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.

The Psychometric Properties of Two Brief Measures of Teamwork in Sport.

In the current study, the structural and external validity of data derived from two shorter versions of the Multidimensional Assessment of Teamwork in Sport (MATS) were examined using multilevel analyses. Evidence of model-data fit was shown for both a 5-factor model comprising 19 items (with subscales assessing teamwork preparation, execution, evaluation, adjustments, and management of team maintenance) and a single-factor model comprising five items (providing a global estimate of teamwork). In general, data from both versions were positively and significantly correlated with (and distinct from) athletes' perceptions of team cohesion, collective efficacy, performance satisfaction, enjoyment in their sport, and commitment to their team and their coaches' transformational leadership. The measures appear well suited to detect between-teams differences, as evidenced by intraclass correlation coefficients and acceptable reliability estimates of team-level scores. In summary, the 19-item Multidimensional Assessment of Teamwork in Sport-Short and five-item Multidimensional Assessment of Teamwork in Sport-Global provide conceptually and psychometrically sound questionnaires to briefly measure teamwork in sport.

Unlocking the power of 'us': Longitudinal evidence that identity leadership predicts team functioning and athlete well-being.

The social identity approach has become an important framework for understanding effective leadership. The present study is the first to longitudinally examine the relative impact of coaches' and athlete leaders' identity leadership on athletes' identification with their team, as well as the subsequent relationships with key team and individual outcomes. To investigate these research questions, 18 sport teams (N = 279) completed a questionnaire early and late in their season competition. To analyse these data, we conducted structural equation modelling and controlled both for baseline values and the nested structure of our data. Results revealed that it was mainly the identity leadership of athlete leaders (and not of the coach) early in the season that predicted athletes' team identification later in the season. This increased team identification in turn fed into both team outcomes (i.e., task climate, team resilience, team performance) and individual outcomes (i.e., well-being, burnout, and individual performance). The mediating role of team identification suggests that by building a shared sense of 'we', athlete leaders can improve the team's effectiveness and enhance athletes' well-being. Accordingly, we conclude that empowering athlete leaders and strengthening their identity leadership skills is an important way to unlock sport teams' full potential.

More than just another bib: group dynamics in an elite Nordic ski team.

The social environment within individual sport teams can have a significant influence on the success, development, and well-being of athletes. We explored elite individual sport athletes' group experiences through the lens of social identity theorising. Participants were six members (4 male, 2 female, Mage = 21.5 years) of a National Development Nordic Ski team. At two time points in the competitive season, we used Social Identity Mapping (Bentley et al., 2020) in combination with semi-structured interviews to explore athletes' experiences as a member of the ski team. Social Identity Mapping provided a visual representation of each participant's social identities and was used to facilitate athletes' views of their group experiences in the semi-structured interviews. Interview data were thematically analysed to explicate participants' perceptions of social identity and cohesion, and their perceived relevance to success and development in elite individual sport. Major themes included social group memberships and identities, the presence of subgroups, the ebb and flow of cohesion and conflict, and teammate and coach influence on the group. On this basis, we argue that social identity mapping can be a valuable resource for athletes and coaches seeking to create a positive and cohesive team environment within an elite individual sport team.

"Beyond the Rink": A Multilevel Analysis of Social Identity Behaviors Captured Using the Electronically Activated Recorder.

This study used ecological sampling methods to examine associations between youth athletes' experiences receiving and engaging in behaviors indicative of in-group ties, cognitive centrality, and in-group affect (i.e., social identity) during a 3-day competitive ice hockey tournament. Forty-five youth (Mage = 12.39 years; SDage = 1.14 years; 94% male) from nine teams wore an electronically activated recorder that captured brief (50-s) audio observations throughout the tournament. Participants also completed daily diary questionnaires for each day of competition. Multilevel structural equation modeling demonstrated that athletes were more likely to engage in behaviors indicative of in-group affect and cognitive centrality on days when they received as higher-than-average frequency of behaviors indicative of cognitive centrality from teammates, coaches, and parents. The findings suggest that when team members interact in ways that demonstrate they are thinking about their team, they influence fellow members to behave in ways that promote a sense of "us."

Will they stay or will they go? Narcissistic admiration and rivalry predict ingroup affiliation and devaluation.

