Staff Practices and Social Skill Outcomes in a Sport-Based Youth Program

Abstract

Staff are key contributors to quality sport-based youth programming. Specific practices leading to positive youth outcomes warrant further investigation. This study examined social skill outcomes resulting from participation in a sport-based youth program, LiFEsports. In addition, relationships among emotional and autonomy supportive staff practices and outcomes were examined. Results pointed to the value of sport-based youth programs for promoting self-control among youth from vulnerable backgrounds and indicated that youth-perceived emotional and autonomy supportive staff practices predicted improvements in perceived self-control but not perceived externalizing behaviors.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank Molly Bergen, Nick Daugherty, Caitlin Eger, Courtney Elrod, Sara Goff, Becky Wade-Mdivanian, and Paula Yoho for their help with data collection. We especially thank the LiFEsports staff, youth participants, and parents/guardians who invested time and energy into this research project.

Notes

Thanks to an anonymous reviewer for this suggestion.

Table 1 Descriptive Statistics and Correlations

Thanks to an anonymous reviewer for this suggestion.