The Sport Experience Measure for Children and Youth (SEM:CY): A Rasch Validation Study.

This study employed Rasch analyses to validate a novel measure of sport experience: the Sport Experience Measure: Children and Youth (SEM:CY). Analyses were applied to self-reported data of n = 503 young people (age 9-18 years, M = 12.91, 50% female) in Canada who were engaging in sport during the previous 12 months. The revised measure, consisting of 24 items on a 3-point response scale, demonstrated good fit statistics (e.g., item fit residual: M = -0.50, SD = 0.94 and person fit residual: M = -0.62, SD = 2.33), an ability to reliably discriminate between levels of sport experience, and an absence of differential item functioning for various groups (males and females, older and younger individuals, solo and team sports, and those playing at various competitive levels, including recreation). The SEM:CY is a succinct tool that can serve as a valuable means to gauge the quality of an individual's sport experience, which can facilitate positive youth development and sustain participation across the life span.

A grounded theory of youth athlete concussion under-reporting decisions.

BACKGROUND: Sport-related concussions leave youth vulnerable to significant health, physical, social, and educational disruptions. Many youth athletes under-report concussions, but the scope of the issue for this population is not well understood, nor are the underlying motivations for (under)reporting. It is necessary to examine the relationship between sport-related concussion knowledge and reporting and invite athletes to share their decision-making processes. The purpose of the research was to understand how athletes' attitudes, experiences and beliefs regarding concussions influence their under-reporting decisions and behaviours. METHODS: We conducted semi-structured interviews with 17 elite athletes, aged 16-18 years, from individual and team sports. Data were analyzed using constructivist grounded theory and a substantive theoretical model of sport-related concussion under-reporting was developed. RESULTS: The model demonstrates personal, social, cultural, and biophysical processes that contribute to under-reporting decisions and identifies multiple interconnected processes that contribute to 'high-risk' situations of under-reporting. Youth athletes navigate various barriers and facilitators to under-reporting, including their own desire to play, perceived stigma, concussion sense-making, and social influences. Results suggest that under-reporting by youth athletes implicates a collective, rather than individual, responsibility. CONCLUSIONS: A theoretical grounded model for youth sport-related concussion under-reporting highlights the complexity of the decision-making process. This study offers a new framework for understanding why youth athletes may hide concussion symptoms. The model offers potential to be used to develop concussion interventions and tools for improved decision-making, and to address issues of risk and responsibility concerning concussion reporting.

Mental Health Among Elite Youth Athletes: A Narrative Overview to Advance Research and Practice.

CONTEXT: Participation in sports during youth is typically beneficial for mental health. However, it is unclear whether elite sport contexts contribute to greater risk of psychological distress or disorder. The aims of this paper are to highlight conceptual issues that require resolution in future research and practice, and to examine the key factors that may contribute to the mental health of elite youth athletes (EYAs). EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: A narrative overview of the literature combined with the clinical and research expertise of the authors. STUDY DESIGN: Narrative overview. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level 5. RESULTS: EYAs experience a range of biopsychosocial developmental changes that interact with mental health in a multitude of ways. In addition, there are various sport-specific factors that contribute to the mental health of EYAs that may become more prominent in elite contexts. These include - but are not limited to - patterns relating to athlete coping and self-relating styles, the nature of peer, parental, and coach relationships, organizational culture and performance pressures, and mental health service provision and accessibility. CONCLUSION: A range of critical factors across individual, interpersonal, organizational, and societal domains have been shown to contribute to mental health among EYAs. However, this evidence is limited by heterogeneous samples and varied or imprecise terminology regarding what constitutes "youth" and "elite" in sport. Nevertheless, it is clear that EYAs face a range of risks that warrant careful consideration to progress to best practice principles and recommendations for mental health promotion and intervention in elite youth sport. SORT: Level C.

Development of the Stressors among Parents in Youth Sport Survey (SPYSS).

