Athletes’ Perceptions of Positive Development Resulting from Canadian Intercollegiate Sport: A Content Analysis

Governing bodies of university sport have adopted more holistic approaches to the development of their athletes (Canadian Interuniversity Sport, 2013; NCAA, 2015). To our knowledge, there has been little empirical effort made to describe and assess positive development in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) context. In this study, we qualitatively examined positive development outcomes associated with athletes’ participation in CIS sport programs. We conducted semi-structured open-ended interviews with 15 student-athletes (5 male, 10 female; Mage = 22, range = 17-26). To analyze the data, we performed a deductive content analysis (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005) using positive development categories found within the Youth Experience Survey (YES 2.0; Hansen & Larson, 2005). Athletes discussed positive developmental outcomes consistent with all YES categories. Our results suggest university sport programs offer rich opportunities for developing skills, qualities, experiences, and relationships needed to become functioning members in our society

Insights on the Process of Using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis in a Sport Coaching Research Project

Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) is a qualitative research methodology used to understand participants’ subjective realities through personal interpretations of their lived experiences and the meanings they attach to these experiences (Smith, 2011). IPA has been used predominantly in health psychology, with rising interest within the field of sport psychology and coaching. This article seeks to describe insights about the processes of IPA by a research team using the methodological approach for the first time. These experiences are shared against the backdrop of research exploring the lived experiences of Masters athletes within the context of coached competitive swim programs. We describe how the multiple facets of IPA influence the refinement of the research question, the planning and implementation of data collection, and data analysis and interpretation. We elaborate on our perceptions of the complexities of IPA and make recommendations for how future research teams might smoothly navigate the rigorous research process to yield rich in-depth data and interpretations

Exploring the Context of Coached Masters Swim Programs: A Narrative Approach

Knowing the psychosocial themes in a specific sport context allows us to understand athletes’ experiences and informs approaches of coaches (Côté et al., 1995) and sport programmers (Danish et al., 2005). Few qualitative studies focus on psychosocial conditions of adult athletes in coached sport settings. The purpose of this study was to capture important psychosocial themes from the perspective of Masters swimmers involved in day-to-day coached swimming environments. Data were collected using semi-structured open-ended interviews with 10 competitive swimmers (5 male, 5 female; M age = 53 years; range: 45-65 years). Analyses revealed four over-arching themes that represented athletes’ a) motives for swimming, b) perspectives on competition, c) experiences specific to being a Masters swimmer, and d) perspectives on being coached. Using a qualitative narrative approach (Denison, 2011), we developed three narrative profiles to depict how our Masters swimmers had different experiences relating to these themes. Discussion focuses on how swimmers’ understanding of the four over-arching themes depends on their profile

El papel de los entrenadores brasileños para facilitar el desarrollo positivo a través del deporte universitario

In recent years, the role of coaches in fostering Positive Development (PD) has been explored within the context of university sport. However, research in non-English speaking countries such as Brazil, which is highly representative of university sport in Latin America, is still scarce. The purpose of this study was to analyze Brazilian coaches' perceptions of their role in facilitating PD within university sport. In total, 16 university coaches from all regions of Brazil were interviewed (14 male and 2 female). Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. Findings showed that coaches perceived university sport as a conducive platform for fostering both performance and PD outcomes. However, the coaches found it difficult to articulate PD strategies and identified challenges such as lack of time and organizational support. The present study suggests that PD is not well integrated within the current model of university sport in Brazil and highlights a potential need for PD-focused coach education programs.En los últimos años, se ha explorado el papel de los entrenadores en el fomento del desarrollo positivo (DP) en el contexto del deporte universitario. Sin embargo, la investigación en países que no hablan inglés como Brasil, que es altamente representativo del deporte universitario en América Latina, aún es escasa. El propósito de este estudio fue analizar las percepciones de los entrenadores brasileños sobre su papel en la facilitación del DP dentro del deporte universitario. En total, fueran entrevistados16 entrenadores universitarios (14 hombres y 2 mujeres) de todas las regiones de Brasil. Los datos fueron recolectados a través de entrevistas semiestructuradas. Los resultados mostraron que los entrenadores percibían el deporte universitario como una plataforma propicia para fomentar tanto el rendimiento como el DP. Sin embargo, a los entrenadores les resultó difícil articular estrategias de DP e identificaron desafíos como la falta de tiempo y el apoyo organizacional. El presente estudio sugiere que lo DP no está bien integrada en el modelo actual del deporte universitario en Brasil y destaca la necesidad potencial de programas de educación para el entrenador centrados en DP.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Analyzing continuous coach education courses in Portugal: Implications for youth development

