Introduction:Amid growing concerns about youth mental health, several states in the U.S. have enacted policies requiring mental health training for school-based sport coaches. Methods:This mixed methods study explored the delivery of mental health training for coaches in Ohio in response to new policy mandates, comparing the effectiveness of in-person and asynchronous online formats. A total of 1,690 coaches completed evaluations after participating in an online (n = 978) or in-person (n = 712) state-approved mental health training. Results:Repeated measures ANOVA analyses revealed statistically significant increases in coaches' confidence in supporting student-athletes with mental health concerns and in linking them to appropriate supports, regardless of the delivery modality (p < .001). Small but significant interaction effects indicated slightly greater confidence gains among online participants (η 2 = .011 for supporting concerns; η 2 = .005 for linking to supports). Qualitative analysis of open-ended responses about perceived learning from online participants identified five major themes: (1) Approaching struggling student-athletes, where coaches highlighted new skills in de-escalation, emotional regulation, and engaging in difficult conversations; (2) Wellness check-ins, where coaches learned relational strategies to monitor well-being; (3) Q.P.P.R. (Question, Pause/Persuade, Refer), which improved coaches' recognition of warning signs and confidence in crisis conversations; (4) Creating dialogue with open-ended questions, which provided sentence starters to elicit meaningful conversations; and (5) Referring student-athletes to resources, which underscored the importance of knowing referral pathways. Discussion:Findings suggest coach educators can leverage technology to design interactive online coach training sessions that yield comparable learning outcomes to those of in-person training. Our results inform scalable, policy-aligned solutions that can enhance coach preparedness by leveraging technology to equip coaches with best practices in supporting student-athlete mental health.

Fundamental motor skills are critical for the holistic development of youth and predictive of future physical activity and sport involvement. LiFEsports is one sport-based positive youth development program known to produce social development outcomes; however, its contribution to fundamental motor skills development has not yet been studied. This study examined changes in object control (OC) skills (M= 3.04, SD = 4.49) among 72 youth aged 8-12 who participated in the LiFEsports program. Overall, the mean OC scaled score prior to the program was 8.46 (SD = 2.81), while the mean at posttest was 9.75 (SD = 2.82). Analysis of variance analyses were used to explore pre-and posttest outcomes overtime, as well as the effects by sex and return status. Time was a significant predictor of growth in OC skills, along with sex differences at pre-and posttests, with male participants outperforming female participants. There was also a significant interaction (p < .05) between sex and return status. Follow-up analyses revealed consistent sex differences (p < .05) for nonreturners; however, returners eliminated existing sex differences in OC skills. This study provides initial evidence for how LiFEsports participation contributes to fundamental motor skills development, a prerequisite for long-term involvement in sport and physical activity.

Youth sport coaches play a critical role in influencing developmental outcomes for athletes, including prolonged engagement in sport and physical activity, life skill development, and resilience. However, due to lack of knowledge, limitations in organizational support, or personal and professional experiences, coaches do not always engage in coaching behaviors that promote this growth and well-being. Within this body of literature, there are gaps in examining how specific coach experiences, like stress and burnout, influence coaching behaviors. Using Self Determination Theory (SDT), the current study utilized a cross-sectional design to explore the relationships among stress, burnout, need-supportive behaviors, and need-thwarting behaviors. Researchers collected survey responses from 353 youth sport coaches across the United States. Data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Results (chi(2) = 1,869.67; CFI = .96; SRMR = .07; RMSEA = .045) revealed that burnout was a stronger predictor of need-supportive and need-thwarting behaviors than stress. Coaches reporting higher levels of burnout also reported less use of need-supportive behaviors (p < .01) and more use of need-thwarting behaviors (p < .01). Stress was not found to be a strong predictor even though most coaches in the sample reported experiencing moderate to high levels of stress. Findings indicate a need to support youth sport coaches by utilizing strategies to reduce rates of coach burnout and support coaches experiencing burnout.

