Positive youth development and observed athlete behavior in recreational sport

Middle Childhood Sport Participation Predicts Timely Long-Term Chances of Academic Success in Boys and Girls by Late Adolescence

INTRODUCTION

School-aged children experience successive academic demands that increase over time. Extracurricular sport develops skills that involve physical movement, social rules, formal practice, and rational competition. This may facilitate success.

PURPOSE

Using a prospective-longitudinal birth cohort of 746 girls/721 boys, we examined prospective associations between middle childhood sport participation with subsequent indicators of academic success in adolescence. We hypothesized that persistent participation would promote long-term achievement indicators.

METHODS

Mothers reported on whether the child participated in sporting activities with a coach/instructor from ages 6 to 10 yr. Developmental trajectories of participation were generated using longitudinal latent class analysis and then used to predict outcomes. From ages 12 to 17 yr, youth self-reported on academic indicators of success over the last 6 months. These were linearly regressed on trajectories of participation in sport, while controlling for preexisting and concurrent child/family confounds.

RESULTS

Children's sport participation from kindergarten to fourth grade predicted long-term chances of academic success in boys and girls, above and beyond individual/family confounders. Consistent participation predicted increments indicators of future success and reductions in academic failure and dropout risk through to the senior year of secondary school, ranging from 9.1% to 21.3% for girls and 11.7% to 22.9% for boys.

CONCLUSIONS

We provide compelling and timely evidence of long-term associations between children's sport participation and subsequent indicators of academic success in typically developing boys and girls by late adolescence. Persistent sport involvement in sport increased educational prospects by late adolescence, potentially improving opportunities for success in emerging adulthood.

Delivering project SCORE in competitive youth sport settings

Introduction

This study evaluates the effectiveness of the Project SCORE intervention in fostering Positive Youth Development (PYD) within competitive youth sport settings in Portugal. Project SCORE is an online PYD-focused tool developed to assist coaches in promoting the 4Cs-competence, confidence, connection, and character-within their coaching.

Methods

The research involved 13 coaches and 70 youth athletes from football and rowing teams. Methodologically, this study analyzed the pre- and post- Project SCORE intervention data, assessing the perceptions of coaches and athletes towards the development of the 4Cs.

Results

Results indicated significant improvements in athletes' perceptions of 4Cs post-intervention, and among coaches' perceptions, there was a significant improvement in the practice and transfer of life skills. Particularly, coaches showed enhanced abilities in fostering life skills and facilitating the transfer of these skills to competitive environments, although some dimensions like sport climate did not sustain positive changes.

Discussion

The findings highlight the benefits of customized PYD-based programs in competitive youth sports and suggest the need for further research to enhance their widespread and consistent implementation.

Physical Activity and Social Behaviors of Incarcerated Youth Participating in a Sport-Leadership Program

Research illustrates that participation in physical activity is advantageous to overall health. Incarcerated populations are one subset that would benefit most from consistent engagement in physical activity, yet little is known about programs created to fulfill this need. The purpose of this study was to determine activity levels and social behaviors of incarcerated adolescent males during a structured sport-leadership program. Participants were 23 incarcerated males. The System for Observing Children's Activity and Relationships during Play was employed to evaluate activity and social behaviors. A major finding of this study demonstrated that incarcerated youth engaged in moderate to vigorous physical activity for a large portion of the sport-leadership programming time (50.6%). In this study, prosocial (11.7%) and antisocial (7.1%) interactions mirrored those observed in residential summer camps, on playgrounds, and during recess.

The implementation and evaluation of an athlete leadership development program with male youth ice hockey players

The purpose of the current study was to implement and evaluate an athlete leadership development program in youth boys ice hockey. The sample consisted of 14 male U17 hockey players (M = 16.46, SD = 0.78) from one team playing in a competitive hockey league. The players participated in six leadership intervention workshops over the course of the season, and completed inventories measuring athlete leadership behaviours, cohesion, and collective efficacy pre-and post-intervention. In addition, a focus group was conducted to assess the impact of the athlete leadership development program at the end of the season. Bayesian t tests showed that the leadership program generally helped to maintain levels of athlete leadership behaviours, cohesion, and collective efficacy pre-and post-intervention. The results of the focus group following the intervention revealed the players believed the leadership development program helped buffer against the negative effects of their on-ice performances.

Interdisciplinary Work Is Essential for Research on Puberty: Complexity and Dynamism in Action

Puberty is associated with changes in behavior and psychosocial well-being, and is important in lifelong health. We present five different facets regarding interdisciplinary research that are important to puberty. A short history of philosophical issues instrumental in promoting early interdisciplinary research is first presented. We discuss then what is hard and what is easy about interdisciplinary research, the purpose of which is to alert scientists to challenges and opportunities for interdisciplinary research on puberty. Readers then are introduced to advances and obstacles in interdisciplinary research on development. Recommendations for tailoring graduate education toward interdisciplinarity are introduced. Finally, issues related to publication, education of scientists, and policy makers are described. The report concludes with a discussion of funding and policy issues.