OBJECTIVES: Parents of youth sport athletes report a variety of stressors associated with their child's participation in youth sport settings. However, research examining associations between parents' stressors and relevant outcomes is limited due to the lack of a comprehensive and validated measure of parents' stressors in youth sport. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to develop and provide preliminary validation of the Stressors among Parents in Youth Sport Survey (SPYSS). METHOD: In Study 1 we developed an initial version of the survey and tested the factor structure of the scale using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses with a sample of 1187 Canadian parents of minor hockey athletes. In Study 2, we administered the SPYSS to an independent sample of 783 parents with children participating in multiple sports, who also completed measures of parent stress and well-being, as well as parent-athlete outcomes, to establish convergent and divergent validity evidence and test associations with relevant outcomes for youth sport parents. RESULTS: The results from Study 1 supported the development of a 42-item survey of parental stressors in youth sport. Results from Study 2 provided further evidence for the factor structure and validity evidence of a measure assessing parental stressors in youth sport. CONCLUSIONS: The SPYSS assesses the frequency and intensity of a variety of stressors relevant for parents of youth sport athletes. The measure may be a useful tool for researchers, sport organizations, and practitioners to assess, monitor, and target the stressors experienced by parents in youth sport settings.

Promotion of physical activity among people who identify as women through the ParticipACTION mobile app.

OBJECTIVE: Health and fitness mobile applications can increase users' physical activity (PA) levels (Lister et al., 2014). ParticipACTION is a national non-profit organization that developed a mobile app to target PA among adults (Truelove et al., 2020). The aim of this research was to examine how women's PA is related to their use of the ParticipACTION app. METHODS AND MEASUREMENT: Using a mixed-methods design, participants (n = 3,493) completed a survey regarding their PA levels, motivation for PA (capability, opportunity, motivation; COM-B, Keyworth et al., 2020), and motivation for using the ParticipACTION app. Nine focus groups were conducted (n = 37) to discuss the mobile app further. RESULTS: Path analyses revealed that users' app use was positively associated with motivations for various app functions (e.g. self-monitoring, seeking exercise guidance), however, only motivation in-turn predicted PA. Descriptive results indicated that many women in Canada who used the app do not meet national guidelines for PA per week. Qualitative findings highlight women's motivation for using the app, concerns with app functionality, and feelings of guilt for not engaging in PA. CONCLUSION: The ParticipACTION app may have some benefit for improving women's PA; intervention studies are needed to determine efficacy of mobile applications.

When hockey parents are motivationally imbalanced: Passion, need satisfaction, and verbal aggression toward officials.

Spectators can engage in high levels of verbal aggression toward youth hockey officials. Often, the perpetrators of this aggression are the parents. Our aim was to test the motivational factors involved in explaining why hockey parents sometimes take things too far and engage in verbally aggressive behavior toward officials. We reasoned that verbal aggression toward officials would be a function of two forms of motivational imbalance. First, in line with the dualistic model of passion, we hypothesized that verbal aggression would be positively associated with hockey parents' obsessive passion, an imbalanced form of passion. Also, based on the compensatory model of passion, we predicted that obsessive passion would be associated with imbalanced psychological need satisfaction involving high need satisfaction from being a hockey parent, but low global need satisfaction. We administered online surveys to Canadian hockey parents (N = 992) assessing their verbal aggression toward officials, passion for being a hockey parent, and psychological need satisfaction from being a hockey parent and in general. Using structural equation modeling, we found support for a model in which high need satisfaction from being a hockey parent and low need satisfaction in general were associated with obsessive passion. Obsessive passion, in turn, was associated with greater verbal aggression toward referees. These findings help reveal why some hockey parents insult, threaten, and engage in other forms of verbal aggression toward officials. They also highlight the importance of maintaining motivational balance among sport parents.

Towards the development of a quality youth sport experience measure: Understanding participant and stakeholder perspectives.

Quality sport experiences may be a key underlying mechanism through which continued sport participation may facilitate positive youth development. However, what constitutes a quality sport experience for youth is poorly understood due to a lack of comprehensiveness among existing measures. This study aimed to identify the salient factors that constitute quality sport experience for youth by capturing athletes and stakeholder perspectives with a broader goal of developing a more robust quality sport experiences measure. A total of 53 youth athletes and stakeholders (i.e., parents, coaches, and sport administrators) completed semi-structured interviews or focus groups about what they felt were important aspects of a quality sport experience for youth. Inductive content analysis of the data identified four themes representing important indicators for a quality sport experience for youth: fun and enjoyment, opportunity for sport skill development and progress, social support and sense of belonging, and open and effective communication. These higher order themes were found among each of the groups that have important interpersonal relationships with athletes, as well as among athletes themselves. Each of these themes were also related to one another. Collectively, findings outline a framework to understand what constitutes a quality sport experience for youth. The Quality Sport Experience Framework for Youth will help in the development of a quantitative tool to assess this construct and enable researchers to examine how these experiences contribute to continued engagement in sport and positive developmental outcomes among youth sport participants.

