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International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology

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Life skills development through sport: current

status and future directions

Daniel Gould & Sarah Carson

To cite this article: Daniel Gould & Sarah Carson (2008) Life skills development through sport:

current status and future directions, International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology,

1:1, 58-78, DOI: 10.1080/17509840701834573

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Life skills development through sport: current status and future

directions

Daniel Gould* and Sarah Carson

Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

(Received 25 September 2007; ﬁnal version received 29 November 2007)

This review is designed to summarize and critique current life skills through sport

research. In particular, life skills are defined, the conditions needed to examine life

skills development are explored, and the possible theoretical explanations of how,

when, under what conditions and why life skills develop in sport participants are

discussed. A heuristic model of coaching life skills is offered. To conclude, future

research directions are forwarded and include the need for: (a) quantitative and

qualitative research; (b) the development of valid life skills through sport

measures; (c) an examination of sport program type differences; (d) evaluation

research; (e) longitudinal studies; (f) studies focusing on identifying theoretical

explanations for the life skill development sport participation link; (g) the

utilization of experimental designs; and (h) an examination of the transferability

of life skills. The importance of conducting this type of research for both

theoretical and practical reasons is emphasized.

Keywords: life skills; youth sports; positive youth development

The moral value of exercises and sports far outweigh the physical value. Plato (1920),

p. 46)

As this quote by Plato shows, the value of sport as a vehicle for personal

development has been recognized since antiquity. The interest in life skills

development through sport, especially in children and youth, clearly exists today,

with most contemporary youth sports organizations having social-emotional

development as one of their primary goals. For example, the mission statement of

Pop Warner Little Scholars, a national US youth sport organization that provides

football and cheer programs for boys and girls, is to ‘‘teach fundamental values,

skills and knowledge that children will use throughout their lives’’ (Pop Warner

Little Scholars, Inc., n.d.). The interest in developing youth through sport not only

comes from the sport community, but has been further fueled over the last decade by

the paradigmatic shift that has taken place in general psychology (e.g. Larson, 2000;

Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2002) from which emphasis is being placed on positive

psychology-building strengths versus correcting deficits in people.

Given the above, it is not surprising that professionals in physical education,

sport psychology and youth development are interested in using sport as a vehicle for

*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]

ISSN 1750-984X print/ISSN 1750-9858 online

# 2008 Taylor & Francis

DOI: 10.1080/17509840701834573

http://www.informaworld.com

International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology

Vol. 1, No. 1, March 2008, 5878

developing life skills in young people. A number of large scale intervention programs

have been or are currently being developed. For example, the First Tee life skills

through golf (First Tee, 2006), Going for the Goal (Danish et al., 1998), Teaching

Responsibility through Physical Education and Sport (Hellison, 2003, Hellison &

Walsh, 2002), Play It Smart (Petitpas et al., 2004), and Sports United to Promote

Education and Recreation (SUPER; Danish, 2002) programs have all been

developed in recent years with the goal of using sport as a context for fostering

positive development in their young participants.

However, while there is increasing scientific interest in life skills development

through sport area, research lags behind applied efforts. Moreover, the research that

has been conducted is somewhat sporadic and is typically devoid of theoretical

explanations. A need exists, then, to review and critique current research. It is

especially important to delineate what life skills are and are not, the conditions

needed to examine life skills development, and the possible theoretical explanations

for how, when, under what conditions, and why life skills develop in sport

participants. Finally, the factors underlying the success of applied sport programs

designed to enhance life skills in youth must be better understood. These are the

purposes of the present review.

Defining life skills

One problem plaguing life skills through sport research stems from the fact that life

skills and associated terms are often not precisely defined. For example, when

reviewing the relevant literature, one will see such terms as positive youth

development, social-emotional growth and life skills development. Often these

terms are not explicitly defined or are simply used interchangeably with little

explanation. Operationalizing key terms is important because before any phenomena

can be scientifically studied it must be clearly defined. Moreover, Danish et al. (2004)

indicate that having a clear definition of what life skills involve has much to do with

designing successful programs to develop such skills.

Positive youth development is the most general term used in the literature and

focuses on the promotion of any number of desirable competencies or outcomes in

young people. Such competencies might include becoming a caring and ethical

individual, developing a general sense of self-worth, having a positive future

orientation and learning how to adapt to different educational and working

environments (Carnegie Corporation of New York, 1995). In the sports setting,

positive youth development includes learning positive health habits and becoming

physically fit. Positive youth development also includes the development of

psychological attributes and dispositions (e.g. a sense of optimism or hope) and

specific skills (e.g. the ability to set goals or manage stress). By its nature, then,

positive youth development is a broad notion that includes the development of

diverse competencies that can help a young person in sport, in their current life and/

or in their future.

Steve Danish of the Life Skills Center at Virginia Commonwealth University is

one of the leading advocates for life skills development in young people, and has

discussed their meaning on several occasions. Danish and his colleagues have defined

life skills as ‘‘those skills that enable individuals to succeed in the different

environments in which they live, such as school, home and in their neighborhoods.

