Routledge Companion to Sport and Exercise Psychology

Global perspectives and fundamental concepts

Athanasios Papaioannou, Dieter Hackfort, Athanasios G. Papaioannou, Dieter Hackfort

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781134744619
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Psychologie
• Subtopic: Histoire et théorie en psychologie

Written by an international team of expert contributors, this unique global and authoritative survey explores in full but accessible detail the basic constructs and concepts of modern sport and exercise psychology and their practical application.

The book consists of 62 chapters, written by 144 contributors, deriving from 24 countries across the world. The chapters are arranged in nine cohesive sections: sport and exercise participants; the influence of environments on sport and exercise; motor skills; performance enhancement; building and leading teams; career, life skills and character development; health and well-being enhancement; clinical issues in sport psychology; and professional development and practice. Each chapter contains chapter summaries and objectives, learning aids, questions, exercises and references for further reading.

Its comprehensive scale and global reach make this volume an essential companion for students, instructors and researchers in sport science, sport and exercise psychology, psychology, and physical education. It will also prove invaluable for coaches and health education practitioners.

Part One

Understanding participants in sport and exercise contexts

EDITED BY ATHANASIOS G. PAPAIOANNOU AND CLIFFORD J. MALLETT

Chapter 1

Developmental perspectives on sport and physical activity participation

THELMA S. HORN AND JOANNE BUTT

SUMMARY

The purpose of this chapter is to provide a developmentally-based perspective on youth participation in sport and physical activity contexts. The first part of this chapter contains an overview of the changes that occur over childhood and adolescent years in three domains (physical, motoric, and psychosocial). Within each of these sections, developmental progressions are summarized, and recommendations are provided for practitioners. The second part of this chapter summarizes the research on stages of sport participation and provides recommendations for constructing developmentally-appropriate sport and physical activity experiences. The primary perspective on which this chapter is structured is that the degree to which sport and physical activity programs can exert positive effects on children and adolescents depends on the extent to which such programs are consistent with the research and theory on developmental processes.

INTRODUCTION

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Meet Charles Brown. He has spent the last ten years coaching hockey teams at the young adult club level (athletes ranging in age from 19 to 24 years old) and has enjoyed much success (e.g., he developed a number of athletes who now compete at the international level, received numerous coach-of-the year awards, and won several championships). However, Charles has decided to “retire” from the adult sport world and has taken a position as coach of an elite club hockey team at the 12-year-old level. He was specifically hired in this role because of the success he achieved at the older club. However, halfway into the new season with the 11 and 12-year-old athletes, Charles has noted, “this is like learning to coach all over again!” In explaining his frustration, Charles further remarks that: “I can’t just coach the way I did when I was working with young adults. I know hockey…I know how to win…I know how to develop players’ skills.but I guess I just don’t know yet how to work with 11 and 12 year olds!“ We (the authors) sympathize with Charles. We have been there, and we know that working with younger athletes is very different than working with older athletes. In this chapter, we explain how and why the age/developmental stage of the children/adolescents with whom adults work is such an important thing to consider.

OBJECTIVES

After reading this chapter, individuals should be able to:

1 Describe the developmental stages on the road to physical, motoric, and psychosocial maturation

2 Provide recommendations for physical activity practitioners who work with children of varying ages.

3 Describe the stages from initial entry and through the later stages of participation in sport.

4 Identify the characteristics of “developmentally-appropriate” sport and physical activity learning environments.

DEVELOPMENTAL PERSPECTIVES ON SPORT AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY PARTICIPATION

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Participation by children and adolescents in organized youth sport and physical activity programs has been identified as a valued commodity by national and world health organizations (cf., Mountjoy, Andersen, Armstrong, Biddle, Boreham, Bedenbeck, et al., 2012) due to its potential positive effects on children’s physical and psychosocial health. Correspondingly, organized sport participation has been linked to the acquisition of important life-skills (e.g., Gould & Carson, 2008). However, some researchers (e.g., Fraser-Thomas & Côté, 2009) have identified possible negative effects of sport participation on the health and well-being of children and adolescents.

Whether or not any particular sport or physical activity program will exert positive, negative, or even zero effects on children and adolescents is likely due to the quality of the program itself. Effective programs are those that are developed to maximize the growth and development of individual children and are based on developmentally-appropriate structures.

The purpose of this chapter is to provide a developmentally-based perspective on youth participation in sport and physical activity contexts and use this research base to establish recommendations for practitioners. This chapter begins with an overview of the stages through which children progress in the physical, motoric, and psychosocial domains. In the second part, the research and theory concerning the stages through which children progress in the competitive sport environment are summarized, again for the purpose of providing recommendations for practitioners on the construction of developmentally-appropriate youth sport programs.

DEVELOPMENTAL AGES AND STAGES: AN OVERVIEW

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A significant amount of physical growth and maturation occurs over the infancy, childhood and adolescent years (Malina, Bouchard, & Bar-Or, 2004; Payne & Isaacs, 2011). Consider, for example, that the average full-term baby is approximately 20 inches (50.8 cm) at birth but may grow to reach an adult height of 70 inches (5′ 10″ or 177.8 cm) by 18 years of age. This growth in total height does not occur at a consistent rate. Rather, there are periods of rapid and slow growth, and different parts of the body may grow at different times. A general summary of the growth patterns is provided in Table 1.1.