OBJECTIVE: Using the narcissistic admiration and rivalry concept (NARC) as a guiding framework, the current research examines how ingroup affiliation and devaluation are connected to the self-enhancing and self-threatening properties of ingroups for narcissists. METHOD: Participants (N = 374) completed a group decision-making task and received feedback that factorially manipulated both individual and group performance. Across the four combinations of performance feedback, we examined the conditional effects of narcissistic admiration and rivalry on social identity, perceptions of group member ability, desire to abandon the group, and desire to expel group members. RESULTS: Narcissistic admiration predicted higher levels of social identity in response to ingroup success, regardless of individual performance. In contrast, narcissistic rivalry predicted more negative views of group ability, as well as a higher desire to abandon the group and expel group members in response to individual success combined with ingroup failure. CONCLUSION: The results document and provide insight into narcissists' fickle attachment to ingroups. They provide evidence of the utility of the NARC in group contexts. Our findings suggest that narcissistic admiration is linked to self-enhancing group affiliation, whereas narcissistic rivalry is related to self-protective group distancing and devaluation.

The influence of social identity on self-worth, commitment, and effort in school-based youth sport.

​​​The current study examined the influence of social identity for individual perceptions of self-worth, commitment, and effort in school-based youth athletes. Using a prospective research design, 303 athletes (Mage = 14.89, SD = 1.77; 133 female) from 27 sport teams completed questionnaires at 2 time points (T1 - demographics, social identity; T2 - self-worth, commitment, effort) during an athletic season. Multilevel analyses indicated that at the individual level, the social identity dimension of in-group ties (IGT) predicted commitment (b = 0.12, P = .006) and perceived effort (b = 0.14, P = .008), whereas in-group affect (IGA) predicted commitment (b = 0.25, P = .001) and self-worth (b = 2.62, P = .006). At the team level, means for IGT predicted commitment (b = 0.31, P < .001) and self-worth (b = 4.76, P = .024). Overall, social identity accounted for variance at both levels, ranging from 4% (self-worth) to 15% (commitment). Identifying with a group to a greater extent was found to predict athlete perceptions of self-worth, commitment, and effort. More specifically, at the individual level, IGT predicted commitment and effort, and IGA predicted commitment and self-worth. At the team level, IGT predicted commitment and self-worth.

Disentangling the Relations between Social Identity and Prosocial and Antisocial Behavior in Competitive Youth Sport.

The social identities formed through membership on extracurricular activity groups may contribute to the frequency with which youth engage in prosocial and antisocial behavior. However, researchers have yet to disentangle the individual- and group-level processes social identification effects operate through; sex and perceived norms may also moderate such effects. Thus, we investigated the hierarchical and conditional relations between three dimensions of social identity (i.e., ingroup ties, cognitive centrality, ingroup affect) and prosocial and antisocial behavior in youth ice hockey players (N = 376; 33% female). Multilevel analyses demonstrated antisocial teammate and opponent behavior were predicted by cognitive centrality at the team level. Further, prosocial teammate behavior was predicted by cognitive centrality and ingroup ties at the individual-level. Also, perceived norms for prosocial teammate behavior moderated the relations between ingroup ties, cognitive centrality, and ingroup affect and prosocial teammate behaviour. Finally, sex moderated the relations between cognitive centrality/ingroup affect and antisocial opponent behavior. This work demonstrates the multilevel and conditional nature of how social identity dimensions relate to youth prosocial and antisocial behavior.

Examining social identity and intrateam moral behaviours in competitive youth ice hockey using stimulated recall.

Social identity - identity formed through membership in groups - may play an important role in regulating intrateam moral behaviour in youth sport (Bruner, M. W., Boardley, I., & Côté, J. (2014). Social identity and prosocial and antisocial behavior in youth sport. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 15(1), 56-64. doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2013.09.003). The aim of this study was to qualitatively examine this potential role through stimulated recall interviews with competitive youth-ice-hockey players. Twenty-three players (Mage = 13.27 years, SD = 1.79) who reported engaging in high, median or low frequency of antisocial teammate behaviour (determined through pre-screening with the Prosocial and Antisocial Behaviour in Sport Scale [Kavussanu, M., & Boardley, I. D. (2009). The prosocial and antisocial behavior in sport scale. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 31(1), 97-117. doi:10.1123/jsep.31.1.97]) were recruited from eight youth-ice-hockey teams in Canada. Interviews involved participants recalling their thoughts during prosocial/antisocial interactions with teammates, prompted by previously recorded video sequences of such incidents. Thematic analysis of interview data revealed all athletes - regardless of reported frequency of intrateam antisocial behaviour - felt prosocial interactions with teammates enhanced social identity. In contrast, the perceived influence of antisocial teammate behaviour on social identity differed depending on athletes' reported frequency of intrateam antisocial behaviour; those reporting low and median frequencies described how such behaviour undermines social identity, whereas athletes reporting high frequency did not perceive this effect. The study findings highlight the potential importance of intrateam moral behaviour and social identity for youth-sport team functioning.