International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology 59

Life skills can be behavioral (communicating effectively with peers and adults) or

cognitive (making effective decisions); interpersonal (being assertive) or intrapersonal

(setting goals)’’ (Danish et al., 2004, p. 40). An implicit assumption in this definition

is that life skills help a young person not only succeed in the sport he or she is playing,

but also help the individual once he or she transfers the skills to non-sport settings in

which they are used successfully. This distinction is important because for something

to qualify as a life skill, efforts need to be made to have the competency transfer to

other life situations. It might even be argued that a social-emotional competency

developed through sport is not a life skill unless it is actually employed by the young

person in a different setting. Therefore, helping a young athlete learn deep breathing

to manage stress while taking a critical foul shot in basketball is certainly an example

of developing a social-emotional competency; however, it is not truly a life skill unless

efforts are made to transfer that breathing technique to other contexts, such as school

test taking. The relocation of these skills and competencies might occur when a

program leader intentionally emphasizes the importance of transferring skills

developed or enhanced through sport participation to other life situations.

Additionally, participants can do much of this skill building on their own (e.g.

through observations of modeled behavior or by interpreting an interpersonal

interaction on the field).

Danish and his colleagues also stress the fact that life skills are indeed skills, and

like physical skills, they are taught through demonstration, modeling and practice

(Danish & Hale, 1981). A major challenge facing those interested in developing life

skills is the prevailing myth held by many coaches and parents that sport

automatically teaches young people life skills (McCallister et al., 2000). In contrast,

the majority of life skills researchers and practitioners contend that these skills must

be intentionally taught and fostered throughout the sport experience. As Hodge

(1989) states, character is taught not caught through sport. Sport, then, serves as a

highly desirable backdrop for teaching life skills to young people because it is an

activity in which skill development is the norm and because it is one that society

values, children and youth are motivated to engage in, and one that provides clear

results for hard work and effort.

Given the above, we have defined life skills as ‘‘those internal personal assets,

characteristics and skills such as goal setting, emotional control, self-esteem, and

hard work ethic that can be facilitated or developed in sport and are transferred for

use in non-sport settings’’ (Gould & Carson, 2008). It is also our contention that the

concept of positive youth development is broader than that of life skills develop-

ment, and, in fact, encompasses the development of life skills. That is, while all life

skills focus on positive youth development, not all positive youth development

efforts focus on the development of life skills.

Current research on teaching life skills through sport

There has been a resurgence of interest in sport psychology for youth, fueled in part

by the emphasis on positive psychology in the field of general psychology. However,

a small but dedicated group of sport psychology researchers, such as Maureen Weiss,

Ron Smith, Frank Smoll and Thelma Horn, have been carrying out their own brand

of sport psychological positive youth development research long before positive

psychology was fashionable, spending the last 25 years studying the social-emotional

60 D. Gould and S. Carson

development of children in sport. The development of life skills and social-emotional

competencies through sport has been of particular interest as evidenced by recent

reviews on the topic (Fraser-Thomas et al., 2005; Petitpas et al., 2005; Gould &

Carson, 2008). While space limitations prevent a full review of this literature, a

summary is needed to provide a context for the model and future research directions

that follow.

The first conclusion coming from a review of the relevant research is that there is

not nearly enough research focusing particular attention on sport, especially given

the importance of this topic. Much of the literature focuses on positive youth

development in non-sport contexts or considers extracurricular activities in general,

with sport being only one of a number of youth experiences studied.

Numerous applied programs for developing life skills in youth have been initiated

and program funders have begun to ask for evidence to verify the claims that sport

builds character or teaches life skills that make better young people. Without

adequate empirical support for positive youth development through sport outcomes,

directors will find it increasingly difficult to illustrate the merit and the value of their

programs, making attaining funding an increasingly challenging undertaking. Thus,

it is critical that sport psychology researchers focus more attention on this important

area of study.

This review is organized around four questions we feel are critical for facilitating

and advancing knowledge in the area. These include: (a) what are the life skill needs

of young athletes? (b) are life skills developed through sports participation? (c) how

are life skills developed through sports participation? and (d) do sport-based

programs designed to develop life skills in young people work? The research in each

of these areas will be briefly summarized and discussed.

What are the life skill needs of young athletes?

Whether conducting research or youth develop programs, sport psychologists must

decide what life skills are most important to include or study. While sport-specific

information is only now emerging on the life skill needs of young athletes, youth

development researchers have addressed this issue in some depth. Benson et al.

(1998) of the Search Institute, for example, have extensively studied youth and

identified 20 internal and 20 external developmental assets desirable for optimal

development. Internal assets are most akin to life skills and fall into four general

categories: (a) commitment to learning (e.g. achievement motivation, school

engagement); (b) positive values (e.g. caring, equity, integrity, responsibility); (c)

social competencies (e.g. planning and decision making, cultural competence,

resistance skills); and (d) positive identity (e.g. self-esteem, sense of purpose).

Similarly, Lerner et al. (2000) have discussed five key outcomes or objectives of

optimal youth development in their 5 C model. These include: competence;

character; connection; confidence and caring. Finally, Hansen and Larson (2003)

in their development of the Youth Experiences Survey have also identified a number

of developmental experiences and competencies young people can receive in

extracurricular activities. These include both positive experiences (identity explora-

tion, identity reflection, goal setting, effort, problem solving, time management,

emotional regulation, cognitive skills, physical skills, diverse peer relationships, pro-

social norms, group process skills, feedback, leadership and responsibility, integra-

International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology 61

tion with the family, linkages with the community, and linkages to work and college)

and negative experiences (stress, negative peer influences, social exclusion, negative

group dynamics and inappropriate adult behavior). This research clearly shows that

there are a variety of life skills that can be developed and studied in youth in general,

and there is no reason to believe that these assets and competencies would not be

relevant to young athletes as well.

