Social identity plays a pivotal role in understanding group dynamics and performance in sport. Although the Social Identity Questionnaire for Sport (SIQS; Bruner Benson, 2018) provides a brief and multidimensional tool to assess athletes’ social identity strength, there is a need to evaluate its psychometric properties in different languages and cultural contexts. As such, this study examined the French version of the SIQS and its measurement and structural invariance across diverse athlete populations. Using a sample of 915 athletes, multi-group confirmatory factor analyses were conducted across sex, type of sports, and competitive levels. Results supported the original global and multidimensional structures of the instrument and demonstrated its measurement invariance, confirming its robustness across groups. Latent mean differences highlighted nuanced variations in social identity strength between male and female athletes as well as between individual- and team-sport participants. These findings establish the French SIQS as a valid and reliable instrument for assessing social identity in sport and provide a foundation for future cross-cultural and longitudinal investigations. This study underscores the instrument’s potential for advancing our understanding of social identity dynamics within diverse sporting environments.

Sport and physical activity have been mobilized as a vehicle for positive developmental outcomes of Indigenous youth . These experiences offer Indigenous youth the capacity to attain their full potential, accrue wholistic health benefits, and live in balance. Despite this knowledge, there is still limited research to understand Indigenous perspectives in extant literature. The purpose of this research was to explore and better understand how the wholistic health of First Nations youth is impacted through participation in sport and physical activity. Using purposeful sampling, eight First Nations youth (5 males, 3 females) between the age of 14 and 18 years (M-age = 16.75 years) were recruited to participate in one of two virtual sharing circles. Results highlighted that sport and physical activity are associated with positive outcomes related to physical adaptations, mental health, mental skills, and interconnectedness for First Nations youth. However, to balance findings, this research also demonstrates room for growth in sport and physical activity participation (e.g., racism). Findings from this research add important context and nuance to the overarching belief that sport and physical activity participation is beneficial to the wholistic health of Indigenous youth

Despite the considerable body of research dedicated to understanding antisocial behavior in sports, little is known about the perceptions of principal stakeholders (e.g. coaches, referees, and sports organization board members) of such behaviors. In this study, we qualitatively explored the meaning of antisocial behavior in sports using a social identity approach from the perspective of multiple key sports stakeholders. Twenty-one participants belonging to various social categories (i.e. coaches, athletes, athletes' relatives, referees, and sports organization board members) participated in semi-structured interviews aiming to explore what is and what is not antisocial behavior in sports. Contrary to the current understanding of what is antisocial in sports, findings revealed that antisocial behavior was primarily associated with (a) being violent, (b) failing to conform to social norms and values, (c) having non-justifiable discrimination practices, (d) expressing dysfunctional emotional states, (e) manipulating, (f) overstepping one's role, (g) cheating and (h) communicating in an inappropriate way regarding the target. Results of this explorative study also indicated that events being viewed as antisocial vary depending on the participant's categorization level. Collectively, these findings highlight the importance of considering social categorization (and its implications) to better understand the concept of antisocial behavior in sports.

Together For Us (T4Us) is a newly developed and evidence-informed social identity intervention for youth sport. Drawing on theoretical underpinnings of social identity theory and previous shared leadership intervention research in sport, T4Us leverages athlete leaders to foster a shared sense of social identity within the team. The purpose of this study was to conduct an initial feasibility study (Study 1) and a proof-of-concept evaluation (Study 2) to determine whether T4Us enhanced social identity and assessed the intervention implementation. In Study 1, five competitive youth ice hockey teams (mean age = 13.0 years) completed T4Us at midseason. Overall, athlete leaders (n = 19) and coaches (n = 4) expressed support for the acceptability and feasibility of the initial T4Us workshop in a youth sport setting, including the creation of a unique team “trademark” and the shared leadership mapping exercise. Participants also recommended possible improvements to T4Us (e.g., intervention timing and follow-up booster sessions to reinforce content). In Study 2, a total of 14 competitive youth soccer teams (mean age = 14.7 years) completed the revised T4Us at midseason. Descriptive results highlight that athletes’ perceptions of social identity were higher at post-intervention in comparison with pre-intervention. Post-intervention implementation evaluation results revealed that the teams used the game plan to support the team trademark, and athlete leaders and coaches encouraged team members to act according to the team game plan (scores > 5 on a 7-point scale). Interviews with athlete leaders described the different ways in which T4Us enhanced social identity within the team. Overall, the initial feasibility evidence and the proof-of-concept evaluation support the further development of T4Us, including a randomized-controlled T4Us protocol.

