Corliss Bean

Brock University · Department of Recreation & Leisure Studies

Researchers argue that sport must be deliberately structured to teach life skills. The purpose of this study was to examine differences in program quality and positive developmental outcomes across three youth programming contexts (intentional sport, non-intentional sport, intentional leadership) pertaining to the importance of intentionally teachi...

The purpose of this study was to understand youth sport coaches' perceptions of life skill development. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 23 youth sport coaches across five organizations. Analyses revealed four themes based on coaches' perceptions: (a) life skills are a by-product of sport participation and transfer ‘just happens’; (b)...

Physical activity programs are viable contexts to foster life skills. Researchers contend that programs must be structured to deliberately teach life skills and how such skills can be transferred. The purpose of this study was to understand female youths’ perceptions of life skills transfer from participation in a physical activity-based life skill...

Within the United States, close to 45 million youths between the ages of 6 and 18 participate in some form of organized sports. While recent reviews have shown the positive effects of youth sport participation on youth health, there are also several negative factors surrounding the youth sport environment. To date, a comprehensive review of the neg...

The Nunavik Youth Hockey Development Program (NYHDP) is a sport-for-development programme designed to provide Inuit youth with opportunities to be physically active and develop life skills. The purpose of this study was to use a utilization-focused approach to conduct a formative evaluation, which explored stakeholders’ perspectives of ongoing succ...

Promoting life skills is a prominent focus of the mission of high school sports. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between perceived coaching approaches for life skills development and life skills outcomes for high school athletes. A total of 346 athletes participating in high school sports from the United States completed t...

Within the United States of America alone, athletes - and particularly professional athletes - have long been utilising their unique positionality as a platform to advocate for social justice and to be actively engaged activists for social change. While social justice advocacy and activism are increasingly seen within professional sports, engagemen...

Sport constitutes an important setting in which to study whiteness given ongoing issues related to power, privilege, and oppression. The purpose of the study was to examine white privilege in Canadian high school sport by investigating white coaches’ perspectives on social justice issues. A total of 463 high school coaches who self-identified as wh...

Postpartum physical activity can positively impact mental and physical health. There is a need to better understand how physical activity is related to various psychological constructs to support physical activity in postpartum women. Thus, the purpose of this exploratory, quantitative, study was to examine differences between postpartum women who...

To manage the rising prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus, sustainable diabetes prevention programs are needed. In this study, a process evaluation was conducted to qualitatively understand perceived successes and challenges of a diabetes prevention program situated in the community. This study took place in the first year of a multiyear project....

Background Despite numerous translations of diabetes prevention programs, implementation evaluations are rarely conducted. The purpose of this study was to examine the implementation process and multilevel contextual factors as an evidence-based diabetes prevention program was implemented into two local community organization sites to inform future...

The dual pandemic of 2020 – COVID-19 and systemic racism – continues to reshape society. The current study examines how this dual pandemic contributes to the psychological distress of college student-athletes, with attention to college student-athletes who identify as Black, Indigenous, or people of color (BIPOC). A total of 222 student-athletes fr...

Background: Training programs must be evaluated to understand whether the training was successful at enabling staff to implement a program with fidelity. This is especially important when the training has been translated to a new context. The aim of this community case study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the in-person Small Steps for Big Cha...

Physical activity (PA) is important for enhancing and sustaining people's health and well‐being. Although a number of efficacious PA interventions have been developed, few have been translated from research into practice. Consequently, the knowledge‐to‐practice gap continues to grow, leaving many individuals unable to access evidence‐based PA oppor...

Since the early 2000s, models of positive youth development (PYD), as well as the concept of life skills, have served as popular approaches by which to situate psychosocial development in youth sport research. However, critiques have been put forth in terms of how the PYD approach fails to address power, privilege, and oppression and how life skill...

There is a pressing need to equip youth-serving community organizations to respond to the unique needs of trauma-exposed children. Early prevention measures can be an effective means of redirecting children to self-regulatory healing, while facilitating their transition toward strength-based thriving. Sport can offer a powerful opportunity to reach...

Translating evidence-based diabetes prevention programs into the community is needed to make promising interventions accessible to individuals at-risk of type 2 diabetes. To increase the likelihood of successful translation, implementation evaluations should be conducted to understand program outcomes and provide feedback for future scale-up sites....