Given the large number of life skills that could be investigated, several recent

studies have been conducted for the purpose of identifying the greatest life skills

needs of young people engaged in sport. For example, in a survey of high school

coaches, Gould et al., (2006a) found that failure to take personal responsibility for

one’s self and one’s actions, poor communication and listening skills, and lack of

motivation and work ethic were three of the areas that youth most needed to develop.

Following this initial line of research, Gould et al. (2007b) recently conducted

focus group interviews with key constituency groups involved in high school athletics

(coaches, athletic directors, school principals, parents of current high school athletes,

and student-athletes). Some of the life skill issues and concerns faced by today’s high

school athletes were identified as: learning to deal with increased pressure and

expectations; handling unhealthy parental involvement; counteracting inappropriate

attitudes and expectations about winning and the meaning of success; and resisting

pressures to use and abuse tobacco, alcohol and drugs. To meet these demands and

resolve these challenges, young sport participants would benefit from a durable and

robust life skill set that includes time and stress management skills, character

development and decision making skills, leadership skills, communication skills,

links to positive adult and peer role models, and general confidence and efficacy.

However, it was concluded by these authors that while the respondents felt that sport

can play a valuable role in developing these life skills, a professionalized approach to

youth sports, in which success and the attainment of extrinsic outcomes are the

primary focus of involvement, diminish the likelihood of life skills development

through the sport experience.

While much more research is needed, these studies provide a glimpse of the range

of important life skills issues young people face today. Given the multitude of life

skills identified in the general youth development research, the recent sport-specific

life skills needs assessment research provides important information on which might

be the most important life skills on which to focus. This research also has

considerable practical utility in that those individuals developing life skill programs

may use these findings to help select key areas to focus on in their applied efforts.

Selecting specific topics to focus our research and interventions on is especially

important in light of recent meta analysis findings that show out-of-school programs

that are effective in promoting social and personal skill development are ‘explicit’

and ‘focused’ in targeting personal and social skills to influence in young people

(Durlack & Weissberg, 2007).

Are life skills developed through sport?

Topics of considerable interest to youth development researchers have been the

determination of what developmental and life skill outcomes young people derive

from sports participation and which factors might influence the participation-life

skill development link. Research has been conducted in a variety of areas focusing on

62 D. Gould and S. Carson

such life skill outcomes as the development of self-esteem (e.g. Smith et al., 1979;

Smoll et al., 1993), moral development and character (e.g. Bredemeier & Shields,

1986; Miller et al., 1997), goal setting (e.g. Papacharisis et al., 2005), personal

responsibility (e.g. Hellison & Cutforth, 1997), academic achievement and an

enhanced connection to school (e.g. Eccles & Barber, 1999; Eccles et al., 2003) and

initiative, leadership and teamwork (e.g. Hansen et al. 2003), although in most cases

this research has focused on the question of whether these skills and dispositions are

developed through sports involvement and not whether they transfer to young

people’s lives beyond sport. Overall, the results of these studies are inconsistent; on

the one hand showing that sports do not build life skills in youth, and on the other

hand demonstrating that under the right conditions sport can teach important life

lessons to young people.

Several examples of the studies that show negative effects of sport participation

come from the moral development area. Researchers (see Shields & Bredemeier,

2001; Weiss & Smith, 2002 for an overview of the research) in this area have been

interested in testing the notion that sport builds character in its young athletes. Sport

participants are typically compared to non-participants on measures of moral

development, with results often showing that participants do not exhibit higher

levels of moral reasoning and, in some sports (e.g. male contact sports), may even

exhibit lower levels of character development. Thus, sports have not been found to

automatically build character in young people.

In contrast, some research on moral development shows that under the right

conditions (i.e. when development is specifically targeted and addressed) life skills

can be taught through sport. For example, Gibbons et al. (1995) investigated moral

judgment and prosocial behavior in upper elementary aged children who participated

in a fair play training program. Results revealed that children who received the

training had significantly higher levels of moral functioning than their untrained

counterparts. Under the right conditions, then, moral reasoning can be taught

through physical education and sport.

These findings and others focusing on different life skills have lead researchers to

conclude that sport has the potential to facilitate life skills development in young

people. However, this growth does not occur from merely participating in programs.

Life skills must be specifically targeted and taught in environments that are conducive

for doing so (e.g. supportive coaches, clear rules and responsibilities, and positive

social norms  Hellison and Cutforth (1997) and National Research Council and

Institute of Medicine (2002)). It is also important to note that negative social-

emotional growth and inappropriate attitudes and behaviors may be developed if

sport is not conducted in the right manner. In fact, in recent studies of the benefits of

extracurricular activities (Eccles & Barber, 1999; Eccles et al., 2003; Hansen et al.,

2003), sport was the only activity that showed both positive (e.g. the development of

teamwork, emotional control and initiative) and negative developmental outcomes

(e.g. pressure to do things that are morally wrong, and alcohol use).

