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Positive youth development (PYD) programs assist youth in acquiring the skills, attitudes, and values that are critical in coping with various risk factors in their communities. The purpose of this paper is to highlight strategies that sport psychology consultants can use to support PYD programs and develop collaboration and consistency of delivery among community youth serving agencies that use sport and physical activity-based experiences to promote positive youth development. In particular, the role of sport psychology consultants within sport and physical activity programs that serve as a catalyst for community youth development (CYD) is examined. Barriers to collaboration among community-based organizations are identified and strategies to overcome these obstacles are proposed. Sport psychology consultants are in a unique position to support PYD and CYD in the athletes and communities they serve.

Challenge cognitive appraisals are associated with superior performance compared with threat (Jones, Meijen, McCarthy, & Sheffield, 2009). However, research has not examined longitudinal temporal patterns of challenge and threat appraisals. In this study, 14 (five female) elite rowers (Mage = 25.79 years, SD = 2.67) provided self-reported appraisals data at four time points (baseline; before national trials; before the second world rowing cup regatta; and before the world rowing championships). The rowers’ predisposed appraisal style predicted subsequent appraisals. Challenge and self-efficacy increased while loss and avoidance appraisals decreased over time. The rowers were highly predisposed to challenge, becoming more challenged through events of increasing magnitude. This suggests that athletes’ predisposed appraisal style can predict their approach to competition. Future studies could identify protocols for encouraging challenge states in athletes, observe the physiological indicators of challenge and threat longitudinally, and consider the interaction between challenge and threat appraisals.

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of music on swimmers’ preperformance psychobiosocial states. A purposeful sample of competitive swimmers (N = 17) participated in a 5-week intervention grounded in the individual zones of optimal functioning (IZOF) model. Findings showed that (a) preperformance psychobiosocial states differentiated between best and worst performances, (b) swimmers improved their ability to regulate preperformance states through the use of music, and (c) the use of music had a positive impact on swimmers’ perceived effectiveness of preperformance routines. Furthermore, swimmers’ qualitative reports indicated that music use was made more purposeful due to the introduction of a music intervention. The current study provides preliminary evidence in support of the use of music during preperformance routines as an effective tool to regulate athletes’ preperformance states. Athletes are encouraged to engage in the process of carefully selecting music in accordance with individualized profiles related to optimal performance states.

The role of dispositional mindfulness on stress in student-athletes and factors that mediate this relationship has yet to be examined. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between the facets of mindfulness and life stress in student-athletes and whether these relationships are mediated through coping effectiveness and decision rumination. Participants were 202 student-athletes who completed validated measures of dispositional mindfulness, student-athlete life stress, decision rumination and coping effectiveness in sport. Results indicated that the acting with awareness and nonjudging facets of mindfulness were negative predictors of life stress, whereas the observe facet was a positive predictor of life stress. Mediation analyses revealed that these relationships were mediated through coping effectiveness and decision rumination. Findings provide new insight into the role dispositional mindfulness plays on student-athlete perceptions of life stress and implications for practitioners are discussed.

The aim of this paper is to present a critical reflection on mental toughness using a creative analytic practice. In particular, we move from intrapersonal technical reflections to an altogether more interpersonal cultural analysis that (re)considers some of the assumptions that can underpin sport psychology practice. Specifically, in the ripples that extend from these initial technical reflections, we argue that it is important to understand vulnerability, and consider (a) wounded healers, (b) the ideology of individualism, and (c) the survivor bias to help make sense of current thinking and applied practice. Emerging from these ripples are a number of implications (naming elephants, tellability, neoliberalism) from which sport psychologists may reflect upon to enhance their own practice. In making visible the invisible, we conclude that vulnerability can no longer be ignored in sport psychology discourse, research, and practice. Should this story of vulnerability resonate, we encourage you, where appropriate to share this story.

Editor’s Note: The Bulletin Board provides current news and information about the field of sport psychology. Featured is news from professional organizations, announcements of upcoming conferences and events, information about innovative developments in teaching and consulting in sport psychology, web resources, job and career opportunities in sport psychology, and names in the news. The success of the Bulletin Board depends, in large, upon the information provided by you. Please send information for possible inclusion in the Bulletin Board to: Rich Neil Ph.D., Cardiff School of Sport, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cyncoed Road, Cardiff, CF23 6XD, United Kingdom. Telephone: 44-2920-205-815; Fax: 44-2920-416-768; e-mail: rneil@cardiffmet.ac.uk with the subject heading TSP Bulletin Board. Thanks for your support.

Despite a plethora of research on moral disengagement and antisocial behavior, there is a dearth of literature that explores personality in the context of these undesirable attitudes and behaviors. We provide the first examination of personality, specifically narcissism, as a predictor of moral disengagement and antisocial behavior in sport. Given that narcissism is negatively related to empathy and positively related to feelings of entitlement, it is more likely for narcissists to disengage morally and to behave antisocially. We thus hypothesized that narcissism would predict antisocial behavior via moral disengagement. Across 12 team contact sports (n = 272), bootstrapped mediation analyses confirmed this indirect effect, which remained significant when controlling for motivational climate, social desirability, sex and sport type. Coaches and practitioners would do well to consider the darker side of personality in targeting moral disengagement and its behavioral consequences in team sports.

The general objective of the current study was to explore the experiences of elite level athletes who reported being peer mentored by other athletes during their sporting careers. The primary purpose was to identify the mentoring functions provided by athlete mentors, while the secondary purpose was to examine the outcomes related to peer mentored athletes’ (i.e., protégés) mentoring experiences. Individual interviews were conducted with 14 elite peer mentored athletes, and the data were analyzed using a hierarchical content analysis. The results indicated that athlete mentors provided a variety of specific functions that facilitated protégés’ progression through sport and development from a personal standpoint. The findings also showed that protégés benefitted in terms of enhanced performance and confidence, and also demonstrated a willingness to provide mentorship to their peers. In sum, the results of the current study may be used to enhance the effectiveness of peer mentoring relationships between athletes.

Observation provides applied sport psychologists with a direct assessment of client behavior within the sporting environment. Despite the unique properties and the insightful information that observation allows, it has received limited literary attention within the applied sport psychology domain. The current study aimed to explore and further understand the observation practices of current trainee practitioners. All participants were enrolled on a training program toward becoming either a chartered psychologist (BPS) or an accredited sport and exercise scientist (BASES). In total, five focus groups were conducted and analyzed using an interpretative phenomenological approach (IPA; Smith, 1996). Four superordinate themes emerged: value of observation, type of observation, challenges of observation, and suggestions for observation training. Results demonstrate the increased value that observation brings to effective service delivery and intervention. Specifically, informal observation is commended for its propensity to build greater contextual intelligence and to develop stronger client relationships.

This mixed methodology study investigated the effects of a ten session mindfulness-based intervention on a women’s collegiate basketball team’s (n = 13) perceived stress, athletic coping resources, and perceptions of the mindfulness intervention. Quantitative results showed a progressive decrease in stress and an increase in athletic coping skills over the course of the intervention. Qualitative results indicated the mindfulness intervention was beneficial in various aspects of the athletes’ lives in the form of improved awareness, control, focus, presence and relaxation. These results suggest that mindfulness training may be an effective approach in assisting college athletes attain benefits in both sport and life.