To date, little research has explored differences between competitive and recreational youth sport contexts beyond descriptions of inherent features. The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine if differences existed between competitive and recreational youth sport on (a) observed quality delivery and (b) youth’s perceptions of basic psych...

Objectives Researchers have advocated for coaches to intentionally teach life skills to their athletes given the accrued developmental benefits. The purpose of this research was to develop and offer initial evidence of validity and reliability for a measure assessing the extent to which coaches are intentional in their approaches to teaching life s...

Objectives Engagement in regular physical activity (PA) is a cornerstone prevention strategy for individuals at risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Interventions targeting PA often fail to result in long-term behaviour changes. “Small Steps for Big Changes” is a 3-week diabetes prevention program that promotes PA behaviour changes in individuals wi...

More than 350 million people are living with prediabetes. Preventing type 2 diabetes (T2D) progression can reduce morbidity, mortality and health-care costs. Interventions can support people with diet and physical activity behaviour changes; however, many interventions are university-based, posing barriers (e.g. accessibility, limited reach and mai...

Sport is often described as a vehicle for promoting positive outcomes among youth, including the adoption of life skills. However, limited research has examined the processes of life skills development and transfer within youth sport contexts. The purpose of this study was to explore the processes of life skills development and transfer in youth ho...

A Educação Física, o desporto e a atividade física de um modo geral têm sido considerados contextos fundamentais no desenvolvimento positivo dos jovens. Todavia, torna-se necessário compreender os processos associados à transferência da investigação nesta área para a prática de professores/treinadores e outros agentes desportivos inseridos em diver...

The purpose of this article is to provide insight on a partnership between Matosinhos City Hall that coordinates educational programs including physical education and the School of Higher Education of Porto. For the past 2 years, the institutions have worked together to develop a local curriculum for physical education teachers to foster life skill...

Sport stakeholders can drive program improvement using feasible and effective evaluation practices. In this paper, we describe six recommendations to help sport stakeholders integrate evaluation into their practice, including: (a) appraise a program’s evaluation capacity, (b) establish partnerships and assemble an evaluation team, (c) evaluate how...

The present study examined the roles of coaching experience and coach training on coaches’ perceived life skills teaching. Canadian high school sport coaches ( N = 1356) completed a demographic questionnaire and the Coaching life skills in sport questionnaire. Results suggested that coaches with more experience perceived themselves to discuss and p...

Interventions involving exercise and diet can reduce the progression of Type 2 diabetes, yet they are often short-lived. Progressing toward self-managed maintenance is also challenging. If supports are in place to help individuals with behavior changes beyond immediate programming, they are more likely to maintain these changes. This is particularl...

Translation of efficacious health interventions into the community are often not applied in practice. The gap between research and practice is concerning for community members who can benefit from early access to effective health interventions. Knowledge translation activities and strong community partnerships are demonstrated methods to close the...

Trauma-informed sport programs are an emerging means to support youth who have experienced psychological trauma. Using a train-the-trainer model, which involves building the capacities of peer facilitators to train youth workers, may be a promising approach for integrating and sustaining trauma-informed sport programs in multiple community settings...

Traumatic exposure can lead to negative outcomes for youth such as difficulties with attention, damaged sense of self, and disengagement, which can be exhibited in various ways (e.g., inability to handle pressure or loss, aggression, difficulties in regulating emotions). Leaders trained in trauma-informed practices can design and deliver sport prog...

Youth from disadvantaged circumstances (e.g., low socioeconomic status, from under-resourced communities) are disproportionately at risk to exposure to traumatic experiences, such as family violence, abuse, and neglect. Left untreated, these experiences can lead to cognitive and emotional dysregulation and impairments to social relatedness. With th...

Youth sport programme structures and processes can directly influence participation outcomes, including mental health and well-being. Researchers have found that programme quality and basic needs satisfaction foster psychosocial outcomes; however, limited research has examined the mechanisms that facilitate mental health. The purpose of this study...

The youth sport context is considered an ideal environment for the development of life skills, a process that is greatly influenced by sport coaches’ intentions and actions. The purpose of the present study was to profile patterns of congruence in youth golf coaches’ life skills teaching by matching self-report and observational data. Thirteen [nat...

Researchers have asserted that offering intentional leadership roles to youth can help them to develop life skills (e.g., communication, decision-making); however, few physical-activity-based positive youth development programs provide youth these intentional leadership roles, and little research has explored the impact of these opportunities on yo...