Evaluation of physical activity interventions in children via the reach, efficacy/effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance (RE-AIM) framework: A systematic review of randomized and non-randomized trials.

CONTEXT: Existing reviews of physical activity (PA) interventions designed to increase PA behavior exclusively in children (ages 5 to 11years) focus primarily on the efficacy (e.g., internal validity) of the interventions without addressing the applicability of the results in terms of generalizability and translatability (e.g., external validity). OBJECTIVE: This review used the RE-AIM (Reach, Efficacy/Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, Maintenance) framework to measure the degree to which randomized and non-randomized PA interventions in children report on internal and external validity factors. METHODS AND RESULTS: A systematic search for controlled interventions conducted within the past 12years identified 78 studies that met the inclusion criteria. Based on the RE-AIM criteria, most of the studies focused on elements of internal validity (e.g., sample size, intervention location and efficacy/effectiveness) with minimal reporting of external validity indicators (e.g., representativeness of participants, start-up costs, protocol fidelity and sustainability). CONCLUSIONS: Results of this RE-AIM review emphasize the need for future PA interventions in children to report on real-world challenges and limitations, and to highlight considerations for translating evidence-based results into health promotion practice.

Evaluation of physical activity interventions in youth via the Reach, Efficacy/Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework: A systematic review of randomised and non-randomised trials.

CONTEXT: An identified limitation of existing reviews of physical activity interventions in school-aged youth is the lack of reporting on issues related to the translatability of the research into health promotion practice. OBJECTIVE: This review used the Reach, Efficacy/Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation and Maintenance framework to determine the extent to which intervention studies promoting physical activity in youth report on factors that inform generalizability across settings and populations. METHODS AND RESULTS: A systematic search for controlled interventions conducted within the last ten years identified 50 studies that met the selection criteria. Based on Reach, Efficacy/Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation and Maintenance criteria, most of these studies focused on statistically significant findings and internal validity rather than on issues of external validity. Due to this lack of information, it is difficult to determine whether or not reportedly successful interventions are feasible and sustainable in an uncontrolled, real-world setting. CONCLUSIONS: Areas requiring further research include costs associated with recruitment and implementation, adoption rate, and representativeness of participants and settings. This review adds data to support recommendations that interventions promoting physical activity in youth should include assessment of adoption and implementation issues.

Coach development programmes to improve interpersonal coach behaviours: a systematic review using the re-aim framework.

OBJECTIVE: Although evidence supports the effectiveness of interpersonal Coach Development Programmes (CDPs), which are designed to foster coach-athlete relationships, an intervention's impact is shaped by numerous factors over and above effectiveness. The purpose of this systematic review was to examine the extent that published articles describing interpersonal CDP trials reported on indicators of internal and external validity, as conceptualised in the RE-AIM framework (ie, Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation and Maintenance). METHODS: The search strategy was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses guidelines, involving a database search and supplemental manual search of key articles and journals. After initial screening, the full-text search strategy involved identifying articles describing CDP trials and then selecting a specific subgroup of articles involving interpersonal CDP trials and excluding ineligible articles. Resulting trials were coded using a 47-item sport coaching adaptation of the RE-AIM coding sheet. RESULTS: 17 published articles met eligibility criteria, representing 10 distinct CDP trials. After attaining coder agreement, global ratings of RE-AIM indicators within interpersonal CDP trials ranged from the low to moderate quality. Whereas indicators of effectiveness and implementation were reported to some extent across all studies, maintenance within sport organisations and a number of specific indicators from across dimensions were rarely reported. CONCLUSIONS: These findings inform the future design and evaluation of CDPs that have the potential to be adopted in numerous settings and reach athletes and coaches who can most benefit.