Examining the impact of the Respect in Sport Parent Program on the psychosocial experiences of minor hockey athletes.

Models of positive youth development suggest that athletes may be influenced by parent education programmes; however, there is little research examining the impact of such programmes on athlete outcomes. This study examined the impact of the Respect in Sport Parent Program on athlete outcomes among minor hockey players over three years. This study consisted of cross-sectional and longitudinal online surveys measuring athletes' positive and negative developmental experiences, prosocial and antisocial behaviours, parental support and pressure, and sport enjoyment and commitment. Athletes completed at least one online survey during the study period (N = 366; 84.2% males; 14-19 years of age; M = 15.4 years), and 83 athletes completed multiple surveys for longitudinal analyses. Cross-sectional results comparing athletes in leagues adopting the programme at different time points indicated significant differences in prosocial behaviours towards teammates. Multilevel longitudinal analyses revealed improvements in athletes' antisocial behaviours towards opponents, initiative, goal setting, and cognitive skills over time, regardless of whether they were in a league that implemented the programme. However, athletes in leagues that implemented the programme during the study reported greater improvements in antisocial behaviours towards opponents, and there were trends with respect to improved personal and social skills. These findings provide suggestions to improve the delivery and impact of parent education programmes in youth sport.

Development of a consensus statement on the role of the family in the physical activity, sedentary, and sleep behaviours of children and youth.

BACKGROUND: Children and youth who meet the physical activity, sedentary, and sleep behaviour recommendations in the Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines are more likely to have desirable physical and psychosocial health outcomes. Yet, few children and youth actually meet the recommendations. The family is a key source of influence that can affect lifestyle behaviours. The purpose of this paper is to describe the process used to develop the Consensus Statement on the Role of the Family in the Physical Activity, Sedentary, and Sleep Behaviours of Children and Youth (0-17 years) and present, explain, substantiate, and discuss the final Consensus Statement. METHODS: The development of the Consensus Statement included the establishment of a multidisciplinary Expert Panel, completion of six reviews (three literature, two scoping, one systematic review of reviews), custom data analyses of Statistics Canada's Canadian Health Measures Survey, integration of related research identified by Expert Panel members, a stakeholder consultation, establishment of consensus, and the development of a media, public relations, communications and launch plan. RESULTS: Evidence from the literature reviews provided substantial support for the importance of family on children's movement behaviours and highlighted the importance of inclusion of the entire family system as a source of influence and promotion of healthy child and youth movement behaviours. The Expert Panel incorporated the collective evidence from all reviews, the custom analyses, other related research identified, and stakeholder survey feedback, to develop a conceptual model and arrive at the Consensus Statement: Families can support children and youth in achieving healthy physical activity, sedentary and sleep behaviours by encouraging, facilitating, modelling, setting expectations and engaging in healthy movement behaviours with them. Other sources of influence are important (e.g., child care, school, health care, community, governments) and can support families in this pursuit. CONCLUSION: Family is important for the support and promotion of healthy movement behaviours of children and youth. This Consensus Statement serves as a comprehensive, credible, and current synopsis of related evidence, recommendations, and resources for multiple stakeholders.

A Scoping Review of Recreational Sport Programs for Disabled Emerging Adults.

Purpose: Recreational sport programs are a critical but overlooked pathway for enhancing social participation of emerging adults with disabilities. Specifically, the experiences of recreational sport program members are important for continued community engagement among emerging adults. To address this gap, this scoping review examined the published studies on recreational sport programs for emerging adults with disabilities with the aim of providing future directions for practice (e.g., program instruction) and research (e.g., measurement). Method: Using the PRISMA-SR guidelines, six electronic databases were searched using key terms of disability, age, and recreational sport; findings were extracted and summarized according to the quality parasport participation framework (autonomy, belonging, challenge, engagement, mastery, meaning) and other outcome measures of the included studies. An online 26-item survey was sent to the included studies' authors to further explore the programs' conditions. Results: There were 16,818 records screened with seven articles included. Studies indicate positive outcomes for emerging adults with disabilities immediately following participation in sport programs (e.g., improved self-esteem, autonomy, friendship skills, and balance). No longitudinal studies have been conducted on sustained participation in sport programs or transfer effects of participation. Conclusion: Despite the limited literature, this scoping review provides the foundation for the development of evidence-informed, participant-driven sport programs for emerging adults with disabilities. This study highlights areas for further development for both researches (e.g., evaluating and reporting quality) and practice (e.g., program evaluation).

