Mehdi Duyan

Introduction: The coach-athlete relationship is a fundamental psychosocial factor associated with athlete performance. However, its associations with self-reported task performance, contextual performance, and overall athletic performance have not been sufficiently examined within a single model. Drawing on theoretical frameworks such as the 3C model and Self-Determination Theory, this study aimed to investigate the associations between the coach-athlete relationship and two performance sub-dimensions (task performance and contextual performance) and their composite overall score (athletic performance), with overall athletic performance operationalized as a composite score reflecting athletes' global self-perceived performance. Method: This quantitative study employed a correlational survey design with 276 university student-athletes (154 male and 122 female) competing in individual and team sports. The Coach-Athlete Relationship Scale and the Athletic Performance Scale (comprising task performance and contextual performance sub-dimensions and an overall composite score) were used. Hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to examine the statistical association of the coach-athlete relationship with self-reported performance dimensions after controlling for demographic variables. Results: The coach-athlete relationship was positively and significantly correlated with task performance (r = 0.412, p < 0.001) , contextual performance (r = 0.465, p < 0.001) , and overall athletic performance (r = 0.461, p < 0.001) . Hierarchical regression analysis showed that the coach-athlete relationship demonstrated a significant statistical association with task performance ( β = 0.514, p < 0.001) , contextual performance ( β = 0.563, p < 0.001) , and overall athletic performance (β = 0.560, p < 0.001) , after controlling for demographic variables. Conclusion: A high-quality coach-athlete relationship is positively associated with athletes' self-reported task performance, contextual performance, and overall athletic performance. These findings suggest that the coach-athlete relationship may be important in relation to athletes' social, cooperative, and team-oriented behaviors. However, as all measures were self-reported, the results reflect perceived rather than objective performance.

Introduction: Despite the increase in gym memberships in recent years, women’s participation in physical activity continues to lag behind men’s. Studies that holistically address the experiences of women newly starting fitness are limited in the literature. Aiming to fill this gap, this research seeks to explore in depth the gym experiences of women who have recently started fitness, and the psychosocial transformations they undergo in their body perceptions, self-confidence, and self-narratives throughout this process. Method: The study was designed within the framework of a phenomenological approach, one of the qualitative research designs. The study group consisted of 16 women who were members of women-only fitness centers in Malatya, Türkiye, and had been exercising regularly for at least two months. Participants’ ages ranged from 23 to 48, with 75% ( n = 12) having been engaged in fitness for one year or less. Data were collected in written form using a semi-structured interview form; no audio recordings were made due to participants’ privacy concerns. The obtained data were analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis method. Results: The analysis revealed four main themes: (1) Driving Forces for Initiation, (2) Paradigm Shift in Body and Self-Perception, (3) The Dual Face of the Social Environment, and (4) Transformation Materialized in Daily Life and Identity Construction. The findings indicate that the process of starting fitness holds meaning beyond mere physical activity for the participants; this journey, initiated by medical diagnoses, bodily dissatisfaction, or emotional needs, was associated with profound psychological transformations such as increased self-confidence, reconciliation with the body, and feelings of strength and competence. While the women-only gym served as a safe haven and space for solidarity for the participants, questions from the outside environment such as “why do you exercise?” reveal the persistent influence of social norms. Conclusion: Ultimately, participants perceived their fitness experiences as contributing to a stronger female identity through autonomy, boundary-setting, and psychological resilience. This research reveals the multidimensional nature of these transformative experiences and emphasizes that physical activity programs should be designed considering these psychosocial dimensions.

Introduction: Mental performance skills are recognized as critical for success in combat sports, yet the underlying mechanisms through which they influence performance remain poorly understood. This study examines the mediating role of mental toughness between mental performance skills and athletic performance within the framework of Conservation of Resources Theory. Method: This quantitative research employed a correlational survey model. The study included 470 combat sport athletes (243 male, 227 female) from various universities in Türkiye. Participants completed the Mental Performance Skills Scale, the Mental Toughness Inventory, and the Athletic Performance Scale for Combat Athletes. Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation analysis and Structural Equation Modeling. Model fit indices were calculated as CFI = 0.983, TLI = 0.981, RMSEA = 0.08, and SRMR = 0.07. Results: Correlation analysis revealed positive and significant correlations among all variables ( r = 0.394–0.445, p < 0.001). According to Cohen’s conventions, these values represent medium-to-large effect sizes. Structural equation modeling results indicated that mental performance skills had significant direct effects on athletic performance ( β = 0.353, p < 0.001) and on mental toughness ( β = 0.483, p < 0.001), and that mental toughness significantly predicted athletic performance ( β = 0.361, p < 0.001). Bootstrap analysis confirmed that mental toughness served as a significant mediator, as the indirect effect [ β = 0.174, 95% CI (0.111, 0.204)] did not contain zero. The direct effect ( β = 0.353, p < 0.001) remained significant after accounting for the indirect pathway. Conclusion: In conclusion, mental performance skills strengthen mental toughness, and this enhanced mental toughness plays a significant mediating role in improving athletic performance. Structured mental skills training can improve not only competition results but also fundamental psychological capacities such as stress management and coping with challenging conditions.

