The role of career adaptability resources in dual career pathways: A person-oriented longitudinal study across elite sports upper secondary school

ObjectivesObtaining education is an important milestone in athletes’ preparation for their professional career after sport. Literature indicates that combining school and sport is not an easy task for many aspiring youth athletes. It has been proposed that career adaptability, which refers to psychosocial resources enabling individuals to solve complex occupational transitions, present and anticipated vocational development tasks, and career related challenges could be a relevant concept for applied work with student-athletes. In this study, we examined whether there are distinct developmental profiles of career adaptability among adolescent athletes across the upper secondary school years. We also investigated the associations between career adaptability and sport withdrawal and academic achievement.Design and methodsA total of 391 Finnish-speaking student-athletes completed the questionnaire on career adaptability (Career Adapt-Abilities Scale – Dual Career Form; Ryba & Aunola, 2015; Ryba et al., 2017) at the beginning and end of upper secondary school. The participants’ background information about their sport participation and grade point average were collected upon completion of each grade of upper secondary school. The data were analysed using cluster analysis, cross-tabulation, and one-way analysis of variance.ResultsFour distinct adaptability profiles were identified: higher adaptability, lower adaptability, increasing adaptability, and decreasing adaptability. Higher and lower adaptability profiles showed stable levels of adaptability across time, whereas the adaptability level either increased or decreased in the other two profiles. Student-athletes with a lower career adaptability profile were overrepresented among those who withdrew from competitive sports, and they reported lower grade point averages than those with higher scores of career adaptability.ConclusionsHigh scores of career adaptability were associated with high grades, whereas low scores of career adaptability were associated with low grades and a probability to withdraw from competitive sport. Therefore, it is recommended that career adaptability be considered as important self-regulation resources for sustaining dual career pathways over time.     

Inquiry and Analysis: Dewey and Russell on Philosophy

In an environment characterized by the emergence of new and diverse (and often opposed) philosophical efforts, there is a need for a conception of philosophy that will promote the exchange and critical consideration of divergent insights. Depending upon the operative conception, philosophical efforts can be viewed as significant, insightful and instructive, or unimportant, misguided and not real philosophy. This paper develops John Dewey's conception of philosophy as a mode of inquiry in contrast with Bertrand Russell's conception of philosophy as a mode of analysis. I argue that while Russell's analytic conception of philosophy justifies the dismissal of non-analytic philosophies, Dewey's conception of philosophy provides a theoretical framework for the comparison, evaluation and interaction of alternatives.     

Validity of the miami structured interview-1 for assessing type a behavior,competitiveness, and aggression in children

The validity of the Miami Structured Interview-1 for measuring Type A behavior in children was examined in 122 boys 8 to 16 years old. We assessed the relationship between interview ratings and Type A and factor analytically derived Type A component scores from the Matthews Youth Test for Health (MYTH), a teacher rating scale. The validity of interview ratings was initially supported by significant correlations with MYTH Type A scores for preadolescents rated by English teachers and adolescents rated by English and mathematics teachers. Principal-components analyses of the MYTH items revealed components we labeled competitiveness-leadership and impatience-aggression. Interview ratings were related to the competitiveness-leadership component from English and mathematics teachers of both age groups but not the impatience-aggression component. The implications of these findings and the strengths and limitations of the Miami Structured Interview-1 for preadolscents and adolescents are discussed.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the American Psychological Association 91st Annual Meeting, Anaheim, California, 1983. This research was supported by National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Grant R01 HL23356, Cross-Cultural Determinants of Coronary Heart Disease Risk Factors in Preadolescents and Adolescents. We gratefully acknowledge the confidence and support shown by Dr. George Christakis, Principal Investigator of Grant R01 HL23356.     

Psychometric properties of the youth experience survey with young athletes

Objectives

The topic of positive youth development through sport has received much research attention in recent years. However, a specific tool that measures this construct has yet to be fully developed. The purpose of this study was to test the factor structure of the Youth Experience Survey 2.0 (YES; Hansen & Larson, 2005) in a sample of youth sport participants; an instrument that was originally developed to assess experiences across any type of structured activity.

Design/methods

A total of 637 athletes aged 9-19 years completed the YES. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to fit the data to the model. The confirmatory factor analysis did not provide strong support for the models tested that resulted in a re-examination of the data using exploratory analyses. This analysis was preceded by a parallel analysis to determine the number of factors to retain.

Results

Results of exploratory analyses created a modified version of the YES that measures 5 dimensions of youth development (personal and social skills, initiative, goal setting, cognitive skills, and negative experiences). The revised version of the scale, which contains 37 items, was renamed the Youth Experience Survey for Sport (YES-S).

Conclusions

The YES-S is proposed as an instrument capable of measuring positive and negative developmental experiences occurring in the youth sport domain.     