IntroductionRising rates of adolescent mental health symptomatology have prompted increased attention to the potential protective role of sport participation. While sport participation has the potential to support positive mental health outcomes, such as lower levels of anxiety and depression, athletes may also experience unique stressors and pressures surrounding sport. Such dualities underscore the need to better understand the mechanisms underlying the relationship between sport participation and mental health outcomes.MethodsThis study used structural equation modeling to examine whether sport participation (61% of the sample) was related to reduced internalizing and externalizing behaviors among a sample of 628 adolescents aged 13–18 (M = 14.55; SD = 1.44) and explored whether these relationships were mediated by perceived sport and social competence.ResultsThe hypothesized model demonstrated good fit (RMSEA = .043, SRMR = .044). Sport participation was positively associated with sport competence (β = .74) and social competence (β = .24). Internalizing behaviors were negatively predicted by sport (β = −.27) and social competence (β = −.14), and externalizing behaviors were negatively predicted by social competence (β = −.33) and positively predicted by sport competence (β = .11). A significant indirect pathway emerged from sport participation to internalizing behaviors (total indirect β = −.23) primarily through sport competence (β = −.20), whereas social competence did not uniquely mediate this relationship. Indirect effects for externalizing behaviors were non-significant. Measurement invariance analyses indicated that the model was equivalent in relationships across female and male adolescents.DiscussionFindings highlight sport competence as a key mechanism through which sport participation may relate to lower internalizing symptomatology and suggest that enhancing competence experiences in sport may be an important target for mental health promotion.

Social workers strive to end discrimination, oppression, and other forms of social injustice. Despite social work's commitment to antioppressive practices, the profession has historically lacked a critical lens on patterns of oppression that impact Indigenous, Black, Asian, Latina biracial, and multiracial (IBALBM) women. Intersectional frameworks and methods provide analytical tools that identify patterns of racism and sexism and centralize the experiences of IBALBM women in research design. The current study examines the extent to which mainstream social work research investigates the intersection of structural racism and sexism. Researchers conducted a content analysis of research articles from three different social work journals between 2015 and 2022 to examine the extent to which mainstream social work literature centralizes the lived experiences of IBALBM women through intersectional frames and methodologies. Findings reveal a dearth of research examining the lived experiences of IBALBM women through a critical lens. Among the 854 articles included in the analysis, 2.2% examined the lived experiences of IBALBM women, and only two studies applied a structural analytical lens. If the social work profession aims to fulfill the value of social justice, social work research must disrupt patterns of compounding oppression that persist at the intersection of race and gender.

BACKGROUND:Sport-based positive youth development (SBPYD) programs leverage sport as a context in communities to help youth build competencies and developmental assets, reduce risk factors, and transfer skills learned to other social settings. However, many programs do not fully achieve their objectives due to challenges with implementation fidelity. The purpose of this process evaluation was to (a) examine the implementation fidelity of a SBPYD program across multiple program domains, and (b) explore temporal and environmental factors influencing fidelity. METHOD:The SBPYD program of interest, LiFEsports, is a four-week summer camp designed to enhance the social and athletic competence of youth experiencing social vulnerabilities. The LiFEsports curriculum consists of four sessions per day of sport-specific instruction, healthy lifestyle lessons, and play-based educational activities designed to teach social skills. Program staff (N = 59) completed four valid and reliable self-report tools (aka "Session Logs") to assess their perceived implementation fidelity across four key domains of the program, including social skills coaching, sport coaching, program curriculum, staff practices. Our analyses consisted of a repeated measures ANOVA and multi-level modeling to assess differences across key program domains, changes in perceptions over time, and factors influencing fidelity. RESULTS:Results demonstrated significant differences in fidelity scores, with staff reporting the highest fidelity implementing staff practices and sport coaching, and lower perceptions of fidelity implementing program curriculum and social skills coaching. Multi-level modeling revealed higher perceptions of fidelity related to social skills coaching and program curriculum during the second and third curricular sessions of the day, whereas staff practices had lower fidelity during the fourth session (compared to the first session). Implementation of sport coaching decreased as the week progressed, whereas implementation of program curriculum and staff practices improved. Staff roles (coach vs counselor), perceived staff training efficacy, level of physical contact in sport (minimal vs high), type of session (sport vs education), social skills taught (introduction vs targeted skills), and group size (separate vs combined) significantly predicted implementation fidelity. CONCLUSIONS:Evaluation findings have implications for program design and organization, including priorities to enhance staffs' understanding of the program model through quality training and support; the design of simple lessons with focused activities that are replicated throughout the program; helping staff with making cross-curricular connections, planning and problem solving related to group dynamics, accommodating youth developmental differences; and increasing administrative support and accountabilities toward the end of a program week and day. Practitioners, educators, and evaluators can leverage our findings to inform high-quality programs designed to support youth development.