Introduction: This study aimed to examine the mediating role of mental toughness (MT) in the relationship between intrinsic motivation (IM) and psychological wellbeing (PWB) in combat sport athletes. Combat sport athletes face unique psychological challenges that can significantly impact their wellbeing, yet the mechanisms through which intrinsic motivation influences psychological wellbeing remain underexplored. Methods: The sample of this correlational survey study consisted of 489 combat sport athletes from university teams in Turkiye. Data were collected using the IM subscale of the “Sport Motivation Scale (SMS)”, the “Mental Toughness Scale (MTS),” and the “Psychological wellbeing Scale (PWB).” Relationships between variables were examined via correlation analysis, and the proposed mediation model was tested using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and the bootstrap method (5,000 resamples). Results: The analyses revealed that IM had significant direct effects on both PWB (β = 0.385, p < 0.001) and MT (β = 0.486, p < 0.001). MT was also found to be a significant predictor of PWB (β = 0.324, p < 0.001). Most notably, a significant indirect effect was identified, indicating that IM influences PWB through the enhancement of MT [b = 0.108, SE = 0.019, 95% CI (0.070, 0.145)]. The standardized indirect effect was β = 0.158. Discussion: The research demonstrates that IM supports the PWB of combat sport athletes both directly and indirectly by fostering MT. These findings suggest that programs designed to enhance the PWB of these athletes should target not only their motivational sources but also their resilience-building skills. Future research should employ longitudinal designs to establish causal relationships and examine the effectiveness of psycho-educational interventions targeting IM and MT in enhancing PWB among combat sport athletes.

Background/Objectives: The current study aimed to investigate the mediating role of injury anxiety in the relationship between mental training and flow state among wheelchair basketball athletes. Although mental training is known to be essential for enhancing athletic performance, the underlying mechanisms through which it affects psychological states such as flow have been studied very limitedly, especially in adaptive sports. Methods: The research was conducted using a correlational survey model within a quantitative research framework. The study sample consisted of a total of 153 elite male wheelchair basketball athletes competing in leagues in Türkiye. Hayes’ Process Macro Model was used to test the mediating effect in the analysis of the data. Results: The analyses revealed that mental training significantly reduced injury anxiety (β = −0.328, p < 0.001), accounting for 7.6% of its variance. Injury anxiety had a significant negative effect on optimal performance (β = −0.3380, p < 0.001). The direct effect of mental training on performance remained positive and significant (β = 0.4324, p < 0.001). Together, the variables explained 43% of the variance in optimal performance. The total effect of mental training was also significant (β = 0.543, p < 0.001). Conclusions: In conclusion, the findings of this study reveal that mental training plays a significant role in both reducing injury anxiety and enhancing optimal performance among wheelchair basketball players. It was determined that injury anxiety functions as a mediating variable in the relationship between mental training and flow.

The aim of this research is to reveal the scope of the studies published within the scope of WoS regarding the concept of horticultural therapeutics and the variables used. Accordingly, the data obtained from the WoS database were analyzed through 1.6.19 VOSviewer. In our study, 673 results were reached in the search made from 1981 to 2024 by selecting “all fields” in Web of Science with the keywords (“horticultural therapy” OR “horticultural activity” OR “horticulture therapy” OR “therapeutic horticulture” OR “horticulture therapeutic recreation”). However, since the exclusion criteria were determined in our study, only articles and compilation articles and 458 data in the SCI-Expanded, SSCI, ESCI, and A&HCI indexes were analyzed. In the data analysis, analyses were conducted to determine the number of citations received and works pro-duced by authors, journals, countries, organizations, and the number of most frequently used words. The most frequently used keywords in publications related to the concept of horticultural therapy were horticultural therapy with 149 repetitions, gardening with 50 repetitions, mental health with 30 repetitions, therapeutic horticulture with 28 repetitions, and well-being with 22 repetitions. It is seen that horticultural therapy is the subject of “stress”, “anxiety”, “depression” and “psychological well-being” keywords.

