Evaluating the effects of sport-based positive youth development programs in enhancing social skill development: Findings from a randomized study of LiFEsports

IF 3.3 2区心理学 Q2 HOSPITALITY, LEISURE, SPORT & TOURISM

Psychology of Sport and Exercise Pub Date : 2025-09-24 DOI:10.1016/j.psychsport.2025.103000

Samantha Bates, Dawn Anderson-Butcher

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Abstract

The current study employed a randomized study design to assess the effectiveness of a sport-based positive youth development (SBPYD) program in enhancing social skill development among a sample of youth facing inequities in access to sport, recreation, and play. LiFEsports, a 4-week intervention designed to build social skills through sport, served as the applied SBPYD program. A total of 78 youth participated in the study, with 41 participating in LiFEsports during the first four weeks of summer, while 37 youth served as the waitlist control group. Changes in youth social skills over time were assessed via parent/caregiver reports on the Social Skills Improvement System-Rating System. Changes in pre- and post-test data revealed significant improvements in social skills among those in the intervention group compared to the waitlist control group, F(1, 77) = 12.24, p < .05, η² = .14. Descriptive statistics also indicated that youth in the experimental group demonstrated an average increase of 10 percentile points based on gender and age-specific norms. In contrast, the waitlist control group showed a slight decline of 6 percentile points based. Baseline social skill scores significantly influenced post-intervention outcomes, highlighting the importance of initial competencies in predicting changes over time. This study offers insights into the influence of the LiFEsports intervention on social skill development. Findings underscore the potential of SBPYD programs in fostering social skills in school and community settings where access to sport, recreation, and play may be limited for specific populations.

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评估以运动为基础的积极青少年发展计划对提高社会技能发展的影响：来自生活运动随机研究的结果。

本研究采用随机研究设计来评估以体育为基础的积极青少年发展（SBPYD）计划在促进在获得体育、娱乐和游戏方面面临不平等的青少年的社会技能发展方面的有效性。LiFEsports是一个为期4周的干预项目，旨在通过运动培养社交技能，是SBPYD项目的应用项目。共有78名青少年参加了这项研究，其中41人在暑假的头四周参加了生活体育活动，而37名青少年作为候补对照组。随着时间的推移，青少年社交技能的变化是通过父母/照顾者对社交技能改进系统评级系统的报告来评估的。测试前后数据的变化显示，干预组与等候名单对照组相比，社交技能有显著提高，F(1,77) = 12.24, p < 0.05, η2 = 0.14。描述性统计数据还表明，实验组的年轻人在国家标准的基础上平均增加了10个百分点。相比之下，等候名单控制组显示出6个百分点的轻微下降。基线社会技能得分显著影响干预后的结果，突出了初始能力在预测随时间变化方面的重要性。本研究对生活体育干预对社会技能发展的影响提供了深入的见解。研究结果强调了SBPYD项目在学校和社区环境中培养社交技能的潜力，在这些环境中，特定人群获得体育、娱乐和游戏的机会可能有限。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Psychology of Sport and Exercise 医学-心理学

CiteScore

6.40

自引率

5.90%

发文量

172

审稿时长

69 days

期刊介绍： Psychology of Sport and Exercise is an international forum for scholarly reports in the psychology of sport and exercise, broadly defined. The journal is open to the use of diverse methodological approaches. Manuscripts that will be considered for publication will present results from high quality empirical research, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, commentaries concerning already published PSE papers or topics of general interest for PSE readers, protocol papers for trials, and reports of professional practice (which will need to demonstrate academic rigour and go beyond mere description). The CONSORT guidelines consort-statement need to be followed for protocol papers for trials; authors should present a flow diagramme and attach with their cover letter the CONSORT checklist. For meta-analysis, the PRISMA prisma-statement guidelines should be followed; authors should present a flow diagramme and attach with their cover letter the PRISMA checklist. For systematic reviews it is recommended that the PRISMA guidelines are followed, although it is not compulsory. Authors interested in submitting replications of published studies need to contact the Editors-in-Chief before they start their replication. We are not interested in manuscripts that aim to test the psychometric properties of an existing scale from English to another language, unless new validation methods are used which address previously unanswered research questions.