Search

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."

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: When striving to optimize performance, coaches and sport psychology practitioners should consider strategies to enhance athlete self-awareness 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 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 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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; M age = 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]). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing from theory of the multidimensional nature of social identity, the purpose of this study was to assess an adapted measure of social identity in sport that captures the extent to which parents identify with their child's team. Using the Social Identity Questionnaire for Sport (SIQS) with items specifically modified for parents, we assessed competitive youth sport parents' perceptions of ingroup ties, cognitive centrality, and ingroup affect. Using an exploratory and confirmatory analysis process, a conceptually grounded three-factor structure was supported in a sample of 788 ice hockey parents. Measurement invariance testing found strong invariance for the measurement tool based on participants' biological sex, previous sport experience, and proximal competition outcome. Finally, differences emerged when comparing latent means across their child's most recent game outcome. Taken together, this study offers a novel tool to better understand and measure perceptions of social identity among sport parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although social identity has been linked to moral behaviour in past research, we know less about how the identity-enhancing behaviours of athlete leaders may relate to the experience of prosocial and antisocial behaviour between youth sport teammates. This study examined the relations between perceptions of athlete identity leadership and moral behaviour in social situations outside of training and competition. Participants were 130 competitive male and female youth ice hockey players (M age = 13.45 years, SD = 1.82, range = 10–17) from nine teams in a Northeastern Ontario city in Canada. Measures of identity leadership and moral behaviour were completed concurrently within the final three weeks of the regular season. Using structural equation modeling, results demonstrated a significant positive association between identity leadership and both engaging in prosocial behaviour toward teammates (β =.37, p =.003) and receiving prosocial behaviour from teammates (β = 0.40, p <.006), accounting for 34% and 51% of the variance in each prosocial outcome, respectively. Although the relations with antisocial behaviour (engaged and received) were in the expected negative direction, the path estimates were not significant (p s >.23). These findings further our understanding of identity leadership in youth sport generally, offering insight into the relations between identity-enhancing athlete leader behaviours and moral behaviour. The findings also extend past moral behaviour research to consider the social situations in which teammates find themselves outside of training and competition. • Investigated identity leadership and teammate moral behaviour in social situations. • Identity leadership positively predicted prosocial behaviours among teammates. • Identity leadership was not significantly associated with antisocial teammate behaviours. • Consistent results for both engaging in, and receiving, moral behaviour from teammates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grounded in personal and social identity theory, the purpose of this study was to examine whether parents' personal and social identity perceptions influence their moral intentions towards antisocial parent behaviour in a youth sport setting. Parents of competitive youth ice hockey players (N = 437) read a vignette that either described a parent from the participant's own team (i.e., ingroup), or a parent from an opposing team (i.e., outgroup) acting antisocially towards an athlete from the participant's own team, an opposing athlete, or their own child. Parents were asked whether they would respond to the antisocial behaviour in the form of direct or indirect criticism or report the behaviour to the coach or to the league. Parents were more likely to directly criticize ingroup parents than outgroup parents and they were more likely to indirectly criticize outgroup parents than ingroup parents. Further, parents with stronger social identities reported higher intentions to indirectly criticize an outgroup parent. There were no main effects for reporting behaviour (to coach or league), and personal identity did not moderate relationships with moral intentions towards antisocial behaviour. By providing parents with a situation that includes antisocial parent behaviour in the immediate youth sport environment, novel insight was gathered with regard to what contextual elements might drive parents' intention to criticize, but not report antisocial behaviour. • We examine the influence of parents' personal and social identities on their moral intentions towards antisocial parent behaviour. • Social identity moderated parents' intentions to indirectly criticize an antisocial parent from another team. • Parents are reluctant to report antisocial behaviours, regardless if the behaviour is targeted at their own child. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The social identity approach discusses leadership as a repetitive and multi-dimensional group process relying on leaders' abilities to represent, advance, create, and embed a shared sense of social identity amongst their followers (Haslam, Fransen, & Boen, 2020). To conduct an in-depth exploration of youth coaches' use of identity leadership in a naturalistic setting. The Electronically Activated Recorder was used to sample and record conversations between eight head coaches (M age = 44.88 years, SD = 6.08; M experience = 11.25 years, SD = 6.18) and members of their teams, other teams, and officials during a three-day competitive youth ice hockey tournament in Central Ontario, Canada. A total of 597 audio observations captured coaches' sport-related conversations at the tournament. We followed Fletcher's (2017) analysis guidelines involving the identification of preliminary trends or patterns in the data, theoretical redescription, and contextual considerations. Coaches' conversations aligned with the four principles of identity leadership, and thus the observational data were organized into the higher-order themes of identity prototypicality, advancement, entrepreneurship, and impresarioship. The findings illuminate the potential of identity leadership to promote and undermine youth athletes' positive experiences in sport. Coaches engaged in identity leadership behaviors in a variety of social environments (e.g., car ride to/from competition, locker room, during competition). The findings provide new details about identity leadership in practice and caution its potential to undermine positive athlete experiences in youth sport. • Youth coaches' conversations observed using the Electronically Activated Recorder. • Findings demonstrate use of identity leadership in youth coaches' daily behaviors. • Illustrates positive and negative applications of identity leadership. • Youth coaches use identity leadership before, during, and after competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the current study was to explore parent-athlete sport-related conversations as they naturally occurred in the private contexts that surround youth sport. A secondary aim was to understand whether male and female guardians communicate differently in sport, and whether these differences are shaped by the contexts in which they appear. We used the Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR) to gather snippets of parents' and athletes' daily social interactions in the contexts that surround youth sport. A total of 220 audio files were gathered in the car ride to and from competition, the ice hockey arena, and at their home base (i.e., family residence of local teams and hotels for out-of-town teams) over the course of a 3-day competitive ice hockey tournament. Conversations were inductively coded using reflexive thematic analysis through a critical realist lens. Higher order themes included (a) performance-related dialogue; (b) the opportunity to discuss other social agents, and (c) parental social support. Frequency analysis revealed more instances of negative evaluations and technical instruction from fathers, whereas positive encouragement was more prominent from mothers. These findings present novel insight into the nature of parent-athlete interactions outside of the immediate sport-competition environment. We encourage scholars to consider the EAR for future investigation of the youth sport environment. • Family conversations were gathered in the car, at home, and at the hockey rink. • Performance evaluations and technical instruction were more prevalent from fathers. • Mothers provided more positive encouragement. • Family conversations focus on performance, other social agents, and social support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]