Introduction:Youth sport is widely regarded as a context for promoting positive youth development (PYD) and life skill development; however, inequities in the youth sport system can limit coaches' perceived ability to foster these outcomes. Guided by an integrated youth sport system perspective, this study examined how contextual factors, community-level resource access, and organizational training and support were associated with coaches' perceived impact on athlete life skill development. Methods:Using data from the U.S. National Coach Survey (N = 4,964), hierarchical linear regression analyses were conducted with predictors entered in three blocks: (1) context (school vs. community setting, urbanicity, proportion of athletes experiencing poverty, proportion of athletes identifying as Black, Latino, Asian/Pacific Islander, or multiracial), (2) access to community-level resources (e.g., equipment, transportation, safe practice spaces), and (3) organizational support and training [coaching certification, life skills training, administrative support, peer support, compensation (paid vs. unpaid), and having been evaluated last season]. Results:Context accounted for 5.4% of the variance in perceived impact. Access to community-level resources accounted for an additional 1.7% of the variance, with equipment availability emerging as a significant predictor. Organizational support and training variables accounted for the largest increase in variance (ΔR 2 = 6.5%, p < .01), with training in life skill development through sport, peer support, coaching certification, paid status, and prior evaluation associated with greater perceived impact on life skill development (R 2 = .136). Discussion:Findings suggest that coaches' capacity to support life skill development can be shaped by factors within youth sport organizations and the broader youth sport context. More research is needed to understand drivers of coaching to support life skill development. Implications for practice, policy, and coach education are discussed.

There is growing evidence that student experiences of school climate are closely linked to both individual and school-level outcomes. To support data-driven school improvement efforts, it is essential to use reliable and valid measures of school climate, especially brief tools that reduce response burden, ensure accessibility, and enhance feasibility. Using bifactor analysis, this study examined the psychometric properties of the Community and Youth Collaborative Institute School Climate Experience Survey - Middle/High School Student Short Form (CAYCI-SES-SF). Data were collected from 1,509 middle and high school students. Findings indicated the short 29-item version of the survey supports a general factor structure, suggesting it can function as a comprehensive, brief, psychometrically sound tool. The shortened instrument demonstrated strong overall reliability and adequate reliability for some subscales. However, variability in factor loadings and omega coefficients points to the need for further scale refinement. Overall, the study provides initial evidence for the use of the abbreviated CAYCI-SES-SF to assess school climate in educational settings.

The current study employed a randomized study design to assess the effectiveness of a sport-based positive youth development (SBPYD) program in enhancing social skill development among a sample of youth facing inequities in access to sport, recreation, and play. LiFEsports, a 4-week intervention designed to build social skills through sport, served as the applied SBPYD program. A total of 78 youth participated in the study, with 41 participating in LiFEsports during the first four weeks of summer, while 37 youth served as the waitlist control group. Changes in youth social skills over time were assessed via parent/caregiver reports on the Social Skills Improvement System-Rating System. Changes in pre- and post-test data revealed significant improvements in social skills among those in the intervention group compared to the waitlist control group, F(1, 77) = 12.24, p < .05, η2 = .14. Descriptive statistics also indicated that youth in the experimental group demonstrated an average increase of 10 percentile points based on gender and age-specific norms. In contrast, the waitlist control group showed a slight decline of 6 percentile points based. Baseline social skill scores significantly influenced post-intervention outcomes, highlighting the importance of initial competencies in predicting changes over time. This study offers insights into the influence of the LiFEsports intervention on social skill development. Findings underscore the potential of SBPYD programs in fostering social skills in school and community settings where access to sport, recreation, and play may be limited for specific populations.

