Lauren A. Gardner

Continued Participation in Youth Sports: The Role of Achievement Motivation

This study explored the antecedents of enjoyment and intention to continue in youth sports using the social-cognitive model of achievement motivation with the 2 × 2 achievement goal modification. Participants were 327 sports participants between 11 and 15 years of age. Individuals high in incremental beliefs reported greater enjoyment and intention to continue. This was perhaps due to endorsing mastery-approach goals. Individuals relatively high in entity beliefs reported relatively less enjoyment. This was perhaps due to endorsing performance-avoidance goals. These individuals also reported relatively less intention to continue regardless of their achievement goals. Findings could have implications for preventing dropout from youth sports.

A systematic review and meta-analysis of implicit theory research in sport, physical activity, and physical education

ABSTRACT The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to gather, catalogue, assess, and evaluate the available evidence examining implicit beliefs about ability in the sport, physical activity, and physical education contexts. A total of 43 studies were found, of which 39 were subjected to meta analyses. With only 7 experimental studies, the strength of evidence is moderate, and the field would benefit from greater experimental work. Overall, incremental beliefs were moderately associated with a small group of theoretically derived correlates, while entity beliefs were only weakly associated. The field would benefit from expanding these outcomes to include a wider range of pertinent outcomes. Researchers should focus their efforts on systematically exploring the most powerful ways of inducing adaptive implicit beliefs with the aim of providing solutions to significant problems such as preventing dropout from organised sports, improving academic grades in and beyond physical education, and increasing levels of physical activity.

The Relationship Between Implicit Beliefs, Anxiety, and Attributional Style in High-Level Soccer Players

This study investigated whether attributional style mediated the relationship between implicit beliefs and competition anxiety. Seventy-two soccer players completed the Conceptions of the Nature of Athletic Ability Questionnaire–Version 2, Sports Competition Anxiety Test, and short form Sports Attributional Style Scale. Entity beliefs were associated with heightened anxiety. Incremental beliefs were associated with lowered anxiety. Uncontrollable and global attributions mediated the relationship between entity beliefs and anxiety. Controllable and specific attributions mediated the relationship between incremental beliefs and anxiety. The social-cognitive model of achievement motivation appears to apply to the sporting domain and may facilitate anxiety and attribution research.

Health-related quality of life as a longitudinal mediator of the relationship between participation in organised sports and adiposity among young people

The objective of this study was to investigate potential mediating effects of health-related quality of life between childrens participation in organised sports and measures of adiposity. The sample consisted of 4116 children derived from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. Participants were aged 10.32 (SD = 0.47) years at baseline (2010), and followed up 24 and 48 months later. Participation in organised sports was assessed using child-completed time-use diary. Health-related quality of life and demographic data were reported by each childs primary parent. Measures of body mass index, body fat, and waist circumference were also taken at each Wave. Sport was indirectly associated with measures of body fat (β = −0.002, 95%CI −0.004, 0.000, p = .039) and waist circumference (β = −0.001, 95%CI −0.003, 0.000, p = .039) through the mediating effects of social functioning. Sport was also associated with body fat via physical functioning (β = −0.01, 95%CI −0.02, −0.003, p = .038), however, this was not replicated with other measures of adiposity. No other mediating effects were evident. Sport participation may enable children and adolescents to function well in groups and access social support which in turn promote health behaviours and influence adiposity. This may be one of multiple pathways through which sports participation is associated with adiposity. Replication and extension of these novel findings is warranted, as is a focus on the design and implementation of sports programs to maximise health benefits.

The Role of Implicit Beliefs and Achievement Goals as Protective Factors in Youth Sport

This study explored whether implicit beliefs and 2 × 2 achievement goals were related to enjoyment in youth sport over 1 year and whether perceived changes in the coach–athlete relationship moderated these relationships. Indirect and conditional indirect effect analyses were conducted in a sample of 247 regular sport participants (Mage = 13.03 years). After adjusting for enjoyment at Time 1, incremental beliefs were indirectly related to Time 2 enjoyment via mastery-approach goals. However, this effect was evident only when the coach–athlete relationship was perceived to have deteriorated. Results highlight the protective value of adaptive implicit beliefs and achievement goals in youth sport.