These findings most likely result from the fact that some children and adults

place too much emphasis on sporting outcomes, leaving the educational values of

athletics to become mere rhetoric versus principle program foci. Another barrier to

positive youth development through sport participation is that the vast majority of

youth sports coaches receive little formal coaching education in general, much less in

the life skills area. Finally, sport may not always prove to be a fruitful ground for

International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology 63

positive youth development because it is susceptible to adult domination. This

arrangement counters current thinking and research in youth development that

demonstrates young people need to be meaningfully involved in the decision making

process for many youth development benefits to be achieved (Walker & Larson,

2006).

How are life skills developed through sport participation?

To date, the vast majority of life skills research has focused on determining if life

skills are or can be developed through sports participation. Much less research has

been conducted on how life skills are taught to young people. This research area is

especially important in light of the previously stated findings showing that life skills

do not inevitably emerge from merely participating in sport.

In a recent descriptive study, Gould et al. (2006a, 2007a) conducted in depth

interviews with high school football coaches who were recognized for their abilities

to teach life skills in their players. Their results revealed that four sets of factors were

common amongst the narratives expressed by the coaches. First, while highly

motivated to win, these coaches had well-developed coaching philosophies that

placed prime importance on developing life skills in their players. Second, they had

the ability to form strong relationships and to connect with their players. Third, the

coaches reported a variety of well-thought out strategies for teaching the life skills

they deemed important. Finally, the respondents recognized that environmental

factors (e.g. socioeconomic status) and other individuals (e.g. parents) influenced life

skills development and took steps to adapt to, deal with and/or resolve these issues.

Another interesting finding from the Gould et al. (2007) study was the fact that

the coaches studied were highly successful, winning over 70% of their games. What

makes this statistic so interesting is that it is often suggested that pursuing victory

and developing life skills cannot be done simultaneously. These initial results suggest

otherwise and warrant additional study of the role of winning on life skills

development and that of life skills development on athletic success. A better

understanding of this relationship might help clarify the question of how on the one

hand competitive success is a powerful source of confidence and self-esteem and

requires considerable mental skills to achieve, while on the other hand competitive

outcomes can become such a focus that immoral behavior results or coaches become

so preoccupied with winning that the teaching of life skills does not happen.

Finally, the coaches in this study did not view the teaching of life skills as a

separate activity from their general coaching duties. While at times they focused on

specific activities to teach life skills (e.g. taught goal setting), more often than not

they reported infusing life skills teaching into their on-the-field coaching. This

finding is provocative as it suggests that coaching life skills is a mindset as well as a

specific activity.

Other researchers (e.g. Hellison, 2000; Fraser-Thomas et al., 2005) have looked at

conditions that facilitate positive youth development through sport. For example,

based on his experience and research working with underserved youth in after school

sports programs, Hellison (2000) concluded that, among other factors, adult leaders

must focus on: treating youth as resources that must be developed, on the whole

person, respecting the individuality of youth, empowering youth, providing a

64 D. Gould and S. Carson

physically and psychologically safe environment, providing significant contact with

youth, and providing clear expectations based on strong values.

While more research is needed, projects exploring characteristics of coaches,

strategies to employ and the environments conducive to positive youth development

and life skills enhancement through sport are starting to emerge. However, future

investigators need to conduct more fine-grain analyses looking at what strategies

work with particular youth and how individual, social and contextual factors

influence the process.

Intervention studies: do sport-based programs life skills programs work?

A very positive development in the life skills research is the emergence of intervention

studies (e.g. Papacharisis et al., 2005; Weiss, 2006; Brunelle et al., 2007) designed to

assess the efficacy of programs aimed at teaching life skills to youth. For instance,

Papacharisis et al. (2005) examined the impact of a shortened-version of the Sports

United to Promote Education and Recreation (SUPER) life skills program with 40

11-year old female volleyball (Study 1) and 32 11-year old male soccer (Study 2)

players. In both studies, teams were randomly assigned to intervention or control

groups. The intervention groups took part in eight 15-minute SUPER sessions,

which focused on teaching the life skills of goal setting, problem solving and positive

thinking. Results revealed that the young athletes in the intervention groups

demonstrated greater knowledge of the life skills taught, greater beliefs about

problem solving, constructive thinking about goal setting (all skills taught) and

performed better physically than the control participants. Unfortunately, direct

measures of life skill transfer were not taken.

Conversely, in a recent program evaluation of the First Tee golf life skills

program, Weiss (2006) assessed participant parents and found evidence for transfer

of life skills outside the golf setting. Finally, in an evaluation of the SUPER program

applied to golf with 100 adolescent athletes, Brunelle et al. (2007) recently found that

adding a community service component to the SUPER program positively impacted

levels of empathic concern and social responsibility.

The results of these and other initial evaluation efforts look promising. However,

better measures of life skills are needed and stronger designs must be employed.

More specifically, there is a special need for longitudinal evaluations that track youth

over time and measures that examine if life skills learned in sport are indeed

transferring to non-sport settings.

A heuristic model for understanding the process of coaching life skills through sport

A review of the current literature on life skills development through sport reveals an

area that lacks extensive theoretical explanations. This deficit weakens the area, as

few overarching ideas exist to guide research and explain why life skills do or do not

develop through sport participation. The lack of theory also practically constrains

the field, as practitioners do not have an overarching framework to guide their

interventions.