As Table 1.1 shows, during the first (prenatal) period physical growth and maturation is very fast (one of the three fastest growth periods), with the primary growth occurring in the head and upper body. Thus, a newborn infant’s head and trunk typically comprise about 85% of total body length with the legs being relatively shorter and less developed. The second developmental time period occurs during infancy (birth to 2 years) and represents the second of three fastest growth periods. Again, growth and development are particularly evident in regard to the upper body. As a consequence, a two-year-old child can still appear top-heavy, with a relatively longer head and trunk and comparatively shorter legs.

Table 1.1 Overview of general physical growth and maturation patterns

Growth stage	Approximate age range	Growth patterns
Prenatal	Conception to birth	•	Very fast growth
		•	Head and trunk grow faster than legs (sitting height at birth comprises about 85% of total body height)
Infancy	Birth to 2 years	•	Very fast growth (especially in early months of infancy)
		•	Head and trunk still growing and developing comparatively fast
Early childhood	2 to 6 years	•	Slower growth rate
		•	Lower legs grow faster than head and trunk (sitting height at 6 years comprises about 55% of total body height)
		•	Relative loss of fat and increase in muscle and bone
Middle childhood	6 to 10 years	•	Slower growth rate but some children exhibit a mid-growth spurt between 6.5 and 8.5 years
Late childhood	10 to 15 years	•	Very fast growth rate
through early		•	Sexual maturation begins
adolescence		•	Body shape and composition changes
Middle to late	15 to 20 years	•	Slower growth rate
adolescence		•	Continuation of sexual maturation
		•	Continuation of body shape and composition changes

Note: Average boy reaches full physical maturation (end of skeletal growth and completion of sexual maturation) by 20 years of age, and average girl reaches that point by 18 years. For further information on the physical growth and development process, see Malina et al. (2004) and Payne and Isaacs (2011).

The third (2 to 6 years) and fourth (6 to 10 years) growth periods are characterized by slower but very steady growth rates. Furthermore, especially from 2 to 6 years, the legs grow faster than the trunk, and bone and muscle mass generally increase more than does fat. Thus, by the age of 6 years, body length (height) is more evenly divided between the upper and lower body areas, and the increased growth and development of the muscular and skeletal systems provide the six-year-old with more motor and physical skill attributes.

The fifth growth period (late childhood to mid-adolescence) constitutes the last of the three fastest growth times. For girls, the age range from 10 to 13 years represents a time of very fast growth, particularly in regard to height as they may grow eight to nine inches (20.3 to 22.9 cm) in height and gain 30–35 pounds (13.6 to 15.9 kg) in body weight. Typically, such growth begins in the feet and hands and then proceeds to the legs and finally the trunk. Boys go through this same pattern of pre-adolescent growth spurt, but it occurs a bit later (12 to 15 years) and may be somewhat more intense (gain in height of 9 to 12 inches, 22.9 to 30.5 cm, combined with a gain in weight of 35 to 45 pounds, 15.9 to 20.4 kg). Sexual maturation also begins, and some changes in body shape and body composition are evident as well.

The sixth and final growth period occurs during the mid-to late-adolescent years (15 to 20 years). Smaller changes in height, body composition, shape, and sexual maturation are observed.

The information contained in the previous paragraphs and in Table 1.1 provides a description of the growth and development of the average child (i.e., progressions are based on compilation of data from large samples of children). In reality, there is considerable interindividual variability in regard to both the velocity (tempo) and the rate at which children progress through these timelines (Malina et al., 2004; Payne & Isaacs, 2011). First, in the third period of rapid growth, while many children may exhibit a relatively consistent pattern of growth across the entire three-year period, there are others who go through extreme growth patterns in a more abbreviated timeline. That is, a boy who is 14 years of age may grow eight to nine inches (20.3 to 22.9 cm) over just a few months. Similarly, sometimes a very rapid growth that occurs in the feet (e.g., a boy moving from size six feet to size ten feet in just a few months time) and which precedes growth in the legs and trunk can cause that child to be somewhat motorically awkward (possibly causing a temporary disruption in coordination, balance, and agility).

Another important thing to know is that there is variability between children in the rate at which they go through the stages depicted in Table 1.1 (Malina et al., 2004; Payne & Isaacs, 2011). Early maturing children are those who go through the growth and development patterns at an earlier chronological age than average. Thus, an early maturing girl may go through a big spurt in height between the ages of 8 to 11 (rather than the more typical 10 to 13 years) and also proceed through the next stage at a faster pace, thus reaching full adult height, shape, and composition as well as full sexual maturation by the age of 14 to 15 years (rather than the 18 years evidenced for the average maturer). In contrast, a late maturing girl ...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of Contributors
• Introduction
• Part One Understanding participants in sport and exercise contexts
• Part Two Understanding the influence of environments on sport and exercise
• Part Three Promoting motor skills
• Part Four Enhancing performance
• Part Five Understanding how to build and lead teams
• Part Six Career, life skills and character development through sport
• Part Seven Enhancing health and well-being
• Part Eight Clinical issues in sport psychology
• Part Nine Professional development and practice
• Index