BackgroundCoordination ability is crucial for athletic performance, particularly in basketball, which demands rapid decision-making under high cognitive load. However, few studies have examined systematic training that integrates cognitive and coordination components. This study investigated the effects of a 12-week Cognitive-Coordination Training (CCT) program on sport specific physical fitness and technical skills in adolescent basketball players.MethodsThirty-two sub-elite basketball players were randomly assigned to an experimental group (EG, n = 16) or control group (CG, n = 16). The EG performed three 30-min CCT sessions weekly, embedded within the regular warm-up routine—replacing part but not all of it—while the CG followed standard training. Both groups completed pre- and post-tests of sport specific fitness (SR, AJT, DJR, SJTP) and technical skills (FDL, MPR, HSD).ResultsNo significant pre-intervention differences were found. After 12 weeks, the EG showed significantly greater improvements than the CG across all tests (p < 0.001). Within group analysis revealed significant gains in all measures for the EG (p < 0.001), while the CG showed smaller improvements in only four tests and in the overall mean score.ConclusionThe 12-week Cognitive-Coordination Training, embedded within the warm-up phase, effectively enhanced sport specific fitness and technical performance in sub-elite youth basketball players. By integrating cognitive processing with motor coordination, this approach offers a practical and theoretically grounded method for optimizing athletic performance and complements traditional basketball training models.
BACKGROUND: With the rapid integration of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) into higher education, understanding how technology shapes students’ psychological motivation has become increasingly critical. Self-control is widely recognized as a core internal resource that sustains academic engagement, yet little is known about how this self-regulatory capacity operates when external technological reliance intervenes in learning. Addressing this gap, the present study introduces an innovative framework that integrates Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and Path Dependence Theory (PDT) to examine how meaning in life—defined as individuals’ perceived sense of purpose, coherence, and value in life—mediates the relationship between self-control and academic engagement, and how GenAI dependence moderates this pathway. This approach provides a novel perspective on the interaction between inner volitional strength and external technological dependence in shaping academic motivation. METHOD: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 1,139 university students in China. Validated self-report questionnaires were used to assess self-control, meaning in life, GenAI dependence, and academic engagement. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was performed using Mplus 8.3 to construct latent variables and test the hypothesized moderated mediation model. RESULTS: The findings indicated that self-control significantly predicted academic engagement. Meaning in life partially mediated this relationship. Furthermore, GenAI dependence negatively moderated the pathway from self-control to meaning in life—specifically, the positive effect of self-control on meaning in life was weaker among students with higher GenAI dependence. These results reveal a dynamic interaction between internal psychological strengths and external technological reliance in shaping academic engagement. CONCLUSION: This study proposes and validates a novel moderated mediation mechanism linking self-control, meaning in life, and academic engagement within the emerging context of AI-augmented learning. By integrating motivational and technological perspectives, it contributes a new theoretical model of “motivational regulation under technological mediation.” Practically, the findings underscore the dual importance of cultivating students’ self-regulation and existential meaning-making capacity while promoting reflective and autonomous GenAI use. These insights offer evidence-based guidance for fostering sustainable academic motivation and psychological well-being in digitalized higher education environments.
Competitive anxiety is a common psychological challenge among athletes and can negatively affect sports performance. Although several psychological interventions have been shown to reduce competitive anxiety, their relative effectiveness has not been well established. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of different psychological interventions in reducing competitive anxiety in athletes. We searched the Cochrane Library, Embase, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science from inception to March 2025, with additional screening of Google Scholar and reference lists. Randomized controlled trials published in English were eligible. Risk of bias was evaluated using the revised Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool. A Bayesian random-effects network meta-analysis was conducted using the ‘multinma’ package. Subgroup analyses examined anxiety dimensions and competitive level. Effects were expressed as standardized mean differences (SMDs) with 95
Message framing and individual characteristics are important factors influencing the effectiveness of health communication about physical activity promotion plans. However, the relationship has not been largely unexplored. The purpose of this study was to examine differences in health communication effectiveness and its neural activity in individuals with different levels of physical activity under gain- and loss-framed using fNIRS and a computerized laboratory task test. The study design was a crossover design. Twenty-four people with low level of physical activity (mean age 18.42 ± 1.47 years, 13 males) and twenty-three people with high level of physical activity participated (mean age 22.22 ± 2.86 years, 11 males) in health communication under two experimental conditions: gain- and loss-framed messages. The Persuasive impacts of framed messages were measured by knowledge, attitude, and intention to engage in physical activity after participating in the health communication. fNIRS was used to measure activation in the prefrontal cortex. Analyses focused on both the mPFC and dlPFC regions, examining differences in HbO levels as a function of message framing and physical activity. To this end, a multifactor repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was employed. Participants’ knowledge[F(1, 45) = 53.40, p < 0.001, η2 p = 0.543], attitude[F(1, 45) = 12.98, p < 0.001, η2 p = 0.224], and intention[F(1, 45) = 5.20, p = 0.027, η2 p = 0.104] increased more significantly after exposure to the loss-framed message compared to the gain-framed message. Additionally, there was a significant interaction between the two groups[F(1, 45) = 8.53, p = 0.005, η2 p = 0.159]. The fNIRS results indicated that physical activity messages elicited significant positive activation (p < 0.06) in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC). There was a significant relationship (CH36: r = 0.395, p = 0.006) between the effectiveness of message framing and activation of the right dlPFC. Health communication in loss-framed messages is more effective than gain-framed, especially for individuals with low level of physical activity. The prefrontal cortex (mPFC and dlPFC) is involved in the cognitive function of health communication. The right dlPFC is the area of loss-framed messages and may be able to predict the effectiveness of health communication.
Grounded in Meaning-Making Theory and the Broaden-and-Build Theory, this study investigated the psychological mechanisms linking loneliness to university students’ attitudes toward generative artificial intelligence (GenAI). Specifically, it examined the mediating role of meaning in life and the moderating role of academic engagement, with a further exploration of gender differences. A total of 1,651 Chinese university students (mean age = 20.41, SD = 2.62) from 26 provinces participated in the study through convenience sampling. Participants completed validated self-report measures of loneliness, meaning in life, academic engagement, and attitudes toward GenAI. Latent moderated structural equation modeling (LMS) was used to test the proposed model. Results indicated that loneliness negatively predicted attitudes toward GenAI, with meaning in life serving as a significant mediator. Academic engagement moderated the first stage of mediation: the negative impact of loneliness on meaning in life was stronger among students with higher levels of academic engagement. Gender-based analysis revealed that the mediating effect was full among males but partial among females. These findings highlight the psychological and gendered pathways through which loneliness influences GenAI attitudes, emphasizing the importance of fostering meaning in life and academic engagement in educational and psychological interventions.