Prospective associations between physical fitness and executive function in adolescents: The UP&DOWN study

IntroductionThe objective of the present work is to investigate the prospective associations between physical fitness components (cardiorespiratory fitness, motor fitness, and muscular strength) and two domains of executive function (working memory and inhibitory control) in adolescents.MethodsA total of 422 Spanish adolescents (13.35 ± 1.54 years, at baseline) from the UP&DOWN study with assessments at baseline and at 2-year follow-up were included in the analysis. Physical fitness was assessed using the ALPHA Fitness Test Battery. Working memory was measured by the n-back task and inhibitory control by the go/no-go task. Relationships of physical fitness components with working memory and inhibitory control were examined using linear regression models, adjusted for confounders.ResultsHigher baseline levels of the three physical fitness components (cardiorespiratory fitness, motor fitness, and muscular strength) individually predicted better performance on the working memory (β_ranged, from .159 to .207; all p < .012) and inhibitory control (β_ranged, from 0.168 to 0.263; all p < .004) tasks at the 2-year follow-up. Muscular strength was the only component associated with inhibitory control independent of the other 2 physical fitness components (β = 0.266; p = .005).ConclusionsAll components of adolescents’ physical fitness at baseline were individually associated with better working memory and inhibitory control at 2-year follow-up. Specifically, our results revealed that muscular strength was the component showing the strongest association with executive function, and even the only fitness component associated with inhibitory control independent of the other fitness components. These findings may have important public health and educational implication, since promoting exercise programs that improve physical fitness, and particularly, muscular strength, may positively influence cognitive health.     

Not your average sport parents: How sport scholars make decisions about their own children’s sport involvement

Every year, millions of parents are faced with decisions about their children’s sport involvement that may have profound impacts on psychosocial and developmental outcomes. Little is known about how parents make these decisions and what factors may be influencing them, although parents’ sport background and knowledge are likely important. Parents who are also active sport scholars with knowledge of the academic literature and policies pertaining to youth sport are well positioned to clarify and interpret their decision-making processes and influences related to their children’s sport involvement. In this study, we aimed to answer the question, “How do parents with academic expertise in sport make decisions about their children’s sport involvement?” We interviewed 11 faculty-researchers from within the United States and Canada, all of whom held doctorates in sport-related disciplines and had one or more children between the ages of 8–15 years involved in organized, competitive sport. Findings were analyzed through a process of content analysis, and results are represented by four main themes: (a) influencing factors, (b) encouraging sampling, (c) evaluating and modifying the sport environment, and (d) supporting autonomy. Our findings revealed far more complexity in the types of decisions to be made and the factors influencing them than is currently suggested by youth sport literature and policy documents. As well, participants demonstrated nuanced interpretations of commonly endorsed sport parenting practices and illuminated structural issues with youth sport policies, including a focus on individual athletes without consideration of siblings and the family unit as a whole.     

Skating through pregnancy and motherhood: A narrative analysis of digital stories of elite figure skating expectant mothers

ObjectivesAlthough research on elite sport and motherhood is growing, more research is needed to understand the narratives that shape their identities and lives. We sought to build on sport psychology research centralizing the media as naturalistic data resources to explore elite athlete mother identity in cultural context. The specific aim was to explore how elite athlete identities are portrayed during pregnancy on Instagram.DesignTwo high profile elite figure skating expectant mothers’ (i.e., Meagan Duhamel and Aljona Savchenko) Instagram posts were the focus of a dialogical narrative analysis (DNA) grounded in relativist narrative inquiry. Two research questions were explored: 1. how do expectant athlete mothers portray themselves in big and small stories, and 2. what are the implications (e.g., psychosocial, behavioural) of identity meanings portrayed in digital stories?ResultsDNA of 122 posts (n = 82 for Duhamel, n = 40 for Savchenko) identified a key big story: (re)configuring ideal pregnancy. Four small stories fed into fluid meanings of ‘ideal pregnancy’ and ways of ‘doing pregnancy’ linked to self-identity portrayals: documenting the growing life, baby bumps on display, Olympic dreams/journeys and living the good life through leisure. Consumerism was shown to thread small stories. These findings show contradictions of motherhood meanings and body ideals (e.g., feminine, athletic) vs realities (e.g., tired, sore), linked to actions (e.g., skating during pregnancy, promoting products or athlete brand), in good mother and biomedical narratives.ConclusionsA big and small story approach grounded in narrative inquiry holds value to learn more about the digital landscape’s role in shaping athlete expectant mother self-identities. Future research exploring social media (e.g., Twitter, Facebook) may expand intertextual understanding of athlete mothers' identities and lives.     

Change in the social context of physical activity across adolescence and its association with moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity

We examined whether changes in social context (i.e., frequency with which youth engage in physical activity [PA] alone, with teammates, with friends, with siblings, or with parents/grandparents) is associated with change in moderate-to-vigorous intensity PA (MVPA) across Grades 5–8 and Grades 8–11 (N = 938). Data were self-reported annually. Across Grades 5–8, the frequency of PA in all social contexts declined over time, and changes in the frequency of PA alone, with teammates, with siblings, and in diversity of PA companion types were positively associated with change in MVPA. Across Grades 8–11, the frequency of PA with siblings, friends, and parents/grandparents declined over time, and changes in the frequency of PA alone, with teammates, with friends, with parents/grandparents, and in diversity of PA companion types were positively associated with change in MVPA. PA social contexts vary in how they associate with change in MVPA in youth over time.