Systematic review

Background. Children and adolescents without parental care due to parental loss resulting from neglect, abandonment, abuse, institutionalization, or other social circumstances represent a vulnerable population. They face physical and mental health challenges, worsened by the absence of stable support systems. Understanding the benefit that sports and recreational activities can have on improving their well-being is essential.

Objective. This paper synthesizes existing scientific evidence of the effects of sports and recreational programs on the physical and psychosocial well-being of children and adolescents without parental care, with a particular focus on their specific circumstances and vulnerabilities.

Design. Eligibility criteria included studies that examined interventions aimed at improving physical health, anthropometric development, and psychosocial well-being among orphans and vulnerable children (OVC). The focus was on OVC affected by parental loss, abandonment, neglect, abuse, or other social circumstances. All studies were assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT).

Results. Six studies met inclusion criteria, with 331 participants aged 5–21 years. The interventions varied in duration, type, frequency, and intensity, lasting from 3 months to 4 years with training from several times a week to continuous participation. Sessions ranged from 10 minutes to 2 hours. Some programs included personal development, motivational stories, arts, and cultural activities. Interventions improved physical fitness, reduced aggression and risky behaviors, and enhanced self-confidence, social interaction, and academic performance.

Conclusion. Included studies demonstrated the positive impact of sports and recreational programs on physical and psychosocial well-being, including improvements in physical fitness, self-confidence, inclusion, reduction of high-risk behaviors, and academic performance.

Background. Studies of self-efficacy in sports have demonstrated its importance in performance. These have been of English-speaking and Latin American origin, mostly descriptive, qualitative, and relate it essentially to emotional variables; interventions reveal its sources and the way to improve it.

Objective. A meta-analysis and systematic review of self-efficacy studies in high- performance sports in 2015–2022.

Design. The PRISMA method and a flow diagram were used. The databases were SciELO, Dialnet, Redalyc, CORE, REBID, Science Research, Google Scholar, and PubMed. The dimensions of analysis were: descriptions of the articles; methodological approach, and characteristics of the self-efficacy measurements. The keywords “self-efficacy” and “sports,” along with their translations into Spanish, were connected using the OR Boolean operator. The inclusion of “high performance” or “elite” was carefully considered to avoid unintended exclusions.

Results. Thirty-four articles were selected, with soccer and basketball being the most studied sports. Descriptive and correlational designs predominated: increasing relationships between two or more variables with self-efficacy, the studies that discussed interventions were the only ones that addressed longitudinal studies. In the measurements, those of general self-efficacy predominate according to the tasks faced by the athletes; individual self-efficacy is more highly valued; strength and generality are considered in the microanalyses.

Conclusion. Progress has been shown in studies of self-efficacy in high-performance sports. There remain opportunities for longitudinal studies, instruments with sport-specific indicators, analysis of levels and collective self-efficacy that will allow researchers to further explain the phenomenon.

Background. We can see outbreaks of social violence (notably wars, riots, and revolutions), both historically and in the current social situation. Some authors point to the impact of hostility on human cognitive processes and on decision making, and through these factors – on aggressive behaviour. Moreover, some retrospective studies note the role of cognitive complexity in the peaceful resolution of conflicts (including international conflicts). These findings prompted us to ask whether the two phenomena are related. To answer this question a meta-analysis of correlation between hostility and cognitive complexity was conducted.

Objective. Our objective was to summarise research findings on the relationship between hostility and cognitive complexity.

Design. The total number of papers screened was 839 (in English and Russian). A total of 5 effect sizes from 4 selected papers were included in the meta-analysis derived from a pooled sample of 3114 participants. Three-level random-effects meta-analysis, p-curve, p-uniform and p-uniform* methods were used in the data analysis.

Results. The results of different effect size calculation methods (three-level random-effects model, two-level random-effects model, and p-uniform*) confirmed that there is a moderately weak negative correlation between hostility and cognitive complexity. The most accurate result is r_pooled = -0.22 [-.45;.003].

Conclusion. There is a negative correlational relationship between hostility and cognitive complexity. Apparently, hostility and cognitive complexity have some reciprocal influence on each other. The authors hypothesise that hostility is rather complementary to cognitive simplicity as the opposite pole of cognitive complexity - if the function of hostility in ensuring the protection of one’s sense of Self is taken into account. Both hostility and cognitive simplicity work to create a simple (in one case dangerous, in another case unambiguous) world in which it is easier to make decisions (including the decision to engage in aggressive behaviour).

Background. The COVID-19 pandemic is a multifaceted stressor. Its impact suggests long-term psychological effects. Self-determination promotes flexibility of goals and actions and helps to overcome the difficulties caused by stress.

Objective. To analyze coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic presented in Russian scientific studies (RQ1), and their relationship with self-determination (RQ2).

Design. Relevant studies (2020–2022) were selected from the Russian citation index (RSCI) database. Strict selection criteria were used. Twenty-four articles were selected for the final review. For dynamic analysis, four stages of the pandemic were identified.

Results. Prevailing coping strategies have changed over time. At the beginning of the pandemic, respondents used familiar coping mechanisms. Six months later, active coping strategies were more often used, but deprivation and avoidance strategies increased. A year later, there was an increase in denial and avoidance strategies. Using non-constructive coping strategies may indicate that, due to the long course of the pandemic, meeting basic psychological needs became increasingly frustrated, leading to helplessness, alienation, and lack of control. Later dynamics reflect the growth of effective coping strategies and confirm that when basic needs are blocked for a long time, people seek alternative ways to satisfy them.

Conclusion. The dynamics of coping strategies during the pandemic reflected their close relationship with basic psychological needs, as described in the theory of self-determination. The results confirmed the importance of self-determination as a dispositional variable in predicting coping mechanisms.

Background. The importance of biliteracy in bilingual children’s development has been widely investigated and discussed for the last several decades, suggesting beneficial effects of writing and reading in two languages for bilingual children as well as for adult second language learners.

Objective. To analyze research on the link between bilingualism and literacy development in two or more languages and the factors that may influence a successful or problematic biliteracy acquisition. RQ (1): What is the relationship between bilingualism and literacy of bilingual children? RQ (2): What strategies are used to develop biliteracy?

Design. The review analyzes 50 studies of literacy development in bilingual children. The selected articles have been separated based on their methodology: 25 articles gave a critical analysis of more than 1,100 studies on the topic, strengthening the theoretical basis of existing research, and 25 other articles were empirical research articles demonstrating practical evidence for the former.

Results. Our analysis revealed that literacy in bilinguals, or biliteracy, can be seen as a necessary condition for fluent development of bilingualism, though it is not a necessary condition (which is explained by the difference between structures of specific languages and writing systems, instruction in literacy, and cognitive baggage invoked by the task used to measure the skill) (Bialystok, 2002). Research suggests that bilingualism impacts children's ultimate acquisition of literacy via the beneficial effects of bilingualism overall: advanced biliteracy boosts the development of phonological and phonemic awareness and metacognitive abilities. Thus, biliteracy can be considered as an advantage in terms of maintaining bilingual acquisition in general and developing writing skills in particular.

Conclusion. There is a lack of studies on the development of writing skills in different educational contexts, across countries and cultures, which must be addressed and complemented by new empirical research. Research will enable policymakers to improve educational programs in accordance with the needs of bilingual children, who are the majority in the current global population.