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This chapter offers insight into Italian sociology of sport. It first describes the fragmented history from the 1990s to the present of a discipline that has never developed as a truly mature field in the academic environment, and then outlines some main areas of research strengths and outcomes. Four strands can be highlighted: fandom and organized soccer supporters (Ultras); changes in sport through the forces of television, new media, sponsorship, and globalization; hybridization of sport, mass media, and politics with Berlusconi’s entrance into the Italian political scene and the advent of the era of “football politics”; and lastly, the body, bodywork, formal/informal sport activities, and gym culture with a microsociological perspective. However, despite their sociological relevance, these topics have had no regular, substantial development. They constitute separate fields of knowledge appearing in the sociological landscape in conjunction with social alarms, mainly related to soccer violence, or the emergence of new mass sport events or trends. It is difficult to predict what the future will hold. There is currently emerging attention to new urban sports and some sporadic in-depth ethnographic investigations of sport in micro arenas, such as soccer pitches, fitness gyms, and dance schools. Otherwise, Italian sociology of sport is folded into physical education science and is only considered as a field of inquiry for physical health and wellbeing.

The physical health benefits of exercise are well established but there is also growing research evidence of links between physical activity and mental health benefits, including mood elevation, better cognitive functioning and improved self‐perception, self‐esteem and selfefficacy. Physical activity has also been shown to enhance the effectiveness of psychological therapies and to have a role in improving quality of life and symptom management for people with a wide range of mental health problems. Physical activity has a double benefit, since people with mental health problems are also at increased risk of a range of physical health problems, including cardiovascular disease, endocrine disorders and obesity. However referral to a physical activity specialist is rarely available in psychiatric settings. This paper gives two examples of how provision of physical activity facilities and programmes staffed by qualified specialists can contribute towards improving mental health and quality of life for people with mental health problems.

This chapter introduces the sociologically informed concept of cultural manspreading, which is used to critically examine how gender and power operate in relation to doping and image and performance enhancing drug (IPED) use. Though not exclusively, the chapter centres on the online doping context and how men and women in different forums navigate their doping lifestyles and identities. By focusing on the online doping context, the chapter brackets not only the focus on sport and fitness that has dominated much research, but also the physical dimension that have been at the heart of manspreading in public discourse. Thereby the concept is theorized for wider interpretations, including analysis of men dominating spatial, social and sexual aspects/domains of doping subcultures to the detriment of women or subordinate men. Though doping subcultures are steeped in a masculinity that prioritizes muscular masculinities and construct men as experts and sources of knowledge about doping, the chapter also illustrates how both men and women sometimes play into and challenge such patterns and gender dynamics. Indeed, at times, women's presence in different doping spaces can be a challenge to the default male position. Further, by introducing women-only doping forums the chapter argues that women can begin to debate and share their experiences uninterrupted, developing their own store of knowledge, and setting the female body and experience as default. This supports the idea of a gradual formation of a sis-science doping culture.

Sport participation is not exclusively determined by individual socio‐demographic factors (micro level) since infrastructure factors such as the availability of sport facilities and sport programmes (macro level) can also play a role in this regard. The purpose of this paper is to provide evidence for these determinants of sport participation using multi‐level analyses.

A survey among the resident population in the city of Munich was carried out in 2008 (n=11,715). Furthermore, secondary data on the available sport infrastructure in every urban district of Munich (n=25) were collected. Multi‐level analyses were conducted to find the micro and macro level determinants of sport participation.

The results show that aside from micro level factors, the availability of swimming pools and parks is especially important for residents’ sport activity. Moreover, sport activity in non‐profit sport clubs can be enhanced by both a good supply of sport programmes offered by sport clubs as well as a poor supply of programmes from commercial sport providers and the municipality.

Multi‐level analyses can be recommended for future research on sport participation. The use of GIS data would be fruitful in this regard.

It can be recommended that municipalities invest in the construction of swimming pools and parks.

The paper shows that multi‐level analyses are a relatively new method of analysis for research on sport participation and that they represent the most suitable approach for analysing multi‐level data.

The purpose of this study is to understand the linkage between everyday life activities with its various aspects of leisure and the leisure-related activities undertaken when traveling as a tourist. This comparison is based on information from individuals who take on both the roles of the everyday person and the traveling tourist. Moreover, as the study is based in the UAE, a multi-cultural country, leisure activities between local residents and expatriates living in UAE are contrasted as part of the investigation.

A newly modified International Social Survey Program about Leisure Time questionnaire was used in this study to define a comprehensive list of leisure activities. This was distributed to a sample of local residents and expats living in the UAE in 2015. Pearson χ² was used to understand the association between everyday leisure activities and travel leisure activities.

The results show statistically significant differences in everyday leisure activities between expats and Emirati nationals living in UAE. Moreover, a moderate (V = 0.21; p = 0.25) strength of associations between everyday activities and travel leisure activities was found in the overall sample of all UAE residents.

