Humphreys, Terry

Positive coaching techniques are gaining prominence in the sport of Gymnastics. Coaches are focusing on positive reinforcement, encouragement, and constructive feedback rather than relying solely on traditional, more authoritarian coaching methods. Furthermore, technology is being used to enhance coach-athlete relationships. Video analysis tools and performance tracking software allow for more detailed feedback and communication between coaches and gymnasts. Previous research has shown that sensory feedback, and physical cues and guidance impact both motor learning and motor skill performance. Spotting is a form of physical guidance (touch) that may be used by gymnastics coaches during both the learning phase of a skill and during performance, even after mastery. This research has examined whether and how spotting with touch influences the athlete's skill performance and confidence. The current study explored how spotting affects both skill performance and self-confidence of participants as they performed a basic skill (a backward jump onto a specified target) they have already mastered. We asked Intermediate-level gymnasts to perform a backward jump from height under two levels of landing difficulty, while being spotted with and without touch. Their confidence was measured in each condition using a brief survey. The timing, accuracy and precision of their landing was measured from video recordings of their performance. We evaluated the relationship between touch and skill performance to determine if it is affected by athlete self-confidence. It was hypothesized that physical guidance in the form of spot with touch would improve the accuracy and precision of the jump landing and that athletes would report higher levels of self-confidence in the touch versus no touch condition. We found no significant differences in skill performance and landing stability as assessed by rate of force development and peak force. We found that participants reported significantly higher levels of self-confidence when receiving spot with touch in the easy landing condition.

Author Keywords: gymnastics, physical guidance, self-confidence, skill performance, spotting, touch

Pharmacological cognitive enhancement is the use of prescription drugs to improve cognitive functioning in healthy individuals. Multiple ethical concerns have been raised by such use. The purpose of this project was to develop a reliable and valid measure to assess public attitudes about this issue. Participants were university students in Studies 1 (N = 465), 2 (N = 580) and 3 (N = 156). In Study 1 principal components analysis reduced the 90-item Attitudes Toward Pharmacological Cognitive Enhancement Scale to 42 items that loaded onto four components: Cheating/Unfairness, Motivation, Expected Benefits and Safety. Subscale scores differentiated users and nonusers. In Study 2 confirmatory factor analyses supported the model and statistically significant associations were found with related constructs such as attitudes toward performance-enhancing drugs, and prescription drug expectancies. In Study 3 test-retest reliability over a 3-week interval was above .70 for 3 of 4 subscales. Implications and future directions are discussed.

Author Keywords: attitudes, cognitive enhancement, nonmedical use of prescription drugs, scale development, smart drugs

Sexual agency is receiving more attention in sexuality research though its contribution to sexual well-being has yet to be determined. Sexual agency has been theorized as an overarching concept comprised of both internal and external components. Both feelings and behaviours in the sexual domain can be impacted by prevalent culturally prescribed sexual scripts. The present study assessed sexual assertiveness, sexual self-concept, and comfort in sexual communication (i.e., together conceptualized as sexual agency) to determine if greater levels of these indices led to more direct consent communication, more intrinsic motivations for engaging in sex, and more positive sexual evaluations. Analyses were run separately on two samples: a student and community participant pool. Results indicate that greater sexual agency predicts being more intrinsically driven to engage in sex, using more direct consent communication, and reporting more positive evaluations of one's most recent sexual encounter. Gendered analyses reveal that cismen and ciswomen have similar levels of sexual agency, and rate their encounters similarly. Having greater sexual agency was a better predictor of experiencing sexual well-being compared to gender. Implications for policy development and sexual education curriculum reform are discussed, and future research directions are suggested.

Author Keywords: Sexual Agency, Sexual Consent, Sexual Motivations, Sexual Regret, Sexual Well-being

Authenticity has been demonstrated as an important factor in relationships and sexual health (Impett et al., 2006; Impett, Breines, & Strachman, 2010). Although authentic behaviour is generally beneficial, sharing our true thoughts, feelings, and desires may be especially difficult in sexual contexts. Existing research has demonstrated that individuals find sexual communication awkward, uncomfortable, and embarrassing and may avoid such discussions overall (Shumlich & Fisher, 2020). Despite the evidence that behaving authentically in sexual contexts is uniquely challenging, research has yet to explore sexual authenticity. A primary objective of this study was to develop a measure to assess individuals' level of sexual authenticity. Study 1 involved performing several exploratory factor analyses on the 23 proposed items, which yielded a 15-item scale that loaded onto three factors: 1) Honest Sexual Communication, 2) Sexual Placating, and 3) Sexual Self-Doubt. These subscales were statistically associated with related constructs such as relationship authenticity, honesty, and sexual deception. In Study 2, confirmatory factor analyses were conducted on two independent samples which provided additional support for the model and evidence for generalizability for the scale. The resulting Sexual Authenticity Scale was then leveraged to examine the relationships between sexual authenticity and its proposed benefits. Overall, sexual authenticity was found to be associated with enhanced sexual communication, sexual consent behaviours, and higher sexual and relationship satisfaction.