The purpose of this study was to explore mothers’ perceptions of competitive male youth hockey demands on their mental health, relationship health, and healthy lifestyle practices. Thirteen mothers (Mage = 48.23) participated in one semi-structured interview. Inductive thematic analysis resulted in two themes and eight sub-themes that highlight the...

Basic psychological needs are underlying mechanisms that can contribute to psychosocial development and well-being within youth sport. The purpose of this article was to validate the Learning Climate Questionnaire (LCQ) as a measure of basic psychological needs support within this context. Study 1 (n = 445) examined the validity and factor structur...

The purpose of this paper is to critique how the promotion of physical activity (PA) is communicated and offer evidence-based alternative framings to encourage PA in youth. We argue that PA promotion messaging should not be tied to outcomes that focus on changing physical appearance, preventing or treating diseases, or sport performance or competit...

Coaches are primary influencers in helping youth achieve positive developmental outcomes in sport; however, it is not well understood how coaches achieve quality program delivery. The purpose of this study was two-fold: (a) to understand strategies that coaches used to facilitate program quality in youth sport and (b) explore differences in strateg...

Golf Canada recently restructured its national junior golf development program, Learn to Play, going from an original curriculum that focused on teaching golf skills to an updated curriculum that integrates the teaching of golf and life skills. The purpose of the study was to examine whether there were differences in program quality through impleme...

Sport provides an important context for the promotion of positive youth development through engagement in developmentally-appropriate activities and supportive youth-adult relationships. Within sport, both the support of basic psychological needs (i.e. autonomy, competence, and relatedness) and the satisfaction of those needs have been found to aid...

Prediabetes, a condition characterised by impaired glucose regulation, is on the rise worldwide. This condition puts people at risk for cardiovascular disease, and 50% of people with prediabetes will develop type 2 diabetes (T2D). People with prediabetes can reduce their risk of developing T2D through lifestyle changes such as regular physical acti...

Acknowledging the importance of longitudinal data to test process-based psychological theories of motivation is critical. The purpose of this study was to use a person-centred approach to identify unique subgroups (i.e. profiles) of youth athletes based on their level of self-reported programme quality (PQ) and basic needs support mid-way through t...

There is an ongoing discussion as to how life skills development and transfer should be addressed. Previously, researchers have proposed an implicit/explicit dichotomy to explain how life skills teaching occurs. As research within the area of sport-based youth development continues to progress, a model is needed to delineate the varying levels of i...

Research has demonstrated that quality sport programs have the potential to foster the physical and psychosocial development of youth. However, there is an absence of observational measures to assess program quality related to psychosocial development within youth sport. The purpose of this paper is to report on two studies conducted to develop a v...

The purpose of this study was to examine differences in athlete-reported outcomes based on sport program quality. Twenty-four sport programs were observed using the Program Quality Assessment in Youth Sport (PQAYS) observation tool. A two-step cluster analysis based on total PQAYS scores revealed two groups (low quality=16, high quality=8). Athlete...

The purpose of this study was to examine differences in athlete-reported outcomes based on sport program quality. Twenty-four sport programs were observed using the Program Quality Assessment in Youth Sport (PQAYS) observation tool. A two-step cluster analysis based on total PQAYS scores revealed two groups (low quality = 16, high quality = 8). Ath...

Background Due to the rising demands for a Canadian workforce with science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM)-related education, there is a need to increase youth engagement in STEM education and programming. Research, however, has shown that youth residing in low-income communities are disproportionately affected by psychosocial barriers, w...

Understanding how programme quality and needs support influence youth’s psychosocial development within sport programming is critical given the abundance of postulations, yet lack of empirical evidence, that recognise the potential influence these variables have on youth developmental outcomes. The purpose of this study was two-fold: (a) to examine...

The current case outlines practical strategies used by youth leaders to implement a female-only physical activity-based mentoring program. This program was selected as the case for the current paper as it scored the highest on program quality out of 26 different sport and physical activity-based youth programs within a larger project. The two progr...

Youth leadership programming has become an increasingly common context to foster basic psychological needs and promote youth development. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore strategies involved in fostering youth needs support within six leadership programs. Two leaders and 30 youth participated in semi-structured interviews to bet...

