After-school sport for children: Implications of a task-involving motivational climate

It could be argued that youth sport is one of the most pervasive and popular activities engaging girls and boys in their “free time ” in contemporary American society. Youth sports are those involving young people between the ages of 6 to 18 years that are adult organized and/or supervised. After-school youth sports encompass extracurricular (interscholastic) athletic activities, agency-sponsored community sports (e.g., Little League), club sports, and recreational sport programs organized by recreation departments. Less than 20 years ago, it was estimated that 25 million out of approximately 47 million youngsters participated in some type of organized/supervised youth sport in the United States. Today, participation estimates suggest that 47 million boys and girls (from what census data indicate to be a population of close to 52 million) have joined, at one point or another, an after-school sport program (Ewing & Seefeldt, 2002). Although more boys still engage in after-school sport than girls, the greater involvement of females in sport over the past two decades has certainly contributed to the observed increase in overall participation percentages. With respect to other issues of diversity, the world of after-school sport is multi-racial/ethnic with young people from various cultural backgrounds represented among participants. Females o

Antecedents of burnout among elite dancers: a longitudinal test of basic needs theory

Objectives: Little is known regarding the social-psychological predictors of burnout in the dance domain. Drawing from basic needs theory, a sub-theory in the self-determination theory framework (Deci & Ryan, 2000), this study examined whether changes in vocational dancers’ autonomy, competence and relatedness satisfaction mediated the relationships between changes in the dancers’ perceived autonomy support and burnout over a school year. \ud \ud Method: Dancers (N = 219) enrolled in vocational dance training, completed a questionnaire package tapping the variables of interest at three time points over a 36-week period. Results: SEM indicated that the observed decreases in the dancers’ perceptions of autonomy support positively predicted observed changes in reported basic need satisfaction that occurred over the school year. In turn, increases in the dancers’ global burnout were negatively predicted by changes in satisfaction of the three needs. The three basic needs fully mediated the ‘autonomy supporteglobal burnout’ relationship. When the sub-dimensions of burnout were examined independently, there were inconsistencies in the salience of each basic need. The increases in emotional and physical exhaustion experienced by the dancers over the school year were unrelated to changes in autonomy, competence and relatedness satisfaction. Changes in competence need satisfaction negatively predicted reduced accomplishment. Increases in the dancers’ dance devaluation were negatively predicted by changes in satisfaction of the three needs. \ud \ud Conclusions: Overall, the tenets of self-determination theory are supported. Findings point to the relevance of promoting and sustaining autonomy supportive training environments if burnout is to be avoided in elite dance settings

Construct validity of multiple achievement goals: A multitrait-multimethod approach

The aim of this study was to examine three different instruments which have been used in research conducted in the physical domain to measure mastery, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goals. The construct validity of the assessment tools, including a determination of their convergent and discriminant validity as well as a method effect, was tested via several confirmatory factor analyses. Four hundred and fifty athletes from different sport clubs were involved in the present study. Participants were asked to fill out three different multiple achievement goal instruments as well as two external criteria scales. The results based on CFA showed that all of the three instruments measured the same latent construct of multiple achievement goals. The convergent validity as well as the discriminant validity was supported. Evidence for a limited method effect in terms of the different measures was also provided

Understanding the Coping Process from a Self-Determination Theory Perspective

Purpose: To explore conceptual links between the Cognitive-Motivational-Relational Theory of coping (Lazarus, 1991) and Self-Determination Theory of motivation (Deci & Ryan, 1985) Method: We present a very brief overview of the two theories. We also discuss how components from the two theories can be examined together to facilitate research in the health/exercise domain. To this effect, we offer a preliminary integrated model of stress, coping and motivation, based on the two aforementioned theories, in an attempt to illustrate and instigate research on how motivational factors are implicated in the coping process. Conclusion: We believe that the proposed model can serve as a platform for generating new research ideas which, besides their theoretical relevance, may have important applied implications

Peer motivational climate in youth sport: a qualitative inquiry

Objectives: Little is known about the influence and nature of the motivational climate initiated by peer groups on children’s sport behaviour and experiences. To address this research need, in-depth interviews were employed in order to identify the factors that underpin the motivational climate created by peers in youth sport. Methods: Individually and in small focus groups, 14 boys and 16 girls (NZ30), aged between 12 and 16 years old from both individual and team sports, were interviewed regarding peer-induced characteristics of their motivational climates. Results: Using content analyses, the following 11 dimensions of peer climate emerged: cooperation, effort, improvement, mistakes, intra-team competition, intra-team conflict, equal treatment, normative ability, autonomy support, evaluation of competence and relatedness support. Conclusions: Some of the resulting dimensions are similar to the factors included in existing instruments assessing adult (i.e. PE teacher or coach-created) motivational climates. However, some facets of the climate unique to peer groups were also identified in this study. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed and suggestions for future research on the peer motivational climate are provided