Author Keywords: authenticity, relationship satisfaction, sexual authenticity, sexual communication, sexual consent, sexual satisfaction

Past research has examined the influence of cultural scripts on our first coital experience, but the impact of virginity scripts on precoital sexual behaviour remains unknown. The purpose of this study sought to examine the link between Carpenter's (2001) cognitive frameworks of virginity and precoital sexual behaviour. Two hundred and forty eight participants (32 men, 215 women, and one unknown) were recruited from a Canadian university, all of whom had experienced precoital behaviour and first sexual intercourse. The findings indicated that past precoital behaviour and coital behaviour with first sexual partner had different relationship patterns with respect to virginity scripts. Virginity scripts were also related to current sexual sensation seeking, motivation for erotic arousal, sexual compatibility, comfort with sexuality, and approach to sexual relationships.

Author Keywords: precoital sexual behaviour, sexual scripts, virginity frameworks, virginity loss

It has been proposed that individuals often form a romantic attachment to their sexual partners. However, there is little understanding of the role of sexual behaviours in an attachment relationship. This study aims to explore the effect of attachment representations on sexual behaviours during foreplay, intercourse, and afterplay. In two studies, individuals (N = 478) and couples (N = 50) completed self-reported measures of attachment, sexual behaviours, and sexual satisfaction. As expected, security predicted various behaviours during each part of a sexual encounter and greater sexual satisfaction. Insecurity (preoccupied, dismissing, and fearful attachment) predicted engagement in post-coital behaviours – bonding efforts as well as seeking extrinsic rewards and experiencing body worries. Fearful attachment predicted less sexual satisfaction, while preoccupied attachment unexpectedly predicted greater sexual satisfaction. These findings provide support for the associations between individual attachment styles and sexual behaviours and suggest the implications of sexual behaviours on intimate needs within relationships.

Author Keywords: afterplay, attachment, foreplay, relationships, sexuality, sexual satisfaction

While there is substantial research on the influence of adverse childhood experiences on sexual offending behaviours and attachment representations on sexual offending behaviours, few studies to date have explored how adverse childhood experiences and attachment representations act together to influence the development of rape attitudes in a non-clinical population. The purpose of this thesis was to explore how childhood experiences and attachment may help to understand the development of rape attitudes. Data were collected from 273 undergraduate students who completed self-report questionnaires pertaining to their attachment, childhood experiences and rape attitudes. Correlational and Structural Equation analyses were computed, and the results did not find support for the simultaneous influence of adverse childhood experiences and attachment representations on rape attitudes. Given that the sample was primarily female (83%), the results indicate that the outcomes of adverse childhood experiences on sexual attitudes may differ by gender. Understanding the formation of rape attitudes is important to understand the motivations behind sexual assault behaviours.

Author Keywords: adverse childhood experiences, rape attitudes

The risks and benefits of sexting within an intimate relationship were explored. The present study focused on sexual gratification, relationship benefits, and sexual communication as benefits and risky sexual behaviour, unethical forwarding, and infidelity as risks. A cross-sectional online survey of both undergraduate students and a community sample was used. Results indicated that sexual gratification, relationship benefits (sexual and relationship satisfaction, relationship quality, and commitment), and sexual communication are related to sexting. It appears that risky sexual behaviour is not associated with sexting, instead those who sext frequently engage in more safer sex behaviours than those who sext infrequently. Unethical forwarding does not appear to happen very often in the context of intimate relationships. Lastly, the current research indicates that some participants are sexting secondary partners, and many consider sexting secondary partners infidelity. These results show that there are both risks and benefits of sexting, which can be used to develop sext education and therapeutic programs.

Author Keywords: infidelity, relationship benefits, Sexting, sexual behaviour, sexual communication, sexual gratification

The purpose of the current study was to explore the relationships between sexting, perceptions of sexual consent, and nonconsensual sexual experiences (NSEs). Participants consisted of 100 community members and 851 undergraduate students enrolled at Trent University. It was found that males were more likely than females to interpret ambiguous sexual scenarios as consensual, but consent perceptions were not influenced by sexting. When examining past personal experiences, males interpreted received sext messages as an indicator of consent significantly more than females, while females were more likely to interpret received messages as more harassing. NSEs were significantly related to sexting behaviours: those who engage in sexting were more likely to also have experienced a NSE, and 20.5% of participants in the current study reported having experienced a NSE with a consensual sexting partner. The current study has important implications for the future of sexting research, practice, and policy.

Author Keywords: nonconsensual sexual experiences, sexting, sexual assault, sexual consent, sexual harassment

Sexting was explored in relation to cohabitation status, general and sexual communication, as well as the anxious and avoidant dimensions of attachment. The present study was focused the distinction between lifetime and recent sexting, in an attempt to more accurately assess the relationships between the examined factors and sexting behaviours. Individuals in long-distance relationships were more likely to report recently sexting and engaged more frequently than those in cohabitating relationships, but did not differ in their levels of sexual satisfaction. Recent sexters reported higher levels of sexual communication compared to lifetime sexters, and sexual communication was positively, though weakly, correlated with sexting frequency. The present study was unable to support a predictive relationship between recent sexting and levels of attachment anxiety or avoidance. These results highlight the importance of exploring the context in which sexting occurs, as well as distinguishing between lifetime and recent sexters in future sexting research.

Author Keywords: Attachment, Long Distance Relationship, Recent Sexting, Satisfaction, Sexting, Sexual Communication