Continuous coach education courses (CCEC) are considered a crucial vehicle for exposing coaches to topics (e.g., nutrition, mental health, positive youth development) not addressed in their initial coach training. CCEC can help coaches develop well-rounded coaching practices based on youth's physical, social, emotional, and psychological needs. The purpose of the study was to analyze the distribution of CCEC offered in Portugal between 2014 and 2020. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze (a) the number of CCEC offered; (b) hours devoted to each topic; (c) the types of organizations who delivered CCEC; (e) the format of CCEC (i.e., online or in-person); (f) the geographical distribution of CCEC throughout Portugal; (g) the number of coach participants per topic. The results indicate that courses addressing mental health, social justice, positive youth development, and sleep hygiene are seldomly delivered in Portugal, meaning that coaches have few opportunities to be exposed to and learn about these important topics. Thus, our results suggest CCEC in Portugal may not be extending coaches’ knowledge much beyond topics covered in their initial coach training. The lack of breadth in training may help perpetuate the emphasis on the technical, tactical, and physical development of youth with the Portuguese youth sport system. Based on the results, implications for youth development are offered

Gender equality predicts leisure-time physical activity: benefits for both sexes across 34 countries

Although countries’ gender equality is associated with important health outcomes, especially for females, it remains unclear whether gender equality is associated with leisure-time physical activity (LTPA). Data from 34 countries was acquired from the International Social Survey Program, the Pew Research Forum, the United Nations, and the World Bank. Separate analyses were conducted for 21,502 males and 26,652 females. Hierarchal nonlinear Bernoulli modeling was used to examine the association between gender equality and participation in LTPA. Both males and females residing in countries’ with higher gender equality were more likely (twice and three times more likely, respectively) to report weekly LTPA than those residing in countries characterized by low gender equality. These effects persisted even when controlling for individual (i.e. age, education) and country-level (i.e. population, gross domestic product) covariates. However, significant variation in LTPA persisted at the country level, suggesting the need for further research. These findings provide novel evidence that both males and females benefit from gender equality. To explain these findings, we hypothesize that increased gender equality decreases the average number of offspring and, in turn, allows mothers more time for leisure, and to invest more resources in both male and female offspring, which may increase LTPA

Gender equality predicts leisure-time physical activity: Benefits for both sexes across 34 countries

Abstract: Although countries' gender equality is associated with important health outcomes, especially for females, it remains unclear whether gender equality is associated with leisure-time physical activity (LTPA). Data from 34 countries was acquired from the International Social Survey Program, the Pew Research Forum, the United Nations, and the World Bank. Separate analyses were conducted for 21,502 males and 26,652 females. Hierarchal nonlinear Bernoulli modeling was used to examine the association between gender equality and participation in LTPA. Both males and females residing in countries' with higher gender equality were more likely (twice and three times more likely, respectively) to report weekly LTPA than those residing in countries characterized by low gender equality. These effects persisted even when controlling for individual (i.e. age, education) and country-level (i.e. population, gross domestic product) covariates. However, significant variation in LTPA persisted at the country level, suggesting the need for further research. These findings provide novel evidence that both males and females benefit from gender equality. To explain these findings, we hypothesize that increased gender equality decreases the average number of offspring and, in turn, allows mothers more time for leisure, and to invest more resources in both male and female offspring, which may increase LTPA

