Sense Community in sport contexts in adolescence. For this, the first chapter presents a review of literature about Sense of Community and the second chapter examines the literature on the Sense of Community in Sport and sports participation in adolescence. Subsequently two lines of research are proposed. The first line consists of two qualitative studies. The results of these studies revealed that the sport community includes in particular parents, peers and coach sports. There emerges a challenge for these young athletes to maintain relationships with nonathlete peers. The second line comprises two quantitative studies. The first study focused on the validation of the questionnaire Adolescents Sense Community in Sport (SCSA), in French and Italian. The second study focused on understanding the processes of SCSA and its relationship with parents, coach, peer non-athletes climate perceived and sport involvement. The results showed that during adolescence, the SCSA significantly influences the commitment, and the relationship between peer non-athletes climate perceived and sporting commitment is mediated by SCSA

The aim of this study was to investigate the young child's experience of intensive sport participation. The study concentrated on the following aspects: The role that adults play in children's sport experience. The reasons for children's sport experience becoming negative. Children's sport experience with special focus on enjoyment, pressure to win, competition anxiety, sportsmanship, crowd behaviour and withdrawal from participation. A comparison between children's sport experience and the perceptions of parents and coaches of those experiences. It was found that children experience aspects such as pressure to win, competition anxiety and crowd behaviour as negative. Another outcome of this study was the finding that children experience their sport participation more negative than parents and coaches think they do. Lastly it was found that children, in spite of having a negative experience of some aspects of sport, still enjoy participating in sport and are not considering withdrawal from it. / Educational Studies / M. Ed (Guidance and Counselling)

A study was conducted on 74 school first- and second-team rugby players from four Pretoria high schools, to investigate whether start-up A-team players differ significantly from other (B-team start-up and reserve) players on emotional intelligence. It was further investigated whether emotional intelligence is a predictor of rugby performance if measured as being included into the study’s ‘best team’ or being a start-up A-team school rugby player. Various other physical, psychological, social and spiritual predictors were also investigated singularly and in combination with the emotional intelligence predictor to indicate performance. Data were gathered through a self-reporting questionnaire developed by the researcher. The main methods for analysing data used included the Mann-Whitney Test and the Logistic Regression analysis. The study found certain spiritual and social predictor aspects to be significantly related to performance in rugby but not emotional intelligence. Certain underlying emotional aspects where more significant to the study’s B-team players’ performance. / Spiritual aspects / M.A. (Psychology)