To rectify this state of affairs Figure 1 contains a heuristic model explaining how

life skills are coached through sport. This model emerged from our review of the

general literature on positive youth development through extracurricular activities

International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology 65

(e.g. Benson et al., 1998; Eccles et al., 2003; Hansen et al., 2003; Larson, 2000) as well

as the sport psychological life skills (e.g. Brunelle et al., 2007; Gould et al., 2007) and

positive youth development though sport (e.g. Fraser-Thomas et al., 2005; Petitpas

et al., 2005) research. We included the model here as a research guide, as a potential

vehicle for organizing existing findings, and as a framework for guiding sport

programs that have life skills development as a central goal. However, we want to

emphasize that this model is a starting point and has not been directly tested. Hence,

research will be needed to determine its efficacy.

An inspection of Figure 1 reveals that the model begins on the left with internal

and external assets that lead to the pre-existing make-up of the young athlete. Based

on the general literature on positive youth development, young people enter any

activity with already developed internal assets, such as their existing level of life

skills, physical abilities and personality characteristics (Benson, 1997). At the same

time, they have external assets at their disposal. These external assets might include

their parents, siblings, previous coaches and peers, as well as environmental factors

such as socioeconomic status (which influences the resources athletes have at their

disposal). The critical point here is to remember that young people do not enter the

sport system devoid of any competencies, life skills and external resources. These

existing skills, dispositions and resources will influence the success one will have in

teaching life skills and also must be considered when studying the sport participa-

tion-life skill development link.

The next major component of the model focuses on the sport experience itself,

with particular emphasis on the teaching and coaching of life skills. This focus was

taken because coaches are highly involved in creating motivational climates that

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66 D. Gould and S. Carson

influence the types of goals athletes adopt and use to evaluate themselves, and

because these individuals may be the most influential people in the sporting context

(Ntoumanis & Biddle, 1999). Furthermore, previous research has indicated that a

coach’s attitudes and behaviors are important factors associated with one’s ability to

facilitate life skills development. For example, a coach’s philosophy about teaching

life skills and a coach’s ability to establish relationships with his or her players

(supporting the old coaching adage ‘players don’t care what you know until they

know you care’), are critical factors related to life skills development (Jowett et al.,

2005, Gould et al., 2007). Additionally, factors such as coach competence and

accessibility are also critical to an individual’s capacity for teaching life skills.

The lower portions of this box focus on how coaches actually teach life skills. In

particular, research by Gould et al. (2007) shows that coaches use direct and indirect

strategies to foster life skills in their players. Direct strategies focus on such practices

as having clear and consistent rules, providing leadership opportunities and engaging

in team building efforts. Indirect strategies (over which coaches have less control)

focus on the demands of the sport (e.g. motivation needed to train, need for

teamwork), program success, modeling of life skills by those involved in sport (e.g.

other players, other coaches, parents), social reinforcement from peers and positive

social norms.

The middle component of the model focuses on possible explanations for how a

young athlete’s development of life skill competencies occurs and how these

attributes may influence his or her behavior. We propose two general sets of

explanations. The first focuses on social environment influences, while the second

concentrates on the utility of the life skill strategies themselves. Relative to the social

environment group of explanations, suggested mechanisms articulating how life

skills influence young people focus on positive identity changes and formation,

membership in a positive peer group, and forming attachments with positive adults

that youth athletes experience (Eccles et al., 2003). Certo et al. (2003) also suggest

that participating in sport facilitates a needed sense of belonging for youth. Finally, it

is likely that positive social norms are enhanced when one joins a team as well as

changes in perceived competence, locus of control, self-worth and autonomy.

The other general explanation for understanding how life skills develop and

influence young athletes’ behavior is the utility of life skills themselves. Many life

skills such as stress management, goal setting and learning to communicate are skills

that can be directly transferred to other settings and used throughout life. For

example, a young athlete who learns specific stress management techniques to

control stress in sport (e.g. centered breathing and negative thought replacement) can

use these same techniques, as is, in other life settings (e.g. before a test, while acting

in a play). In addition, life skills also include the development of general dispositions

such as self-confidence and self-esteem. It is possible that, while developed in sport,

these life skill dispositions can generalize to other aspects of a young person’s life

(the confidence developed from improving one’s soccer skills makes a child feel

better about his general self-worth, which carries over to other aspects of life).

Finally, these social environment and direct utility factors may work individually

or interact to explain why developing life skills enhance child development. However,

too often researchers have failed to identify explanations for how life skills may

function to improve a young person’s life and well-being. Doing so should be a high

priority for future investigators.

International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology 67

The principle objective behind developing life skills is the idea that these

competencies and dispositions will lead to positive outcomes in the young person

who develops them. Or, in some cases, developing a life skill (e.g. learning to work

with diverse others) may be a positive outcome in and of itself. These outcomes are

depicted in the fourth set of boxes on the right side of Figure 1. In particular, it is

stipulated that any developed life skills resulting from sports participation lead to a

number of positive outcomes, ranging from enhanced health and fitness habits and

school achievement, to psychosocial and emotional attributes, such as teamwork,

leadership and optimism. While the life skills literature generally focuses on the

development of strengths in young people, it is possible the sport experience and/or

failing to develop life skills can also lead to the adoption of negative attitudes and

behaviors (e.g. maladaptive stress management strategies, inability to focus on

process and performance goals, identify only with the sporting role). Such negative

outcomes might include physical injury, burnout, lower levels of moral functioning

and school dropout (these consequences are also addressed in the model).