A non-probability sampling method was used to collect the data, and no general conclusions about the segments or the total population of residents can be made at this point. However, the sample size is sufficient to examine the proposed model and understand the differences between the two resident segments (Emirati nationals vs expats) and to compare the differences in behavior between everyday leisure and tourism-related leisure activities.

These findings are recommended for consideration by tourism authorities, holiday destination managers and trip organizers when targeting UAE residents, both Emirati nationals and expats.

As a relation between everyday activities and travel activities was confirmed, the typical tourism motivation assumption that people are traveling to escape the everyday should be reconsidered. In addition, a managerial conclusion is that Emirati nationals and expats should be considered as two distinct groups when devising, preparing and marketing the leisure activities for the market in the UAE.

The problem of separating tourism travel from everyday life, as the common perspective of the time, was to treat tourism simply as a temporary escape from everyday life. This research enters this same area and attempts to fill the academic gap and address this issue which, to our knowledge, no specific studies have investigated or exposed the relationship between common everyday leisure activities and special travel leisure activities.

This paper aims to explore factors impacting wearable fitness tracking (WFT) device continued usage intention from perspectives of technology attributes (autonomy benefits), health attributes (self-health management benefits, diet-control benefits and health self-efficacy), and consumer attributes (age, gender, technological innovativeness, symbolic benefits, social benefits and hedonic benefits).

The study integrates constructs from the technology acceptance theories and the health promotion model to develop the research model and hypothesis. The empirical analysis was conducted using data from 217 respondents from India. Logistic regression was used to identify factors that discriminate between groups with low and high continued usage intentions.

Results indicate higher continued usage intention for WFT devices is driven by perceived benefits-health, autonomy, social and hedonic, and individual characteristics-technological innovativeness and perceived health self-efficacy. Further, perceived symbolic benefits, diet control benefits, age, and gender does not discriminate between the groups with low and high continued usage intentions.

The results may be limited to the context of the sample and the factors considered. The study suggests future research areas.

The paper offers insights for marketers, governments, insurance firms, and related healthcare services on promoting higher usage of WFT devices to yield dual benefits of preventive healthcare and higher profitability.

The study extends existing research by examining factors across consumer, health, and technological domains in a single framework and adds to the limited research in the context of usage of WFT devices in developing countries.

The aim of this paper is to examine the impact of the health promoting school (HPS) on adolescent well‐being.

Data from the 2006 Health Behaviour in School‐aged Children: WHO‐collaborative Study in Scotland were analysed using multilevel linear regression analyses for outcome measures: happiness, confidence, life satisfaction, feeling left out, helplessness, multiple health complaints (MHC) and self‐rated health.

Particularly high proportions of both boys and girls reported high life satisfaction and no MHC. For the majority of outcomes, mean proportions of young people reporting positive well‐being were greater for schools that had or were working towards HPS status compared with those that did not. The odds of young people in a HPS never feeling left out were significantly greater than those in a school with no HPS status (OR=1.54, with 95 per cent CI (1.03, 2.29) for boys, OR=1.60 (1.03, 2.50) for girls). Similarly, among girls, the odds of never feeling helpless were also significantly greater (OR=1.57 (1.07, 2.16)). However, the odds of excellent health were lower for girls in a HPS (OR=0.60 (0.38, 0.95)).

The findings suggest that while achieving an atmosphere of inclusion in schools, the HPS may also have increased awareness of health among girls, but may not have had much influence on life satisfaction, confidence or happiness.

The mental well‐being of children and adolescents is a priority area for the World Health Organisation and the Scottish Government. This is a relatively new field with little research undertaken to date looking at the impact of HPS on mental well‐being.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to investigate the effects of the digitalization process on the demand and supply side in the sports world through the advent of mobile apps and online services, such as YouTube, which provide free (or almost) real fitness courses; and second, to investigate how technological innovation is managed in the sports sector.

Drawing on a survey research approach, this study collected 150 questionnaires from consumers in the North of Italy.

Based on a descriptive analysis of the data, the findings show that the digital channel becomes significant at an exponential rate and takes on a leading role in today’s era, especially among young people. However, the results also show that the traditional channel of use of the sports service (gyms/fitness centers) is privileged by consumers under the age of 35, even though there is a weak penetration of innovative tools offered by the innovation technology (mobile app and video tutorials on social networks such as YouTube) in the sports sector.

The study provides an exhaustive overview of academic literature on technology and innovation management, and provides the contact point between the physical and digital world in the sports sector, and adds a significant scholarly and practical value in the exercise at home perspective of consumers. This research also contributes to the discussion on the competitiveness between the two channels (physical and digital one) in the sports sector, thus giving rise to further research concerning the offer of the type of sports service.

This study is among the few that connect the technological advancements and management within the sports industry and provides the ground and theoretical basis for the scholar community to further build on.