The social identity approach to leadership contends that the most effective leaders represent, advance, create, and embed a shared social identity (i.e., a sense of 'we' and 'us') within the groups they lead. Building on previous research, our study examines whether the perceived identity leadership of coaches and athlete leaders is associated with a range of key performance indicators (notably team and individual performance and effort) through team identification and team cohesion. We also examine if these relationships are generalisable across WEIRD (Westernised, Educated, Industrialised, Rich, and Democratic) and non-WEIRD countries while looking at whether they vary as a function of national culture (i.e., ingroup collectivism). To this end, we collected data from 3,135 football players across 211 teams in nine countries who engaged in an average of 4.02 sessions per week (SD = 2.03). Data were analysed using multilevel (multigroup) regressions and indicated that coaches' and athlete leaders' perceived identity leadership was associated with all performance indicators via both team identification and cohesion. For the most part, these relationships held across WEIRD and non-WEIRD countries. However, we also found some evidence that the relationships between identity leadership and performance varied cross-culturally and were generally stronger in countries high on ingroup collectivism. Together, these data suggest that identity leaders-across geographical and cultural borders-can make teams more effective and that they achieve this by leveraging 'our' strength in ways that make 'us' more cohesive.

Identity leadership is the process through which leaders create, advance, represent, and embed a sense of 'we' and 'us' (i.e., social identities) within the teams they lead. This paper extends the existing sports psychology literature by investigating the relationship between identity leadership and athletes' mental health, as mediated by team identification and social support. Additionally, the study explores the generalisability of these relationships across culturally diverse countries, as well as high and low-collectivistic cultures. To this end, we employed a large cross-sectional study design involving 2,861 athletes from 193 football (also known as soccer) teams across eight countries. Study results indicated that identity leadership on the part of coaches, team captains, and the best athlete leaders within the team was associated with greater feelings of 'we-ness' amongst athletes. This sense of 'we-ness' in turn correlated with athletes' increased perceptions of available social support for themselves and their team, ultimately contributing to enhanced well-being and reduced burnout. With some minor variation, these patterns were observed across all studied countries and across high and low-collectivistic cultures. In essence, identity leadership provided by coaches and athlete leaders was associated with better athlete mental health across geographical borders and cultures.

The purpose of this study was to investigate coach-initiated motivational climate and its relationship with athlete well-being, resilience, and psychological safety in competitive sport. In addition to independent relationships between task- and ego-related climates and the study outcomes, this research also explored the potential additive effects of task and ego climate together to understand if a task climate can buffer against the negative impacts of an ego climate. Self-report survey data were collected from competitive soccer players across Ontario, Canada ( N = 298; M age = 20.38; 58.72% male). Using multiple linear regression, a perceived task-related climate was a significant positive predictor of well-being ( ß = .33), resilience ( ß = .31), and psychological safety ( ß = .54, all ps < .001). A higher perceived ego-related climate was a significant negative predictor of psychological safety ( ß = −.23, p < .001), and not significantly related to well-being and resilience. Partial support for the additive effect of task- and ego-related climate together was found for psychological safety, but not well-being or resilience. Specifically, athletes in the latent profile characterized by average task and higher ego scored higher on psychological safety compared with lower task and higher ego climate perceptions. The increase in psychological safety between these two profiles was observed despite both having higher ego-related climates. Although future research is required, the findings offer meaningful contributions to theory and practice in the context of competitive soccer teams.

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.

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.

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 3point 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 systematic analysis of academic publishing and citation practices serves as an indication of the conceptual and intellectual structure of a defined field of study. To highlight the structure of research in sport-based positive youth development, 198 peer-reviewed articles published between 1999 and 2020 were subject to citation network analysis. Descriptive analyses highlighted a steady increase in publication frequency across two decades (annual growth rate = 3.36%) and outlined the most prominent contributors to PYD research as a function of authors, articles, and sources. Further, we mapped the conceptual structure of PYD research in sport using a co-occurrence keyword network and thematic map, and the intellectual structure of the research by producing a co-citation network of articles and authors in the field. In all, this review of publishing and citation practices in sport-based PYD is the first to bring the research together in full to map the emergence of conceptual trends over time as well as the authors, articles, and journals associated with these developments. We conclude with recommendations related to foundational PYD texts, elements of a published manuscript used in bibliometric analysis, and a need for conceptual clarity in the field of sport-based PYD research.