The final component of the model focus on the transferability of life skills

developed during the sport experience to non-sporting aspects of life. The

importance of this dimension is critical as research has shown that general

competencies and life skills developed in sport may not automatically transfer to

non-sport settings (Martinek et al., 2001). Factors that may influence whether and

the degree to which life skills are transferred are listed in this component and include

such factors as the similarity of the situations, previous transfer experience, and the

young athlete’s belief that the acquired skills and qualities are valued and

appropriate for use in other situations (Gass, 1985).

Finally, a feedback loop (depicted by the arrow at the bottom of the model,

connecting the final model component with the initial one) is included. This loop

indicates that the outcomes tied to the life skills developed influence the internal

assets component of the model.

Future research directions

Given the infancy of the scientific study of life skills development through sport,

there is a need for more and better research. Directions for future research include

the need for: (a) quantitative and qualitative research; (b) the development of valid

measures; (c) an examination of program type differences; (d) evaluation research;

(e) longitudinal studies; (f) studies focusing on identifying theoretical explanations

for the life skill development sport participation link; (g) the utilization of

experimental designs; and (h) an examination of the transferability of life skills.

Each of these objectives is discussed below.

The need for qualitative and quantitative research

Given the complexity of teaching life skills through sport, no one method will be

effective in advancing knowledge in the area. In fact, adopting one method of

inquiry for pursuing all critical questions in the area would be counterproductive to

knowledge development. Hence, research of both a quantitative and qualitative

nature is needed.

68 D. Gould and S. Carson

Quantitative research will help investigators better understand the complex

process of life skills development, especially through the testing of emerging

theoretical propositions. For example, using structural equation modeling on

a national data set, Guest and Schneider (2003) found that the benefits of

extracurricular activities, including sports involvement, differed depending on the

social context of the school. That is, they found that the benefits of extracurricular

activities differed for youth from high- versus low-socioeconomic status schools, and

concluded that making blanket statements about the benefits of extracurricular

sports is too simplistic. Looking more closely at how individual differences

(participant gender, age, race) and situational factors (motivational climate, socio-

economic class) influence life skills through regression and hierarchical modeling

methods might be especially useful in this regard. An excellent example of this type

of research comes from the general youth development research, where Hansen and

Larson (2007a) recently found that the amount of time high school youth spent

doing activities, their motivation for participating, whether they held a leadership

role and the ratio of leaders to youth in a given activity were positively related to

developmental gains experienced.

Quantitative research is also well suited to help determine the scale and scope of

personal development through sport issues. For example, knowing the mean

percentage of children who experience specific types of personal gains (e.g. enhanced

self-esteem, leadership skills, and work ethic) from the youth sports experience would

be very valuable as it is unlikely that every child will benefit or benefit in the same

fashion. This information, in turn, would help program organizers and funders

develop realistic expectations of their influence and markers to judge more versus

less successful efforts.

While conducting quantitative research will have many advantages, so too will

qualitative studies. Qualitative research is especially helpful for exploring new areas,

such as how coaches go about developing life skills in their athletes. We know so little

about life skills development through sport that describing the conditions and

experiences of those involved is essential. For instance, Wright and Coˆte´ (2003)

helped advance our knowledge through examinations of how young people learn to

be sport captains by identifying key markers and experiences through conducting

retrospective interviews. Similarly, Larson et al. (Larson et al., 2004; Larson &

Hansen, 2005; Larson et al., 2007) have been conducting a series of qualitative

studies to examine how different extracurricular youth activities (e.g. urban civic

activism, rural future farmers, urban arts) target and develop youth competences

(e.g. leadership and planning, activism and strategic thinking, family autonomy). It

would be helpful to conduct similar studies in sport. For example, some US state

high school sport associations conduct leadership training programs for high school

sport captains. Qualitative observational and interview methods could be used to

track changes in youth leadership associated with program participation.

The need for the development of valid measures of life skills development

In order for research on life skills through sport participation to advance, measures

of life skills development need to be constructed and made available. Sport-specific

instruments are currently unavailable; however, youth development researchers have

developed measures for use with participants in after school activities, including

International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology 69

sports (Yohalem et al., 2007). One promising measure is the Youth Experiences Scale

2.0 developed by Hansen and Larson (2005) from interviews with youth who

participated in a variety of extracurricular activities including sport. This self-report

measure is completed by youth, and measures eight general areas of positive and

negative experiences in extracurricular activities, and a number of subscales

including identity experiences (exploration and reflection), initiative experiences

(goal setting, effort, problem solving and time management), basic skills (emotional

regulation, cognitive skills and physical skills), interpersonal relations (diverse peer

relationships and prosocial norms), teamwork and social skills (group processes,

feedback, leadership and responsibility), adult networks and social capital (integra-

tion with family, linkages to community and linkages to work and college), and

negative experiences (stress, negative peer influences, social exclusion, negative group

dynamics, and inappropriate adult behaviors). This instrument has good face

validity and, thus far, adequate psychometric properties (although more psycho-

metric work is needed). However, this survey focuses on perceptions of develop-

mental experiences and does not provide an assessment of the degree to which these

experiences have led to actual life skill development or the transferability of the life

skills assessed  an issue of utmost importance.

Whether the YES-2 becomes an appropriate measure of life skills development in

sport is less important than the need to develop sport-specific, life skills development

measures. However, this instrument does provide an excellent example of the types of

measures needed. These measures will not only facilitate research, but can also help

program organizers, athletic directors and coaches assess the success they are having

in facilitating the development of life skills through their programs and organiza-

tions.