Asthma incidence and risk factors in a national longitudinal sample of adolescent Canadians: a prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Estimates of asthma incidence and its possible determinants in adolescent populations have rarely been obtained using prospective designs. We sought to identify socio-demographic and other patterns in the incidence of asthma among Canadian adolescents and to examine possible behavioural and environmental determinants of asthma incidence using longitudinal analyses. METHODS: We used data from the National Population Health Survey (NPHS), a nationally representative longitudinal survey of Canadians. All persons aged 12-18 years without asthma at baseline were followed up to a maximum of 12 years. The outcome was a reported diagnosis of asthma during the follow-up period. Analyses were weighted to the population and bootstrapping procedures were used to estimate variances. RESULTS: Participants (n = 956) represented 2,038,890 adolescents of whom 293,450 (14.4%) developed asthma over the 21,274,890 person-years of follow-up. Overall, the incidence of asthma was 10.2 per 1000 person-years. In adjusted Cox regression analysis, being female (HR = 2.13, 95% CI = 1.26-3.62, p = 0.005) and being exposed to passive smoking (HR = 2.06, 95% CI = 1.27-3.34, p = 0.003) were associated with the development of asthma while no statistically significant associations were identified for rural residence, being overweight, and other health behaviours. There was also an apparent cohort effect among girls where girls who were older at baseline reported being diagnosed with asthma more over the follow-up than their younger counterparts. This was not observed among males. CONCLUSIONS: Asthma prevention initiatives for adolescents should target girls and focus on smoking exposures. The role that differential diagnostic patterns play in these observations should be investigated to more accurately assess the incidence of asthma.

Measuring leadership in sport: Development and validation of the Identity Leadership Inventory - Youth (ILI-Y).

The social identity approach to leadership posits that leaders' effectiveness depends on their ability to represent, advance, create, and embed a shared sense of social identity among their followers. Although significant progress has been made in investigating the benefits of identity leadership in adult sports, research in youth sports is still in its infancy. One reason is the lack of a youth-centric inventory that adequately measures identity leadership in this population. To bridge this gap, we developed and validated a long (16 items) and short (5 items) version of the Identity Leadership Inventory for Youth Sport (ILI-Y or ILI-Y-Short-Form) through five studies conducted in three phases of research. Data were primarily collected in football in the United Kingdom, involving a total of 1096 participants. Results of Phase I of this study provided little to no evidence that the ILI - originally developed for adults - was understandable (Study 1) and had factor validity and internal consistency (Study 2) in a sample of youth athletes. Therefore, in Phase II, the ILI was revised, leading to the development of the ILI-Y, which was understandable for youth athletes (Study 3). Results from Phase II (Study 4) also indicated that the ILI-Y exhibited a unidimensional factor structure, which was subsequently confirmed in Phase III (Study 5). This last phase offered additional evidence for the discriminant, criterion, and incremental validity of the ILI-Y and its short form, along with their measurement invariance across genders and age groups, and internal consistency. This study provides sports psychology researchers and practitioners with a valid measure to assess identity leadership in youth sports.

Investigating the Impact of Food Rewards on Children's Motivation to Participate in Sport.

Children who are physically active and involved in organized sport report having the unhealthiest diets. Research suggests excessive calories may be attributed to the prevalence of fast food and candy which are often provided as rewards in sport. This study explored the use of food as a reward in youth sport and the perceived impact it has on children's motivation to participate in recreational soccer and ice hockey. A multiple instrumental case study approach was utilized. Children aged 4-12 (n = 64), parents (n = 30), and coaches (n = 18) were recruited within central and northeastern Ontario, Canada to participate in focus groups and individual interviews. Transcribed audio recordings underwent inductive thematic analysis. Key themes included: Fun and fast: The culture of food in youth soccer and hockey; (Un)importance of food rewards: The how and why of motivating children in sport; and Youth sport is expensive: Gratitude for sponsorship in youth sport. Themes explain the role of food and food rewards as an element of the youth sport culture as well as the importance of sponsors, regardless of food affiliation, in youth sport. Overall, children's participation and effort would continue without food rewards; however, they continue to be offered food to motivate and celebrate performance in youth sport. Findings highlight the need to increase knowledge and awareness among parents and coaches on what truly motivates children to help foster healthier strategies for celebrating success and supporting lifelong physical activity.

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.

Urban-rural differences in asthma prevalence among young people in Canada: the roles of health behaviors and obesity.