High school sports in the United States engage approximately 7.6 million youth annually. While participation in high school sports can foster physical health, social skills, and motor competencies, maladaptive experiences such as stress, peer conflicts, and parental pressure can lead to athlete burnout. Recent research has highlighted coaches as pivotal social agents in mitigating burnout risks for athletes. Specifically, the importance of coach communication cannot be underestimated, as the ways in which the coach communicates with athletes is critical to limiting athlete burnout. This article uses a conceptual model to provide three specific coach communication strategies to reduce athlete burnout: (1) provide high rates of specific feedback that is congruent to performance; (2) prioritize interpersonal types of communication to build a more positive athlete-coach relationships; and (3) differentiate communication based on athlete's contextual and situational factors.

This study explores high school student-athlete perceptions of coaching behaviors following the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on informing future coach-preparation efforts. Using qualitative analysis of seven focus groups with 50 student-athletes, the study identified key themes that support the creation of positive sport environments. Athletes favored coaches who fostered caring, task-involving, and autonomy-supportive climates that prioritized well-being, personal growth, and emotional support. By contrast, authoritarian leadership styles, punitive behaviors, and poor emotional regulation were perceived as detrimental to athlete development and well-being, particularly during the transition back to school and sport. Findings emphasize the importance of equipping coaches with the knowledge, skills, and strategies needed to meet student-athletes' evolving psychosocial needs in a postpandemic context. Preparing coaches to build healthy, high-quality relationships with their athletes can promote resilience, enhance mental health outcomes, and ensure positive and developmentally supportive sport experiences for high school athletes.

There is growing evidence to support the value of sport-based positive youth development (PYD) programs in promoting the holistic health and development of youth. However, few studies expand beyond participant self-report to examine whether life skills learned in sport-based PYD programs transfer beyond adolescence into adulthood. This qualitative study examined life skill transfer from the lens of 19 parents and caregivers by exploring perceptions of how former participants (e.g., their once adolescent and now adult children) applied and transferred a subset of specific life skills into other areas of their lives. Semi-structured interviews and thematic content analyses were conducted to identify emergent themes regarding examples and facilitators of life skill transfer. Parents described multiple ways their children applied life skills learned while participating in a sport-based PYD program to work, school, and church, as well as when developing relationships, volunteering, and engaging in advocacy. Facilitators of life skill transfer also included exposure to new and diverse peers, opportunities to try new things, relationships with program staff, program incentives/reinforcements, opportunities for long-term engagement and retention, and parental involvement. Findings support the role of sport-based PYD in promoting long-term outcomes among youth as they grow and develop into adulthood.

Coach communication can influence athlete enjoyment but may vary based on the competencies athletes bring with them. Thus, we explored how high school athletes perceived sport competence and social competence in sport influences the relationship between coach interpersonal communication and athlete enjoyment in sport. Surveys were completed by 291 high school team sport athletes. Structural equation modeling found that coach interpersonal communication significantly and positively predicted athlete enjoyment. Athlete-perceived sport competence partially mediated the relationship between coach interpersonal communication and athlete enjoyment in sport, however athlete-perceived social competence in sport was not a significant mediator. Future research directions and implications for high school coaches and coach education are discussed.

Concerns exist about how the landscape of school sports is changing, leaving many school coaches feeling unprepared to meet the challenges of this role today. This article explores the status of school sports coaching by drawing on recent findings from the National Coach Survey, the first-of-its-kind survey in the United States released in 2022.