Finally, while self-report measures will be critical for advancing the field, efforts

should not be restricted to this type of measure alone. Observational instruments

should be employed. A number of observational measures exist in the general youth

development literature (Yohalem et al., 2007) and should considered for their utility

in different sport contexts. In addition, these instruments may need to be adapted or

expanded upon to capture some of the unique aspects of the sport environment.

Examining program effects

One weakness with the existing research is that participation in sport has been

viewed as a single entity. However, youth sport programs vary greatly in terms of

their goals, structure and whom they involve (Petitpas et al., 2005). For example,

the majority of research conducted on Hellison’s (2002) personal responsibility

model has taken place in settings where individuals have specifically started

programs to develop life skills in underserved youth using physical activity as a

context. Instructors are specifically trained to teach life skills and the programs are

organized around doing so with activities being altered to create optimal

conditions for achieving the positive youth development aims. This program

structure is much different than a varsity scholastic sports program, which has a

number of goals beyond life skills development including enhancing physical

activity and fitness, keeping youth connected to school, the teaching of sports skills

and the development of athletic skills and talents. Moreover, scholastic coaches

may not receive specific instruction in how to teach life skills and often have to

70 D. Gould and S. Carson

adapt their life skills teaching efforts to predetermined schedules and program

structures.

Researchers must recognize these programmatic differences and examine if and

how life skills are taught in each of these contexts. Identifying similarities and

differences would be especially relevant. Relative to this issue, Petitpas et al. (2005)

have suggested that the focus of sport programs can be classified as preventive,

intervention, life skills development or sports skills development. Examining how life

skills can be developed in each of these program types would be especially

interesting.

Evaluation research

It is especially important that life skills development through sport evaluation

research be conducted. Evaluation research is needed because non-profit and

government agencies, who often finance these programs, are calling for greater

accountability relative to justifying the spending of program dollars (Yohalem et al.,

2007). Claiming sport builds character is not enough-program organizers must now

demonstrate it. In addition, conducting in-field evaluations provide an abundance of

information about how life skills develop and the numerous factors that practically

influence them. Finally, sport psychology will be advanced as a field the more we can

utilize evidence-based practice.

Petitpas et al. (2005) have identified the need to conduct three types of

evaluation research: implementation, outcome and process. Implementation

research focuses on the question of whether or not programs are implemented in

the manner for which they were designed or intended. For example, the first author

was involved in developing materials for a coaching education program designed to

equip coaches with the knowledge and strategies necessary to develop life skills in

their athletes. However, when attending actual coach training programs, he found

the clinic instructors did not use the materials as they were intended. Thus, the

program was not being implemented as planned, rendering any outcome evaluation

problematic. Not only is this implementation step essential for program evaluation,

but is practically important as it shows how often and the degree to which

programs are individualized, unintentionally and intentionally, to address con-

textual factors.

Outcome evaluations focus on the bottom line  what benefits are derived from

participating in the program? These projects may focus on the development of skills

and the assets themselves (e.g. the development of self-responsibility, leadership

skills, improved school performance and the ability to lead and set goals) or the

results of having acquired that skill or asset (e.g. assume more leadership

responsibilities in school or community). For example, Petitpas et al. (2004)

demonstrated that their Play It Smart life skills program was associated with greater

academic success in high school football players, and as a result of having evidence-

based results were able to expand the program.

Finally, process evaluation research focuses on identifying the specific features of

a program that are related to program outcomes. For instance, recent evidence shows

that young people report that participating in sport teaches them initiative or the

ability to work hard (Hansen et al., 2003; Gould & Carson, 2007), but few

investigators have conducted process research to determine why this growth is

International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology 71

occurring. Does the very nature of sport teach it? Do teammates model hard work?

Or do coaches formally or informally teach these life skills?

Designing studies to identify theoretical explanations for life skills development

There is a need to better identify and understand the ways personal development

through sport takes place (Fraser-Thomas et al., 2005). As outlined in our model of

coaching life skills described earlier, a number of possible explanations for the life

skills sport participation link exist. These reasons include such factors as identity

formation, peer group membership and attachment to caring adults (Eccles et al.,

2003); and the creation of a sense of belonging for youth (Certo et al., 2003). What

does not exist are lines of studies designed to test these explanations, ideally

examining multiple explanations in the same study.

Another way to explore theoretical explanations for the life skill-sports

participation link is to think of the influence of sport on social-emotional and life

skills development as occurring in different levels, degrees and ways. For example,

sport may have some influence on preventing youth from getting into trouble by

keeping them involved in a supervised and productive activity during the after school

time period that is often associated with engagement in risky activities. While youth

may be kept off the streets during these vulnerable times and become less involved in

risky behaviors, positive skills may not be developed nor will they necessarily stay out

of trouble during other time periods.

A second level of effect may occur when impressionable youth are exposed to

positive adult role models. Research reveals that providing positive mentors for

youth for substantial amounts of time can have a positive influence on their

development (Zimmerman et al., 2002). Therefore, sport coaches may have little

training or spend little time specifically teaching life skills, but may have a beneficial

effect on their athletes because of the positive values they consistently model to

participants.