An extensive body of literature has demonstrated how residential summer camps, when appropriately structured, can expose young participants to experiences that are conducive to their global development (Bialeschki, Henderson, & James, 2007; Garst, Browne, & Bialeschki, 2011; Thurber, Scanlin, Scheuler, & Henderson, 2007). However, much less is know...

Previous research has demonstrated that participation in a residential camp can lead to positive outcomes such as the development of a sense of identity, increased responsibility, enhanced self-esteem, and improved social skills. Despite these promising findings, there is minimal research that examines the specific processes that lead to these posi...

The purpose of this study was to examine program quality and basic needs support across two physical activity-based in-school mentoring programs (one girls’-only, one boys’-only). Twentyfour youth participated across both programs. A mixed-methods approach was used. Program quality was assessed quantitatively from two perspectives: observations con...

Program quality has been outlined as an important predictor of positive outcomes in youth development programs; however, little evidence exists to support this, particularly within sport. Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between researcher- and coach-assessed program quality scores as they relate to youth volleyb...

Summer camp represents an important leisure activity for youth. The purpose of this study was to explore if differences existed based on demographic variables (gender, age, years of camp experience, ethnicity) related to basic psychological needs support and positive developmental experiences, and to examine whether needs support predicted positive...

This article offers insights into a successful research to practice partnership created between the University of Ottawa and Golf Canada, who worked together over the span of two years to integrate a life skills curriculum within two national programs for young golfers: (a)Golf in Schools and (b) Future Links Learn to Play. More specifically, the p...

The Developmental Model of Sport Participation describes three pathways that youth can follow: recreational participation, late specialization and early specialization. Many competitive sport programmes are promoting early specialization in hopes that their athletes will gain an advantage over others; however, research indicates that youth who wait...

Researchers outline the importance of understanding features that enhance quality within youth programmes. One feature is youth’s basic psychological needs support. The purpose of this study was to examine if differences existed between two leaders in delivery of one youth leadership programme related to programme quality and needs support. A mixed...

The Youth Program Quality Survey is a 24-item measure of program quality designed to evaluate participant perceptions of experiences in short- and long-term youth programs. The Youth Program Quality Survey was developed based on the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine’s eight program setting features that can contribute to the posit...

The Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (GJWHF) programme was designed to help female youth increase their physical activity and develop life skills. Although in recent years there has been a rise in community-based physical activity programmes for youth, there remains a dearth of evaluation and research to understand the impact of such programmes. The purpo...

Inuit youth in Canada are facing exceptional health challenges, including obesity and physical inactivity, putting them at risk of becoming obese adults. Little is known about the impact of Inuit youth's participation in sport-based programs on physical health. Currently, there is no research that has measured body composition and fitness levels of...

In recent years there has been a call for increased community physical activity and sport programs for female youth that are deliberately structured to foster positive developmental outcomes. In addition, researchers have recognized the need to empirically evaluate such programs to ensure that youth are provided with optimal opportunities to thrive...

Ice hockey is one of the most played sports by youth in Canada, and over the past twenty years, female participation rates in hockey have increased by nearly 900% (Hockey Canada, 2005; 2009). However, despite female involvement in the sport, much controversy still remains for women crossing the gender line of ‘ male stream’ (Hall, 1996) hockey. The...

Introduction Integrating a positive youth development framework into physical activity programming has become popular as it is believed that this integration can create the development of both physical and psychosocial skills. However, there has been a lack of intervention fidelity research within the field of positive youth development. Case desc...

Sport, and specifically hockey, is discussed extensively in relation to social identity formation and other social outcomes, both positive and negative, within Canadian society. In this article, we utilize a collaborative analysis to examine an autoethnographic account of participation in a rural community hockey tournament and its various social o...

Researchers assert that sport can be a context that enhances youth development. As a result, an increasing number of community sport programs have begun to incorporate life skills (Wenger & Foutz, 2010). However, formal evaluations of such programs are sparse and therefore little is known regarding their effectiveness. The purpose of this study w...

In the past few decades there has been an increased focus on positive human functioning. More specifically, in 2000 Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi outlined the importance of creating a shift in the field of psychology to focus on human strengths. They argued that the traditional focus of working to repair weaknesses is not an effective mechanism for...

Research has shown that adolescent females are less active compared to males leading to a call for increased physical activity programming for female youth (Brodersen et al., 2007). However, to date, much of the research has not incorporated the voice of youth. According to the United Nations, youth have a right to participate in society and expres...