In competitive sport environments, coaches and sport psychology practitioners work to optimize individual and team performance. One strategy identified as a key to optimal sport performance is athlete self-awareness. This study evaluated the efficacy of a novel, online post-event reflection (PER) tool. Using a mixed methods design, 22 members of a competitive women's ice hockey team completed the PER across one season. The PER demonstrated efficacy through tailored insight used as a basis for athlete discussions, complementing other performance-related feedback. Follow-up interviews with three team members and the head coach provided additional support for the efficacy of the PER.Lay summary: In competitive sport environments, coaches and sport psychology practitioners work to optimize individual and team performance. This study provides evidence to support the use a novel, online post-event reflection tool by athletes, coaches, and sport psychology practitioners to enhance athlete self-awareness of mental skills and performance. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE center dot When striving to optimize performance, coaches and sport psychology practitioners should consider strategies to enhance athlete self-awareness center dot The post event reflection (PER) tool is an effective online tool for athletes, coaches, and sport psychology practitioners to enhance athlete self-awareness of mental skills and performance center dot The PER is also a valuable diagnostic tool for coaches and sport psychology practitioners to identify individual athlete and team patterns in mental skills and performance

Sport has been recognized globally as a powerful vehicle for uniting countries and hold a unique ability to reach, inspire, and promote youth development. A considerable body of empirical evidence demonstrates the relationships between sport participation and a number of positive developmental outcomes in youth including psychosocial and mental health benefits (Eime et al., 2013; Holt et al., 2017; Whitely et al., 2019). Given these promising findings, government bodies (e.g., United Nations General Assembly, 2018), and researchers have invested substantial time and resources to develop sport-based interventions to positively influence youth. Despite these investments, there have been minimal efforts to empirically evaluate the efficacy and effectiveness of the programs. In the present chapter, we critically examine the effectiveness of sport-based interventions on positive youth development (PYD) with the subsequent aim to offer evidence-informed recommendations for researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers.

Despite the pervasive belief that sport can serve as a vital context for positive youth development (PYD), the associated empirical evidence to support these claims is less compelling. To advance the field, the purpose of this scoping review was to better understand how sport-based PYD researchers conceptualize PYD, and both operationally define and measure PYD outcomes. A final sample of 78 non-experimental, quantitative research articles involving 90,665 youth (M-age = 14.16 years) met inclusion criteria. Results revealed a wide and inconsistent array of (a) conceptual models and definitions for PYD, (b) constructs used to operationalize PYD, and (c) measures used to assess these PYD constructs. Only 38 of the studies (48%) explicitly conceptualized PYD using a formal definition and/or framework and there were a total of 243 unique operational definitions to represent PYD through sport (assessed a total of 632 times). In light of these findings, we offer a set of recommendations with the intent to strengthen future quantitative, sport-based PYD research. We believe that adherence to these guidelines carries the potential to enhance future theoretical and practical contributions, and help to better understand sport as a vehicle for positive development for youth.

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.

Through interactions with important social agents (coaches, parents, and peers), youth athletes will infer that being successful in sport falls somewhere along the continuum between (a) improvement and hard work and (b) winning at all costs. The environment created as a result of these interactions has important implications for athlete mental health and future sport participation. This study examined the relationships between peer-initiated motivational climate, athlete wellbeing, and intention to return to the team. Youth athletes ( N = 130; Mage = 13.45 years) from nine competitive ice hockey teams completed a questionnaire near the end of season. Using mixed-effects linear modeling, findings revealed that a task-related peer climate significantly predicted wellbeing ( β = 0.32, 95% CI [0.18, 0.47]) and intention to return ( β = 0.43, 95% CI [0.17, 0.68]), whereas an ego-related peer climate was not significantly related to wellbeing ( β = 0.10, 95% CI [−0.07, 0.26]) or intentions to return ( β = −0.29, 95% CI [−0.58, 0.01]).

The field of positive youth development (PYD) has continually grown and expanded over time. As outlined by Weiss (2016), traces of contemporary PYD can be found as far back as the 1930s, with scholars claiming that physical educators are involved in building character in their participants. Looking even further back, it has been well documented that the value of sport participation has been considered well before these times with a famous statement attributed to Plato (as cited by Cubberly, 1920), who argued that the "moral value of exercise and sports far outweighs the physical value" (p. 46). These statements suggest that psychosocial benefits associated with sport have long been of concern, and attempts to understand them effectively have been ongoing.

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.