The Contribution of Structured Activity and Deliberate Play to the Development of Expert Perceptual and Decision-Making Skill

The developmental histories of 32 players in the Australian Football League (AFL), independently classified as either expert or less skilled in their perceptual and decision- making skills, were collected through a structured interview process and their year-on-year involvement in structured and deliberate play activities retrospectively determined. Despite being drawn from the same elite level of competition, the expert decision-makers differed from the less skilled in having accrued, during their developing years, more hours of experience in structured activities of all types, in structured activities in invasion-type sports, in invasion-type deliberate play, and in invasion activities from sports other than Australian football. Accumulated hours invested in invasion-type activities differentiated between the groups, suggesting that it is the amount of invasion-type activity that is experienced and not necessarily intent (skill development or fun) or specificity that facilitates the development of perceptual and decision-making expertise in this team sport.

An integrative case study of positive youth development in a recreational community sport program

Participation in organized activities is associated with many markers of positive youth development (PYD) such as improved self-esteem, social competence, and academic achievement (Mahoney et al., 2009). Sport is an extra-curricular activity that is particularly popular among youth, as nearly three quarters of Canadian children and adolescents are engaged in organized sport or physical activity (CFLRI, 2012). Much of the research in this area has examined sport programs which are explicitly structured to promote life skills or PYD outcomes; however, the sustainability of such programs has recently been called into question (Turnnidge, Hancock, & Côté, 2014). The purpose of this program of research was to conduct an in-depth case study of a successful, sustainable community youth basketball league. Study 1 was a qualitative descriptive exploration of coaches’ perceptions of the basketball league. This study provided a general overview of the structure and perceived benefits of the league, from the perspective of current coaches. Coaches highlighted the unique emphasis that the league places on fun and positive immediate sport experiences. Study 2 expanded on selected themes from Study 1, namely, the salience of the league’s culture and tendency for former players to return to the league as volunteers. This study used an ethnographic approach wherein the first author volunteered as an assistant coach on a basketball team over the course of a six-month season. This approach enabled him to gain considerable first hand insight into the organizational culture of the basketball league. The third and final study adopted a quantitative approach using both systematic observation and questionnaires to investigate the relationship between PYD outcomes and observed athlete behaviour during basketball games. A cluster analysis revealed the presence of two distinct groups of athletes characterized by relatively high and low perceptions of PYD outcomes, which were also associated with varying behavioural characteristics during competition. The results of these three studies provide a detailed blueprint of a successful youth sport program that has been sustained over 60 years. While not without limitations, many characteristics of the league should prove useful in structuring youth sport programs in other contexts.

The Efficacy of a Novel Video Game Intervention (MindLight) in Reducing Children's Anxiety

Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent form of psychopathology among children and adolescents. Because demand for treatment far exceeds availability, there is a need for alternative approaches that are engaging, accessible, cost-effective, and incorporate practice to reach as many youth as possible. One novel approach is a video game intervention called MindLight that uses two evidence-based strategies to target childhood anxiety problems. Using neurofeedback mechanics to train players to: (1) attend to positive rather than threatening stimuli and (2) down-regulate arousal during stressful situations, MindLight teaches children how to practice overcoming anxious thoughts and arousal in a fun and engaging context. The present study examined the effectiveness of MindLight versus online cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) based psychoeducation sessions as a comparison in reducing anxiety in a sample of 144 anxious children, which was measured in three ways: (1) anxiety symptoms, (2) state anxiety in response to stress, and (3) psychophysiological arousal in response to stress. Children between the ages of 8.05–17.78 years (M=13.61, SD=1.79) were randomly assigned to play MindLight or complete psychoeducation for five hours over three weeks. State anxiety and psychophysiological arousal were assessed in response to two stress tasks before and after exposure to MindLight or psychoeducation. Anxiety symptoms were also measured via a questionnaire. Overall, participants showed significant reductions in anxiety symptoms and state anxiety in response to stress, but not psychophysiological arousal in response to stress. Moreover, the magnitude of reductions in anxiety did not differ between interventions but by age and sex. Specifically, older participants showed a greater decrease in severity of state anxiety in response to a social stressor than younger participants and girls showed a greater decrease in severity of state anxiety in response to a cognitive stressor than boys. The present study suggests that playing MindLight results in similar reductions in anxiety as one of the more common means of delivering CBT principles to youth.