BACKGROUND: Asthma prevalence has been reported to be lower in rural regions, but the reasons for this are not known. OBJECTIVE: To confirm the existence of an urban-rural geographic gradient in asthma prevalence among Canadian youths and to evaluate whether this gradient was mediated by health behaviors. METHODS: Cross-sectional data from 4,726 Canadian youth (grades 6-10) were collected during the 2001-02 Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children survey. Geographic region was categorized as metro (urbanized), non-metro but adjacent to metro, and rural. Asthma was defined via self-report of doctors' diagnoses and at least 1 of: (1) asthma symptoms or (2) a health care visit for asthma in the past year. Health behaviors (diet and physical activity) as well as obesity were also assessed. RESULTS: Asthma prevalence was lowest in rural regions (metro = 17.7%, non-metro-adjacent = 15.6%, rural = 14.8%). A lower risk of asthma was associated with rural region (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 0.76, 95% CI = 0.61-0.95) and living in non-metro-adjacent regions (adjusted OR = 0.81, 95% CI = 0.65-1.01). Health behaviors and obesity status did not mediate the association between geographic region and asthma. Being overweight or obese, having a high physical activity level, and exposure to passive smoking independently elevated the risk of asthma, whereas increased consumption of whole milk or vegetables were each protective. CONCLUSIONS: Although asthma prevalence among youth was lower in rural areas, this association was not mediated by health behaviors or obesity. Other exposures, likely environmental, are the logical mechanisms through which rural geographic status is related to lower asthma prevalence.

Examination of birthplace and birthdate in World Junior ice hockey players.

The present study investigated birthdate (known as the Relative Age Effect; RAE) and birthplace as determinants of expertise in an international sample of elite ice hockey players. The sample included 566 World Junior (WJR) ice hockey players from four countries (Canada, n = 153; USA, n = 136; Sweden, n = 140; Finland, n = 137). Participants competed in the International Ice Hockey Federation World U20 Championship between 2001 and 2009. A series of Poisson regression models were conducted to examine the consistency of direct then interactive relationships between both birthdate and birthplace and WJR membership across the four countries (Canada, USA, Sweden, and Finland). Findings revealed a consistent RAE across the four countries for World Junior participation from 2000 to 2009. WJR players from the four countries were also less likely to be from major cities. In addition, there was no evidence in any of the four countries of an interaction between RAE and birthplace. Future research should explore the contextual and cultural factors that influence elite athlete development in smaller towns, cities and communities.

Effects of a print-mediated intervention on physical activity during transition to the first year of university.

Transition to the first year of university is linked to steep declines in moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a targeted, theory-driven, print-based intervention on MVPA during transition to university. Volunteer participants from five Canadian universities (n=255) completed measures of MVPA at the start of their first semester at university and were randomly assigned to conditions receiving a first-year-student physical activity and action-planning brochure, Canada's Physical Activity Guide (CPAG), or a no-intervention control group. Six weeks later, a follow-up measure of MVPA was obtained as well as retrospective accounts of physical activity action-planning strategies and self-efficacy for scheduling physical activity. At the follow-up, students who received the targeted first-year student physical activity brochure reported significantly higher levels of MVPA compared to controls (p<.05) and a trend towards higher MVPA compared to the CPAG group (p=.06). However, there were no differences between groups on action planning or self-efficacy. A theory-driven and targeted print media intervention can offer low-cost and broad-reaching effects that may help students stay more active or curb declining levels of MVPA that occur during transition to university.

Exploratory Analysis of the Relationship between Social Identification and Testosterone Reactivity to Vicarious Combat.

Testosterone (T) fluctuates in response to competitive social interactions, with the direction of change typically depending on factors such as contest outcome. Watching a competition may be sufficient to activate T among fans and others who are invested in the outcome. This study explores the change in T associated with vicarious experiences of competition among combat sport athletes viewing a teammate win or lose and assesses how individual differences in social identification with one's team relates to these patterns of T reactivity. Twenty-six male combat athletes completed a social identity questionnaire on a neutral day. Later, salivary samples (assayed for T) were obtained before and after athletes viewed a video of a teammate engaged in a formal contest. T reactivity to viewing a teammate compete varied among participants in both the magnitude and direction of change, independent of contest outcome. Individual differences in cognitive centrality, a core feature of social identification, showed a strong positive relationship with T reactivity, particularly if their teammate won. Initial findings suggest that dominance-linked androgen responses associated with watching a teammate win a competition might depend on the belief that team membership is central to one's own identity. These exploratory results in a small sample of combat athletes should be interpreted with caution. Uncovering the role of social group dynamics in influencing T responses to competition is particularly important in light of the evolutionary history of coalitional combat in humans.