Jeugdhulp en sport: : Samen voor een beter toekomstperspectief van kwetsbare jeugd

Ongeveer een op de tien mensen krijgt tijdens hun jeugd een vorm van jeugdhulp. Deze jongeren hebben te maken met een of meerdere uitdagingen die een gezonde toekomst in de weg staan. Denk bijvoorbeeld aan leer- of gedragsproblemen, een instabiele gezinssituatie of sociale druk van vrienden om het verkeerde pad op te gaan.Beleidsmakers en jeugdhulporganisaties proberen op verschillende manieren de ongelijkheid in toekomstperspectieven tussen jongeren te verkleinen. Steeds vaker denken zij daarbij aan de sportvereniging als een plek waar de genoemde sociaal kwetsbare jongeren zich positief kunnen ontwikkelen. Hoewel bekend is dat voor jeugd sportdeelname samenhangt met verschillende positieve uitkomsten (zie kader 1), is het onduidelijk of dit ook geldt voor kwetsbare jongeren. Wat betekent sportdeelname voor het toekomstperspectief van kwetsbare jongeren? Hoe geef je vorm aan een sportomgeving die kan bijdragen aan positieve sportervaringen? En wat is nodig voor een succesvolle samenwerking tussen jeugdhulporganisaties en sportverenigingen? Die vragen beantwoorden we in deze samenvatting van de bevindingen van vier jaar onderzoek naar jeugdhulp en sport

Exercise self-identity: interactions with social comparison and exercise behaviour

Possible interactions among exercise self-identity, social comparison and exercise behaviour were explored in a sample of 417 undergraduate students (Mean age¿=¿21.5, SD¿=¿3.0; 73% female). Two models were examined using self-report data; (1) a mediation model which proposed an association between social comparison and exercise behaviour mediated by exercise self-identity and (2) a moderation model proposing an association between exercise behaviour and self-identity moderated by social comparison. Results of the mediation analyses revealed partial mediation of the social comparison – exercise behaviour relationship by self-identity in females. Results of the moderation analyses revealed in males a significant interaction of social comparison with exercise behaviour in the prediction of self-identity – the positive association between exercise behaviour and exercise self-identity showed only significant among male students who believed to exercise equally much or less than peers. Possible explanations and implications for exercise promotion are discussed

The role of community sports coaches in creating optimal social conditions for life skill development and transferability - a salutogenic perspective

Sport is widely recognised as having the potential to enhance the personal development of socially vulnerable youth, yet there is very limited knowledge on how community sports coaches can create optimal social conditions for life skill development and transferability. We adopt a salutogenic approach in order to study whether and how community sports coaches create these optimal social conditions. Based on the salutogenic framework, a thematic analysis was conducted of 15 in-depth interviews with community sports coaches providing sports lessons to socially vulnerable youth. As part of the interviews, the sports coaches were presented with several training scenarios and asked how they would respond in specific training situations. The results showed that the sports coaches aimed to create meaningful sporting experiences for youths. These meaningful sporting experiences were considered a precondition for keeping youths engaged in the sporting activities, as well as a precondition for life skill development. The sports coaches specifically focused on creating little moments of success and on making sure that the youths felt they belonged to a group. In order to ensure that the youths could experience moments of success, specific coaching strategies were implemented to increase the youths’ comprehensibility and manageability in specific sport situations. According to the sports coaches, experiencing little moments of success could contribute to an increase in socially vulnerable youths’ understanding of the everyday challenges that they face, as well as contribute to their ability to deal with these challenges. Creating meaningful sporting experiences may help youths ‘to learn to cope' – a skill that could be beneficial over their lifespan and in different societal domains

Leisure time physical activity motives and smoking in adolescence

Objectives: The study aimed to gain a better understanding of the relationship between leisure time physical activity and smoking in adolescence by investigating adolescents' motives for participation in leisure time physical activity. Methods: The study involved cross-sectional and longitudinal data from a postal survey involving 16-22-year old Danes. The hypothesized associations were examined using hierarchical logistic regression analyses. Results: An inverse association between participating in leisure time physical activity and smoking was found. Participation in leisure time physical activity for friendship or competition reasons were conditions that strengthened the inverse association between physical activity and smoking in males. In contrast, participation for the reason of losing weight or gaining self-esteem appeared to weaken the inverse association among females, In addition, the motives enjoyment, health and, in females, friendships and stress relief were associated with less smoking irrespective of participation level, while the motives self-esteem, losing weight and, in males, friendships were unrelated or even positively related to smoking. Conclusions: The association between adolescents' leisure time physical activity and smoking behavior differs with the underlying motivation for the activity. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

The relationship between exercise schema and identity

This research examined the relationship between exercise-related schemas and identity and their unique contributions in predicting exercise-related cognitions and behaviour. Analyses were conducted on data from two studies that used the same measures of exercise schema and identity but differed on other measures; study 1 (time 1 N¿=¿173; time 2 N¿=¿110) included measures of strength of exercise intentions and strenuous, moderate, and mild exercise behaviour; study 2 (N¿=¿289) included instrumental and affective exercise attitudes and a different measure of intentions. Exerciser schematics scored significantly higher on role identity than the unschematic groups. Nonexerciser schematics scored significantly lower than the other groups on role identity. Schema and role identity each accounted for unique variance in the prediction of strength of intentions, instrumental attitudes, and affective attitudes. Follow-up analyses showed that, where schematics were generally high in role identity, exercise beliefs, and intentions, unschematics showed a positive linear relationship between role identity and strength of intentions. Role identity was a strong predictor of affective attitudes for schematics. This research provides valuable findings regarding the theoretical distinction between schema and identity in the exercise domain and can help inform future research and intervention

The power of regression to the mean: a social norm study revisited

This research follows up on a study by Schultz et al. (2007), in which the effect of a social norm intervention on energy consumption was examined. The present studies included control groups to examine whether social norm effects would persist beyond regression to the mean. Both studies had a 2 (baseline consumption: below mean versus above mean)¿×¿2 (message condition: no-message control versus norm message) design. Based on baseline fruit (Study 1) or unhealthy snack (Study 2) consumption, students were classified as above mean or below mean for consumption. One week later, half of the students in the above-mean and below-mean groups received normative feedback; control groups did not. Neither study showed an effect of norm messages on behavior relative to control, providing evidence for regression to the mean as an alternative explanation. Findings highlight the importance of control groups to distinguish social norm intervention effects from mere regression to the mean