Providing Social Support to Female Olympic Athletes.

Support providers may experience positive and negative outcomes associated with supporting others. However, there is a lack of research on support provision to elite athletes and the views of athletes' support providers. This study addressed this gap by exploring the experiences of providing and receiving support between female Olympians and their main support providers. Five female Olympians and their main support providers participated in separate semistructured interviews. It appeared that support provision was personally and professionally rewarding, as well as challenging, for support providers, and athletes were generally satisfied with the support they received. Athletes appeared highly dependent on their support providers, but both athletes and support providers felt that high levels of support were necessary for athletic success. Further research is needed to understand how support providers are able to foster their own personally supportive relationships and whether high levels of interpersonal dependence are required to achieve athletic success.

Factors associated with using research evidence in national sport organisations.

The purpose of this study was to explore factors associated with the use of research evidence in Canadian National Sport Organisations (NSOs). Data were collected via individual semi-structured interviews with 21 representatives from Canadian NSOs. A qualitative description approach was used. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and subjected to an inductive-to-deductive thematic analysis. A research implementation framework (Rycroft-Malone, 2004) was used to organise inductively derived themes into the higher-order categories of evidence (use of evidence, disconnection between research and practice), context (lack of capacity, organisational structure), and facilitation (personal connections with researchers and sport scientists, formal meetings with stakeholders). Overall, NSO representatives did not have a clear understanding of evidence and lacked capacity to access and translate research. However, some context factors, along with internal and external facilitators, were in place and could be used to enhance research implementation.

"I've Had Bad Experiences With Team Sport": Sport Participation, Peer Need-Thwarting, and Need-Supporting Behaviors Among Youth Identifying With Physical Disability.

This study was guided by self-determination theory to explore the sport experiences of youth with a physical disability and the role of peers within this context. Interviews were conducted with eight youths using a relational mapping technique and analyzed using a deductive thematic approach. Sport peers were broadly defined by the youth as individuals from a large age range and of all abilities. Youth perceived their sport peers to have dynamic roles throughout their participation in sport. The perceived roles of these sport peers included supporting and thwarting basic psychological needs, and influencing the youths' processing of sport internalization. Findings focus on the complexity of peer need-thwarting and need-supporting interactions in sport for youth with physical disabilities. Overall, peers have a multifaceted role in the sport experiences of youth identifying with a physical disability and may, in some cases, thwart youths' basic psychological needs.

A grounded theory of positive youth development through sport based on results from a qualitative meta-study.

The overall purpose of this study was to create a model of positive youth development (PYD) through sport grounded in the extant qualitative literature. More specifically, the first objective was to review and evaluate qualitative studies of PYD in sport. The second objective was to analyze and synthesize findings from these studies. Following record identification and screening, 63 articles were retained for analysis. Meta-method analysis revealed strengths of studies were the use of multiple data collection and validity techniques, which produced high-quality data. Weaknesses were limited use of 'named' methodologies and inadequate reporting of sampling procedures. Philosophical perspectives were rarely reported, and theory was used sparingly. Results of an inductive meta-data analysis produced three categories: PYD climate (adult relationships, peer relationships, and parental involvement), life skills program focus (life skill building activities and transfer activities), and PYD outcomes (in personal, social, and physical domains). A model that distinguishes between implicit and explicit processes to PYD is presented.

Interpersonal Emotion Regulation Among Adolescent Athletes: A Bayesian Multilevel Model Predicting Sport Enjoyment and Commitment.