A third more influential level of influence involves the intentional teaching of life

skills by trained coaches who, in addition to keeping youth involved in a productive

activity and serve as a positive role model, specifically design activities to teach life

skills (e.g. talk to their athletes about effectively processing feedback from

teammates and officials). For example, Weiss’s (2006) evaluation research on the

First Tee life skills training program shows that training coaches to teach specific life

skills (e.g. how to meet and greet appropriately) results in coaches effectively

conveying the material to program participants and participants transferring these

skills to non-sport settings. Hence, these coaches are intentionally trained to teach

life skills.

Finally, the highest level of life skills development builds on the first three levels

and focuses on specifically teaching for transfer. Consequently, the coach not only

teaches skills for use in sport (e.g. holds discussions about processing feedback and

effective communication skills), but works with the athlete to transfer these skills

beyond sport (e.g. talks about how to effectively communicate with teachers,

parents and employers). Unfortunately, outside of the current work of Weiss (2006),

little research has been conducted to specifically examine the transferability of life

skills.

72 D. Gould and S. Carson

These leveling effects are summarized in Figure 2 and might serve as an

interesting framework for future investigators. This model also emphasize the

importance of exploring the possibility that life skills development may occur in

different ways and viewing life skills development as a one size fits all approach is too

simplistic. A more complex, dynamic view must be taken.

Longitudinal studies

By its very nature, life skills development takes place over time. For this reason, it is

essential that investigators follow youth, their involvement in sport, and their

positive development across time. However, with the exception of the work of Eccles

and her colleagues (e.g. Barber et al., 2005), almost all research conducted to date is

cross-sectional and provides little information about how one develops his or her

personal and social skills in the sport context over time. It is encouraging to know

that Weiss (2006) has engaged in a longitudinal assessment of the First Tee golf life

skills program. Unfortunately, the results are not yet finalized and cannot be

summarized in this review; however, this effort represents the kind of longitudinal

research that is so badly needed.

Experimental or clinical trials investigations

To date, the vast majority of life skills conducted through sport research has

employed descriptive and correlational designs. Seldom have participants or sites

been randomly assigned to conditions and control and/or placebo control groups

employed. While such studies will be very difficult to conduct, they should not be

avoided because of their logistical difficulties. The classic youth sports coaching

research of Smith and Smoll and colleagues (e.g. Smoll et al., 1993; Smith et al.,

1979, 1995) certainly show the efficacy of such research. Most importantly, it is only

by employing such designs that causal links can be made between variables and

Transfer

Intentional Teaching

of Life Skills

Positive Role Model

Effects

Involvement in a Constructive

Activity during Risky Times

Figure 2. Levels of social-emotional and life skills development through sport.

International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology 73

knowledge fully advanced in the area. Such research approaches the ‘gold standard’

of evidence-based practice (Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy, 2003).

Examine the transferability of life skills assumption

Most life skill and personal development through sport programs are based on the

assumption that those qualities youth develop or enhance through sport carry over

and positively influence their beliefs and actions in other life settings. Unfortunately,

this assumption is seldom tested. A study conducted by Martinek et al. (2001) nicely

demonstrates why testing this assumption is so important. Their study was part of an

overall evaluation of Project Effort, an after school sports program for underserved

youth who have a history of poor grades and behavioral problems in school. As part

of this program, the youth were taught goal setting, with the supplementary objective

of transferring their goal setting skills to the school context through one-on-one

mentoring outside the program hours. While a number of elements of the program

were shown to be successful (based on records amassed from a variety of sources

including teachers’ evaluations of student behavior), results showed that the majority

of children (63%) did not transfer goal setting to the classroom setting. A variety of

reasons were identified for not doing so (e.g. no interest in academics, did not like

their mentor, feared failure), but the key point was that these goal setting skills did

not transfer from the physical activity to the school context for the bulk of the

participants.

The findings of Martinek et al. (2001) do not imply that the idea of transferring

skills from one setting to another is unrealistic. However, the conclusions do support

the idea that this transfer is not automatic and the conditions for facilitating transfer

should be studied.

Based on his work in adventure education, Gass (1987) outlined a number of

conditions that should facilitate the transfer of life skills. These include:

implementing conditions of transfer during program design phase itself and not

waiting until the program is completed to think about transfer; creating elements in

participant learning that will be similar to those found in future environments;

proving opportunities for participants to practice transfer while still in the

program; having consequences of learning be natural versus instructor-based;

providing ways for participants to internalize their own learning; including

past successful program participants in the learning process; involving

significant others; placing responsibility of the learning on the participants;

developing focused debriefing techniques that facilitate transfer; and providing

experiences which aid in the application of transfer. Future investigators should

examine how these conditions might facilitate the transfer of life skills in the sport

context.

Summary

Life skills development through sport is an area of considerable interest in

contemporary sport psychology. Given the renewed interest in youth development

and positive psychology in general psychology, the study of this topic has major

ramifications for the more general field as well. A major problem within the life

skills development area in sport however, is the generally held assumption in the

74 D. Gould and S. Carson

sporting community that life skills automatically result from mere participation.

However, initial research shows that this assumption does not hold true. Life skills

are taught and not caught. More importantly, additional research is needed to

better understand when and under what conditions life skills can be developed as

well as why life skills do and do not develop in these various settings. The research

conducted to date shows that life skills development is not a simple process. In

contrast, it is complex and influenced by a variety of factors. Conducting research

that helps unravel these factors is one of the most important tasks of sport

psychology researchers, as the implications of its findings can influence the lives of

young people for a lifetime.

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