Psychological needs and the prediction of exercise-related cognitions and affect among an ethnically diverse cohort of adult women

Previous research has highlighted a need for identifying the psychological strategies which best maximize the affective responses to exercise (e.g., Blanchard, Rodgers, & Gauvin, 2004). The present study compared the effects on affective responses of using different imagery types while exercising. Participants (N = 75, mean age = 20.2 years, SD = 1.33) were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 imagery conditions (i.e., enjoyment imagery, energy imagery, or technique imagery). Affect was recorded before and after 20 min of moderate intensity cycle ergometry (50% Heart Rate Reserve) using the Exercise-Induced Feeling Inventory (EFI; Gauvin & Rejeski, 1993) and the Feeling Scale (Hardy & Rejeski, 1989). Controlling for affect reported before the exercise bout, the enjoyment imagery group reported significantly higher levels of postexercise valence than the energy and technique imagery groups and higher revitalization than the technique imagery group. These findings indicate that enjoyment imagery could be used to further improve the affective benefits associated with exercise

Peer-Created Motivational Climate

Learning Objectives On completion of this chapter, the reader should have 1. understanding of the importance of studying perceptions of the peer motivational climate in youth sport; 2. knowledge of how young athletes perceive different facets of the peer motivational climate; 3. capacity to describe the relationship of different dimensions of the peer motivational climate to young athletes’ motivational indices; 4. awareness of future research directions that aim to enhance our understanding of the antecedents and consequences of the peer motivational climate; and 5. knowledge of appropriate guidelines for building a task-involving peer motivational climate

Achievement Goals, Competition Appraisals, and the Psychological and Emotional Welfare of Sport Participants

Grounded in the 2 × 2 achievement goal framework (Elliot & McGregor, 2001), a model was tested examining the hypothesized relationships between approach and avoidance (mastery and performance) goals, challenge and threat appraisals of sport competition, and positive and negative indices of well-being (i.e., self-esteem, positive, and negative affect). A further aim was to determine the degree to which the cognitive appraisals mediated the relationship between the four achievement goals and the indicators of athletes’ welfare. Finally, measurement and structural invariance was tested with respect to gender in the hypothesized model. An alternative model was also estimated specifying self-esteem as an antecedent of the four goals and cognitive appraisals. Four hundred and twenty-four team sport participants (Mage = 24.25) responded to a multisection questionnaire. Structural equation modeling analyses provided support for the hypothesized model only. Challenge and threat appraisals partially mediated the relationships observed between mastery-based goals and the well-being indicators. Lastly, the hypothesized model was found to be invariant across gender

Achievement Goals, Competition Appraisals, and the Well- and Ill-Being of Elite Youth Soccer Players Over Two Competitive Seasons

Grounded in the 2 × 2 achievement goal framework (Elliot & McGregor, 2001),the purpose of this study was to investigate the temporal relationships between achievement goals, competition appraisals and indices of psychological and emotional welfare among elite adolescent soccer players. A subsidiary aim was to ascertain the mediational role of competition appraisals in explaining the potential achievement goal and well-/ill-being relationships. Ninety-one boys (mean age = 13.82 years) involved in an elite soccer program completed multisection questionnaires capturing the targeted variables. Measures were obtained on five occasions across two competitive seasons. Multilevel regression analyses revealed that MAp goals positively, and MAv goals negatively, predicted within-person changes in well-being over two seasons. PAp goal adoption was positively associated to within-person changes in negative affect. PAv goals corresponded negatively to between-person mean differences in positive affect. The results of the indirect effects showed challenge appraisals accounted for within-person associations between a MAp goal focus and well- and ill-being over time. The present findings provide only partial support for the utility of the 2 × 2 achievement goal framework in predicting young athletes’ psychological and emotional functioning in an elite youth sport setting

Goal Striving, Coping, and Well-Being: A Prospective Investigation of the Self-Concordance Model in Sport

Developing upon cross-sectional research (Smith, Ntoumanis, & Duda, 2007) sup­porting the self-concordance model (Sheldon & Elliot, 1999) as a framework for contextual goal striving, the current study investigated the assumptions of the model in relation to season-long goal striving in sport. The study additionally examined the role of coping strategies in the persistence of goal-directed effort. Structural equation modeling analysis with a sample of 97 British athletes indicated that start-of-season autonomous goal motives were linked to midseason effort, which subsequently predicted end-of-season goal attainment. Attainment was positively related to changes in psychological need satisfaction, which, in turn, predicted changes in emotional well-being. In a second model, autonomous and controlled motives positively predicted task- and disengagement-oriented coping strategies, respectively. In turn, these strategies were differentially associated with effort. The findings provide support for contextual adaptations of the self-concordance model and demonstrate the role of coping strategies in the goal striving process