There is a dearth of research examining the role of college coaches in advocacy related to the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, and other gender and sexual minorities and racial justice. The present study sought to explore college coaches' engagement in such advocacy, from an ecological systems perspective. Using semistructured interviews and a grounded theory approach, our study elevated the voices of 16 National Collegiate Athletic Association coaches employed at Division I and III institutions who had a history of engagement in advocacy. Coaches engaged in advocacy for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, and other gender and sexual minorities and racial justice in multiple ways, such as by facilitating team conversations, discussing the importance of inclusion during recruitment activities, engaging in community events, partnering with community organizations, and voicing their perspectives on social media. Coaches also described facilitators and barriers related to their engagement in advocacy, including their sense of personal responsibility, desire to cultivate a supportive culture, access to institutional supports, knowledge of advocacy-related resources, awareness of power dynamics, and participation in major current social, political, and local events and protests. Our results frame an important discussion about the ways in which institutions can support coaches' engagement in advocacy and documents how sport can serve as a platform to affect social change.

Training to improve high school sport coaches' and athletic directors' knowledge, skills, and competencies to address and respond to rising mental health concerns is more important than ever. High school student-athletes are at increased risk for mental health concerns, given the pressures of balancing sport, school, and other responsibilities. This paper describes a community-based participatory research (CBPR) study that guided two years of public impact and social change efforts to improve coach education and training in one large Midwestern state in the United States. Our collective goal was to empower coaches and athletic directors to coach "beyond the Xs and Os." Using a CBPR framework, we describe the decision-making process that led to the co-development and implementation of a mental health training program piloted with 147 high school coaches and athletic directors. We also describe intermediate outcomes associated with our collective change efforts demonstrating the value of using a CBPR approach. Our "Coach Beyond" processes and outputs showcase how CBPR can lead to transformative action and social change to reorient sport as a context focused on the holistic health, wellness, and development of student-athletes.

Purpose: Few cost-effectiveness studies have been conducted on social-emotional interventions for students in preschool settings. The current study is a cost-effectiveness analysis of the First Step Next (FSN) intervention for preschool students. Method: Our approach involved a secondary analysis of a randomized control trial that utilized the ingredients method to estimate costs (Levin & McEwan, 2001). In addition, effect sizes were used to generate incremental cost-effectiveness ratios representing the cost of improving student outcomes by one standard deviation (1 SD). Results: FSN was more cost-effective for improving behavior in the school setting than in the home setting, with an average cost per 1 SD improvement of $3,833 and $6,329, respectively. Additionally, the intervention had greater cost-effectiveness for social skill-related outcomes than problem behavior-related outcomes among preschool students. Discussion: This study advances our understanding of the costs and outcomes of practices designed to improve the school success of our youngest learners.

The capacity of schools to address behavioral health concerns presents an emerging challenge, exacerbated by major shortages in the workforce. Schools across the U.S. are struggling to hire licensed behavioral health professionals, with additional barriers encountered when seeking to hire practitioners with experience in educational settings. In 2023, a school district in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio, partnered with The Ohio State University to launch a "grow your own" policy pilot. The priorities focused on addressing workforce shortages and leveraging the experiences of current teachers/staff to support growing needs related to student mental health and well-being. More specifically, the district utilized COVID-19 relief funds to recruit, train, and transition 25 teachers/staff into school mental health positions by underwriting the costs of each professional's Master of Social Work (MSW) degree. Here, we (a) describe the district-university partnership and the processes guiding the implementation of the "grow your own" model, (b) distill preliminary findings about district needs regarding behavioral health, and (c) explore facilitators, barriers, and outcomes associated with learning among participants in the program. The findings from a district-wide staff survey indicated a high level of need for individual counseling, crisis intervention, and small group interventions. Additionally, qualitative interviews revealed that learning among the program's participants was facilitated by effective classroom strategies and specific learning experiences integral to the program's design. These facilitators supported key learning outcomes, including general social work knowledge, self-awareness, and therapeutic skills that are foundational for engaging with students, parents/families, teachers/staff, and the broader school community. This innovative policy pilot and training model demonstrate how universities and local educational agencies can partner to address workforce development challenges at the intersection of behavioral health and education.