Efforts to regulate emotions can influence others, and interpersonal emotion regulation within teams may affect athletes' own affective and motivational outcomes. We examined adolescent athletes' (N = 451, N teams = 38) self- and interpersonal emotion regulation, as well as associations with peer climate, sport enjoyment, and sport commitment within a multilevel model of emotion regulation in teams. Results of multilevel Bayesian structural equation modeling showed that athletes' self-worsening emotion regulation strategies were negatively associated with enjoyment while other-improving emotion regulation strategies were positively associated enjoyment and commitment. The team-level interpersonal emotion regulation climate and peer motivational climates were also associated with enjoyment and commitment. Team-level factors moderated some of the relationships between athletes' emotion regulation with enjoyment and commitment. These findings extend previous research by examining interpersonal emotion regulation within teams using a multilevel approach, and they demonstrate the importance of person- and team-level factors for athletes' enjoyment and commitment.

A meta-study of qualitative research examining determinants of children's independent active free play.

PURPOSE: To produce a meta-study by completing a systematic review of qualitative research examining determinants of independent active free play in children. METHOD: Following systematic electronic and manual searches and application of inclusion/exclusion criteria, 46 studies were retained and subjected to meta-method, meta-theory, and meta-data analyses, followed by a final meta-synthesis. RESULTS: Identified determinants of independent active free play were child characteristics (age, competence, and gender), parental restrictions (safety concerns and surveillance), neighborhood and physical environment (fewer children to play with, differences in preferences for play spaces between parents and children, accessibility and proximity, and maintenance), societal changes (reduced sense of community, good parenting ideal, changing roles of parents, privatization of playtime and play spaces), and policy issues (need to give children voice). An ecological model depicting these factors, and the relationships therein, was created. CONCLUSIONS: This comprehensive meta-study helps establish a knowledge base for children's independent active free play research by synthesizing a previously fragmented set of studies. Parents' perceived safety concerns are the primary barrier to children's active free play. These safety concerns are moderated by child-level factors (age, competence, gender) and broader social issues. Interventions should focus on community-level solutions that include children's perspectives. From a methods perspective, the reviewed studies used a range of data collection techniques, but methodological details were often inadequately reported. The theoretical sophistication of research in this area could be improved. To this end, the synthesis reported in this study provides a framework for guiding future research.

A qualitative examination of the impact of microgrants to promote physical activity among adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Microgrants are a mechanism for providing funding to community organizations or groups to support health initiatives. Little research to date has examined the use of microgrants in promoting physical activity (PA), and no studies have explored how microgrants may support PA promotion among adolescents. The purpose of this study was to explore the role of microgrants in enhancing PA opportunities for Canadian adolescents. METHODS: Employing a case study approach, nine community organizations from across Canada were selected as cases providing sports and physical activities with the support of microgrant funding. Researchers visited each organization and conducted semi-structured interviews with 40 program participants (12-25 years of age, M = 16.3, SD = 2.6) and 17 adult organizers/instructors (23-57 years of age, M = 37.4, SD = 10.0). Interview transcripts were inductively and deductively coded to identify concepts and create a hierarchy of themes. RESULTS: Analysis produced themes regarding participants' perceptions of the Funding, Running Programs and Events, the Impact of Program (for the Organization, Teen Participants, and the Community). Opportunities for PA programming would not have been possible without the microgrant funding. Microgrant funding was valuable in promoting PA for adolescents, and they afforded opportunities for adolescents to engage in new and/or nontraditional activities. In addition to promoting PA, the microgrants had benefits for participants and the community organizations including improved organizational capacity. CONCLUSIONS: Microgrants appear to be an effective mechanism for enhancing community capacity to provide PA opportunities for Canadian adolescents by helping to reduce financial barriers and empowering adolescents to take an active role in identifying and hosting new and creative PA events within their communities.

Factors that influence fatigue status in Canadian university swimmers.

The overall purpose of this two-part study was to examine factors that influenced fatigue status in university level swimmers. Participants were 25 swimmers (14 male, 11 female) from one university swim team. A mixed methods approach was used. Quantitative data were collected using an orthostatic heart rate test and self-report questionnaire at multiple time points throughout a competitive season. Qualitative data were collected via focus groups conducted at the end of the season. Analysis of the quantitative data indicated high levels of accumulated physiological and psychological fatigue that improved with increased recovery. Specifically, heart rate indices, form, feeling, and energy level improved during taper periods and worsened during and immediately after intensive training blocks. Analysis of the qualitative data revealed that one factor (flexible structure of training programme) had a positive influence on athletes' fatigue while two factors (teammate expectations and balancing school, work, and sleep) had a negative influence on athletes' fatigue.