Development of a Cohesion Questionnaire for Youth: The Youth Sport Environment Questionnaire

The purpose of the current study was to initiate the development of a psychometrically sound measure of cohesion for youth sport groups. A series of projects were undertaken in a four-phase research program. The initial phase was designed to garner an understanding of how youth sport group members perceived the concept of cohesion through focus groups (n = 56), open-ended questionnaires (n = 280), and a literature review. In Phase 2, information from the initial projects was used in the development of 142 potential items and content validity was assessed. In Phase 3, 227 participants completed a revised 87-item questionnaire. Principal components analyses further reduced the number of items to 17 and suggested a two-factor structure (i.e., task and social cohesion dimensions). Finally, support for the factorial validity of the resultant questionnaire was provided through confirmatory factor analyses with an independent sample (n = 352) in Phase 4. The final version of the questionnaire contains 16 items that assess task and social cohesion in addition to 2 negatively worded spurious items. Specific issues related to assessing youth perceptions of cohesion are discussed and future research directions are suggested

The Relationship Between Task Cohesion and Competitive State Anxiety

The general purpose of the present study was to determine if perceptions of team cohesion are related to the interpretation athletes attach to their precompetition anxiety. Specifically examined was the association between athlete perceptions of task cohesiveness (Individual Attractions to the Group–Task, ATG-T, and Group Integration–Task, GI-T) and the degree to which perceptions of the intensity of precompetition anxiety symptoms (cognitive and somatic) were viewed as facilitative versus debilitative. Participants were athletes (N = 392) from the sports of soccer, rugby, and field hockey. Each athlete completed the Group Environment Questionnaire (Carron, Widmeyer, & Brawley, 1985) after a practice session. A directionally modified version of the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (Martens, Burton, Vealey, Bump, & Smith, 1990) was completed just prior to a competition. Results showed that athletes who perceived their cognitive anxiety as facilitative had higher perceptions of both ATG-T and GI-T, χ2 (2, N = 260) = 8.96, p \u3c .05, than athletes who perceived their cognitive anxiety as debilitative. Also, athletes who perceived their somatic anxiety as facilitative had higher perceptions of GI-T, χ2 (2, N = 249) = 5.85, p \u3c .05

Children’s Perceptions of Cohesion

The general purpose of the two studies reported here was to examine perceptions of team cohesiveness in children aged 9 to 12 years. In Study 1, focus groups were used to examine individual perceptions of cohesion from the perspective of group integration—the group as a totality. In Study 2, open-ended questionnaires were used to examine individual perceptions of cohesion from the perspective of individual attractions to the group. The results showed that children as young as nine years understand the phenomenon known as cohesion. They can discuss the group as a totality, the characteristics of cohesive and non-cohesive teams, and identify the major factors attracting them to and maintaining their involvement in the group. Also, the ability to clearly distinguish between task and social cohesion is present. The results provide insight into the world of child sport and emphasise the importance of group cohesion, affiliation, and other social constructs in children’s involvement and adherence to sport groups

Item Wording and Internal Consistency of a Measure of Cohesion: The Group Environment Questionnaire

A common practice for counteracting response acquiescence in psychological measures has been to employ both negatively and positively worded items. However, previous research has highlighted that the reliability of measures can be affected by this practice (Spector, 1992). The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect that the presence of negatively worded items has on the internal reliability of the Group Environment Questionnaire (GEQ). Two samples (N = 276) were utilized, and participants were asked to complete the GEQ (original and revised) on separate occasions. Results demonstrated that the revised questionnaire (containing all positively worded items) had significantly higher Cronbach α values for three of the four dimensions of the GEQ. Implications, alternatives, and future directions are discussed

Role Ambiguity in Sport Teams

The general purpose of the present study was to examine the nature of role ambiguity in sport teams and to explore the construct validity of the operational definition of role ambiguity developed by Beauchamp, Bray, Eys, and Carron (2002). Role ambiguity was operationalized as a multidimensional construct (Scope of Responsibilities, Behavioral Responsibilities, Evaluation of Performance, and Consequences of Not Fulfilling Responsibilities) that occurs in two contexts, offense and defense. Consistent with the a priori hypothesis, perceptions of role ambiguity exhibited some degree of within-group consistency and group-level variability, but most of the variance in role ambiguity was seen at the individual level. Also, perceptions of role ambiguity decreased from early to late season. Finally, veteran athletes experienced less role ambiguity than first-year athletes at the beginning of the season, but not at the end. Implications of the findings and suggestions for future research are discussed

The Effect of Role Ambiguity on Competitive State Anxiety

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between role ambiguity and precompetition state anxiety (A-state). Consistent with multidimensional anxiety theory (Martens, Vealey, & Burton, 1990), it was hypothesized that role ambiguity would be positively related to cognitive but not to somatic A-state. Based on the conceptual model presented by Beauchamp, Bray, Eys, and Carron (2002), role ambiguity in sport was operationalized as a multidimensional construct (i.e., scope of responsibilities, role behaviors, role evaluation, and role consequences) potentially manifested in each of two contexts, offense and defense. Consistent with hypotheses, ambiguity in terms of the scope of offensive role responsibilities predicted cognitive A-state (R2 = .19). However, contrary to hypotheses, offensive role-consequences ambiguity also predicted somatic A-state (R2 = .09). Results highlight the importance of using a multidimensional approach to investigate role ambiguity in sport and are discussed in terms of both theory advancement and possible interventions

Group versus individual approach? A meta-analysis of the effectiveness of interventions to promote physical activity

The purpose of the study was to conduct a meta-analysis to empirically compare the relative merits of different contexts typically employed in the physical activity intervention literature for five categories of outcomes: adherence, social interaction, quality of life, physiological effectiveness, and functional effectiveness. \ud Four contexts were examined: home-based programmes not involving contact from researchers or health-care professionals, home-based programmes that involved some contact, standard exercise classes, and exercise classes where group-dynamics principles were used to increase cohesiveness (‘true groups’). Standard literature searches produced 44 relevant studies containing 214 effect sizes. Results revealed a common trend across dependent variables; exercising in a true group was superior to exercising in a standard exercise class, which in turn, did not differ from exercising at home with contact. Furthermore, exercising at home with contact was superior to exercising at home without contact. These results have implications for practitioners in terms of the importance of contact and social support in physical activity interventions

Perceptions of Cohesion by Youth Sport Participants

Cohesion is an important small group variable within sport. However, the conceptualization and examination of cohesion have predominately been oriented toward adult populations. The purpose of the current study was to garner an understanding of what cohesion means to youth sport participants. Fifty-six team sport athletes (M age = 15.63 ± 1.01 years) from two secondary schools took part in focus groups designed to understand participants’ perceptions of (a) the definition of cohesion and indicators of cohesive and noncohesive groups and (b) methods used to attempt to develop cohesion in their groups. Overall, the responses to part (a) yielded 10 categories reflecting a group’s task cohesion and 7 categories reflecting a group’s social cohesion. Finally, participants highlighted eight general methods through which their groups developed cohesion. Results are discussed in relation to a current conceptualization of cohesion and affiliation considerations within a youth sport environment