Search Results

Sport psychology professionals have increasingly utilized technology for providing performance enhancement and clinical services. Some uncertainty exists amongst professionals to the ethical nature of providing services using technology. The purpose of this study was to survey Certified Consultants of the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) on the frequency and perceived ethicality of their technology use for providing performance enhancement and clinical services. A secondary purpose was to investigate differences in perceived ethicality between consultants with professional licensure compared to unlicensed professionals. Results suggest overall technology use for service delivery by consultants is low. Technologies used to provide clinical services displayed significantly lower ethical ratings compared to their use for performance enhancement purposes. Differences between licensed consultants and those who are unlicensed emerged for the ethical perceptions of providing performance enhancement services via email, cell phone, and videoconferencing, as well as for clinical services provided via cell phone.

The utility of Deci and Ryan’s self-determination theory (1985) and Coakley’s unidimensional identity model (1992) has yet to be adequately assessed in understanding youth athlete burnout. This may be due to a lack of measures available to assess these relevant constructs in a youth athlete sample. Having such inventories would likely enhance practitioners’ ability to identify, prevent, and treat this phenomenon more effectively in young children. Therefore, the current study assessed the psychometric properties for modified burnout, motivation, and athletic identity inventories for a youth athlete sample. Participants included 88 youth swimmers ranging in age from 7 to 12 years, who completed measures assessing burnout, motivation, and athletic identity. Internal consistencies and exploratory factor analyses provided preliminary psychometric support for the use and continued evaluation of these revised measures with young athletes.

Recent research has used self-determination theory to examine athlete burnout among adults. However, there is a dearth of theory-driven research investigating burnout among young athletes, particularly as it pertains to its sociological influences. With research suggesting that motives for sport (dis)continuation vary among athletes of different ages, this study assessed the utility of self-determination theory (SDT) and Coakley’s model for youth burnout while examining developmental differences. Participants included swimmers of ages 7–17. Analyses revealed a model that approached adequate ft indices and accounted for 70% of the burnout variance. Results supported utilizing these theories to understand youth burnout while accounting for developmental differences.

Assessment is an important element to the present and future of sport psychology (McCann et al., 2002), both in science and in practice. Yet, few resources exist addressing the unique developmental parameters facing sport scientists and sport practitioners when it comes to conducting sound assessment across the athletic lifespan. Indeed, this aspect of the literature remains particularly sparse with respect to youth sport assessment (Noble, 2011). Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to provide an understanding of the practical issues and best practice guidelines pertaining to assessment during the provision of sport psychology services to children and adolescent athletes.

While there are significant benefits to be gleaned from the delivery of sport psychology services to youth athletes, there does not appear to be a sport psychology consulting model that adequately addresses the unique needs and organizational structure of a youth sport population. The authors have both integrated and extended the current paucity of literature in an attempt to provide sport psychology practitioners with an inclusive youth sport consulting model. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to introduce the Youth Sport Consulting Model (YSCM) which serves as an educational framework for guiding and supporting sport psychology practitioners in the implementation and delivery of sport psychology services for young athletes and their sport organizations.

Studying perceived autonomy support, a basic tenet of self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000), provides some understanding as to how coaches can more positively influence youth athletes to enjoy and persist in youth sport. Borrowing insights from success in physical education and coaching-oriented interventions, the purpose of this paper was to highlight positive aspects and challenges of an innovative youth sport autonomy supportive training program for coaches. Positives included the initial training session and the use of an online training component. Challenges were the structure of the season, other coaches, and possibly the age of the athletes. Future training programs in youth sport coaching should increase in duration, provide specific examples of how to implement autonomy supportive coaching behaviors, as well as address solutions to the time constraints of the youth sport setting.