The purpose of this study was to examine whether the leisure involvement of adults who participate in fitness activities has an effect on positive and negative affect. The relational screening model, one of the quantitative research methods, was used. In this study, the “Leisure Involvement Scale” and the “Positive and Negative Affect State Scale” were used. Descriptive statistics, parametric tests such as Pearson's correlation test and simple regression analysis were used to analyses the data. In addition, validity and reliability analyses were carried out to determine the validity and reliability coefficients of the scales. It was found that leisure involvement and its sub-dimensions have an effect on positive and negative affect states. As a result, it was concluded that positive emotional states increased, and negative emotional states decreased in adult individuals who participated in leisure-time fitness exercise. Therefore, it shows that it can help adults cope with the negative emotions they encounter in their daily lives (stress, anxiety, burnout, depression, lack of self-esteem, social appearance anxiety, etc.).

Internal marketing and organizational citizenship issues have recently begun to be studied more in the literature. This study aimed to examine the effect of internal marketing practices on the organizational citizenship behavior of employees in the sports sector. Data were collected by simple random sampling method using an online survey tool and was obtained from Antalya, Karaman, Kütahya, Izmir, Istanbul, and Muğla Provincial Directorate of Youth and Sport of employees (N = 224). As a data collection tool, the IM-11 scale developed by Yildiz and Kara (2017) was used to measure internal marketing, and the organizational citizenship behavior scale developed by Bolat, Bolat and Seymen (2009) was used to measure organizational citizenship behavior. Descriptive statistics, validity and reliability analysis, correlation analysis, and hierarchical regression analysis were used in the analysis of the data. The result of the analyses showed the significant and positive effect of internal marketing on organizational citizenship behavior. In other analyzes, while internal marketing had a significant and positive effect on the sportsmanship and civic virtue subscale of organizational citizenship behavior, no significant effect was observed on altruism, conscientiousness, and courtesy.

This study examined the effect of job stress on the performance of sports coaches. Sports coaches who worked in the Directorate of Youth and Sport at Antalya, Kutahya, Karaman, and Mugla Provinces, in Turkey, participated in the study (n = 168). As a data collection tool, the job stress and job performance scales adapted by Ornek (2017), from Turkmen’s (2015) research were used. For the reliability of the scales, Cronbach's Alpha coefficient was determined and correlation and hierarchical regression analyses were performed to determine the relationships among the variables. Correlation analysis showed that the performance variable was significantly and negatively correlated with all stress sub-dimensions (p < .01). The strongest relationship was with the management structure (r = -.376). In addition, the performance variable was significantly and negatively correlated with the age variable (r = -.163). The performance variable was significantly and positively correlated with the income variable (r = .171) and the educational degree variable (r = .171). According to the hierarchical regression analysis, the performances of the sports coaches were not affected by any of the demographic variables, but were affected significantly and negatively (β = -.338; p < .001) by stress.

Bu çalışmada fiziksel etkinlik hizmetleri sunan fitness merkezlerinde hizmet kalitesinin müşteri memnuniyetine etkisinin incelenmesi amaçlanmıştır. Veri toplama aracı olarak, hizmet kalitesine yönelik Yıldız ve Kara’nın (2012) geliştirdiği QSport-14 ölçeği, müşteri memnuniyetine yönelik ise Cronin, Brady ve Hult’un (2000) geliştirdiği memnuniyet ölçeği kullanılmıştır. Veriler Antalya ilinde ticari olarak faaliyet gösteren 3 farklı fitness merkezinin müşterilerinden (n=227) elde edilmiştir. Ölçeklerin güvenirliklerini belirlemek amacıyla yapılan güvenirlik testi sonucunda QSport-14 ölçeğinin Cronbach Alpha değeri 0,849, müşteri memnuniyeti ölçeğinin Cronbach Alpha değeri ise 0,743 olarak bulunmuştur. Hizmet kalitesinin müşteri memnuniyeti üzerine etkisini belirleyebilmek için hiyerarşik regresyon analizi uygulanmıştır. QSport-14 ölçeğinin alt boyutları olan “personel”, “fiziksel özellikler” ve “program” değişkenlerinin müşteri memnuniyeti üzerine etkisi ayrı ayrı değerlendirilmiştir. Analizler sonucunda, fitness merkezlerindeki hizmet kalitesinin (ve alt boyutları olan personel, fiziksel özellikler ve program değişkenlerinin) müşteri memnuniyeti üzerinde anlamlı ve pozitif etkisi bulunmuştur (p<0,001). Bu alt boyutlardan, müşteri memnuniyeti üzerine en yüksek etki personel (β=,492) alt boyutudur, ardından program (β=,444) ve fiziksel özellikler (β=,432) gelmektedir. Diğer taraftan demografik değişkenlerin müşteri memnuniyeti üzerine herhangi bir anlamlı etkisi ise görülmemiştir. Bu sonuçlara göre, fiziksel egzersiz hizmeti sunan fitness merkezlerinde müşteri memnuniyeti sağlayabilmenin yolu (başta personel olmak üzere, program ve fiziksel özellikler yönüyle) hizmet kalitesini arttırmaktan geçtiği söylenebilir.