Developmentally based theories in the social-psychology field emphasize the important role that significant adults play in relation to children’s psychosocial health and well-being. In particular, these theories suggest that the responses adults provide to children in reaction to their performance attempts may affect the children’s own perceptions and evaluations of their competencies, as well as their overall self-worth. In the youth sport setting, coaches may be the main providers of performance-related feedback. The purpose of this paper was to use current research and theory to identify and discuss 4 dimensions of coaches’ feedback that are relevant to the growth and development of young athletes: content, delivery, degree of growth orientation, and extent of stereotyping. The paper ends with recommendations for future research on the topic, with emphasis on examining developmental transitions and why coaches give feedback in particular ways.
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Thelma S. Horn
Stewart A. Vella
-being. A systematic review of the psychosocial outcomes of youth sport participation demonstrates that participants report fewer mental health problems, lower depression scores, and fewer anxiety symptoms ( Eime, Young, Harvey, Charity, & Payne, 2013 ). Sport participation during adolescence is also
Maureen R. Weiss
proposed a developmental theoretical orientation for studying psychosocial and motor skill outcomes of youth sport participation. They highlighted developmental theories such as competence motivation theory ( Harter, 1978 , 1981 ) for building bridges between sport psychology and motor development. Duda
Zenzi Huysmans, Damien Clement, Robert Hilliard, and Adam Hansell
framework’s ( International Council for Coaching Excellence, Association of Summer Olympic International Federations, & Leeds Metropolitan University, 2013 ) guidelines for the specific outcomes of youth sport participation. These outcomes include sport competence, development of the whole person (personal