Animating inter-organisational resilience communication: a participatory social network analysis of water governance in the UK

open access articleResilience as a concept and resilience assessment as a practice are being explored across a range of social, ecological and technical systems. In this paper, we propose a new method and visualisation approach for interrogating the communication of resilience within organisational networks, using participatory social network analysis and message passing. Through an examination of the UK water sector organisational network, represented by multiple co-produced network graphs, we identify organisations having a key role in the communication of resilience regulatory and evidence messages, as well as highlighting the potential role of complexity tools in strategy formulation. Animations are presented showing the dynamics of resilience communication, which is discussed. Reflections on the use of participatory social network analysis are explored, as the method opens new doors to potentially examine how network changes could alter communication. Key insights highlight that perceived responsibilities for resilience in the UK water sector rest with a small core of organisations; water customers play a limited role in the two-way communication of resilience and water sector organisations do not communicate widely on resilience with other sectors (such as energy). Additionally, who an organisations’ neighbours are and what catalyses a message to be passed are important in determining how quickly messages spread. Results lead to a recommendation that high level governmental and policy organisations should engage to a greater extent with new resilience knowledge and consider the use of complexity tools in policy making. Policy in relation to resilience is not keeping pace with such knowledge, limiting the communication and learning of organisations who ardently follow policy and regulation. For inter-organisational cooperation to make a difference to water governance, such organisations need to be encouraged to communicate and embed the latest approaches in relation to resilience and complexity thinking and practice

High school student-athletes’ perceptions and experiences of leadership as a life skill

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to gain student-athlete perceptions of: (1) the definition of leadership for high school student-athletes; (2) the process of leadership development in high school sport; and (3) the factors that have helped or hindered leadership transfer between high school sport and other life domains. Design: This study was grounded in an interpretivist ontological perspective and used focus group interviews to gather insights of student-athletes’ leadership experiences. Method: Purposeful sampling identified 33 high-school student-athlete leaders who were members of student advisory councils for high school state athletic associations in the United States. The 15 females and 18 males participated in focus-group interviews. Reflexive thematic analysis of the interview data was then conducted. Results: Results revealed that student-athlete leadership was viewed as a skill-set and a mindset, driven by individual agency. As an on-going developmental process, student-athletes gained awareness of leadership skills, increased self-expectations and self-confidence in their use and application of leadership skills, and developed a transformational leadership mindset, as they encountered and engaged with critical learning opportunities in high school sport and gained support from coaches and peers. Leadership application outside of sport was a multidimensional psychological process, including both conscious and implicit elements, and facilitated or constrained by environmental opportunities and social influences. Conclusions: High school sport offers a unique context where self-agentic youth leadership development in sport and life can occur through experiential learning opportunities. To this point, future research directions and recommendations for practitioners will be provided

Levels and Prevalence of Mental Health Functioning in Canadian University Student-Athletes

We examined the level and prevalence of mental health functioning (MHF) in intercollegiate student-athletes from 30 Canadian universities, and the impact of time of year, gender, alcohol use, living situation, year of study, and type of sport on MHF. An online survey completed in November 2015 (N = 388) and March 2016 (n = 110) revealed that overall, MHF levels were moderate to high, and more student-athletes were flourishing than languishing. MHF levels did not significantly differ across time based on gender, alcohol use, living situation, year of study, and type of sport. Eighteen percent reported a previous mental illness diagnosis and yet maintained moderate MHF across time. These findings support Keyes’ (2002) dual-continua model, suggesting that the presence of mental illness does not automatically imply low levels of well-being and languishing. Nonetheless, those without a previous diagnosis were 3.18 times more likely to be flourishing at Time 1 (November 2015).  Nous avons étudié la santé mentale d’étudiants athlètes provenant de 30 universités canadiennes, ainsi que l’influence des variables suivantes : temps de l’année, sexe, consommation d’alcool, condition de logement, année d’étude, et type de sport. Un questionnaire en ligne complété aux mois de novembre 2015 (N = 388) et mars 2016 (n = 110) a révélé que la santé mentale des participants variait d’un niveau moyen à élevé et n’était pas influencée par les autres variables. Un plus grand nombre de participants s’épanouissaient comparativement à ceux qui languissaient. Les participants rapportant un diagnostic de trouble mental (18%) maintenaient tout de même un niveau modéré de santé mentale à travers le temps, suggérant que la présence d’une maladie mentale n’implique pas nécessairement un niveau de bien-être inférieur (Keyes, 2002). Toutefois, les étudiants athlètes sans diagnostic antérieur étaient plus aptes (3.18 fois) à s’épanouir au temps 1 de l’étude (novembre 2015)