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The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of what we consider to be some important co... more The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of what we consider to be some important concepts and debates in the current life skill literature and to discuss possible reasons why life skill programs are effective in facilitating optimal human functioning. Specially designed programs that aim to develop the skills needed for everyday life, by everybody, that help people thrive (i.e., life skills) are common in the scientific literature, however not all programs are rigorously evaluated and consequently it is not clear how these programs facilitate development. Researchers and program leaders refer to the power of social relationships as a vehicle for positive development. In this instance, the relationships between the program participants (i.e., peer-to-peer interaction), and the relationships between the program leader and participant (i.e., adultto-peer interaction) provide the basis for skills to be learned. Researchers also consider the environment in which the program exists to be critically important for individuals to learn skills. For example, researchers have listed the facets of effective life skills programs.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between mindfulness and 800-m personal ... more The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between mindfulness and 800-m personal best (PB) times through pain catastrophising and to see whether the magnitude and direction of the relationship depended on gender. One hundred and nine participants reported their gender, completed measures of mindfulness (MAAS) and pain catastrophising (PCS) and reported PB 800 m times that were standardised based on current world records. Results revealed moderate-sized relationships between the predictor variables and standardised 800 m PB. The size of these relationships reduced after we controlled for gender. The follow-up, conditional process analysis – revealed significant direct
and indirect effects that confirmed that pain catastrophising partially mediated the relationship between mindfulness and 800 m PB and that gender moderated the indirect paths. The indirect path between mindfulness and pain catastrophising was consistent with existing literature. However, the path between pain catastrophising and standardised 800 m PB was positive for females and negative for males. The different direction of the relationship could suggest that pain catastrophising could be performance enhancing for females.

The purpose of this investigation was to identify and examine perceptions of psychological moment... more The purpose of this investigation was to identify and examine perceptions of psychological momentum from the perspective of competing players in a team sport to provide applied
implications for athletes, coaches, and sport psychology practitioners. Participants were five university soccer players who had played in the National British University Sports Association competition during the previous season. Data were collected via three phases of formal interviews, which were supplemented by a comprehensive member check (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). Furthermore, transcribed interviews were subjected to an inductive content analysis. Participants described a range of psychological momentum triggers and outcomes based on their experiences of positive and negative psychological momentum. Moreover, participants described strategies used to develop and maintain positive psychological momentum and
strategies to overcome negative psychological momentum. Findings are discussed in relation to applied implications for athletes, coaches, and sport psychology consultants operating in team sport settings

Coaches and practitioners recognize that talent identification and development have a crucial rol... more Coaches and practitioners recognize that talent identification and development have a crucial role in the pursuit of excellence. National governing bodies routinely allocate
youth participants, irrespective of biological age, to chronological age categories in an effort to ensure developmentally fair competition and opportunity. However, differences in the timing and tempo of maturation provide evidence to exclude chronological age and can lead to the misclassification of children in relation to their biological maturity. The purpose of this study was to explore coaches’ perceptions of how they use chronological
age and biological age in coaching practice, and the importance they place on the measurement and utilization of biological age to develop young athletes. We conducted semi-structured interviews with six coaches and analyzed data using a qualitative description methodology. The results revealed three main themes relating to the delivery of the long-term athlete development model, the limited or lack of knowledge of all aspects of the long-term athlete development model, and a desire for a different model.
Results provide scholars and practitioners with a greater understanding of coaches’ perspectives of the use of chronological and biological age in the identification and
development of talented athletes.

The purpose of this case study was to examine female athletes’ positive and negative perceptions ... more The purpose of this case study was to examine female athletes’ positive
and negative perceptions of their coach’s pre-game and intermission
speeches. Members (n = 20) of a highly successful university women’s
hockey team were interviewed following two home stands. Researchers
transcribed interviews verbatim and conducted an inductive content
analysis. Positive features of the speeches were when the coach displayed
genuine emotion, spoke in a short and meaningful way, and referred to a
set of team values. Participants negatively perceived long and poorly timed
speeches, instances when they disagreed with the coach, and when the
coach omitted expected information or provided a new unexpected
approach. Athletes consistently reported more positive perceptions of
speeches than negative perceptions. In summary, the content (e.g.,
referring to team values) and the delivery (e.g., displaying genuine emotion)
of speeches appeared to be closely connected.

Objectives: Youth sport programs have been designed to facilitate positive development of young s... more Objectives: Youth sport programs have been designed to facilitate positive development of young sports
people by teaching life skills. It is unclear which life skills are needed by adolescent athletes and which
life skills should be included in youth sport programs. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore
how life skills are defined, which life skills British adolescent athletes need, and which life skills are the
most important.
Design and method: Nineteen adolescent athletes, 10 coaches, 4 experts in sport psychology (pilot group)
and 5 graduate students (pilot group) participated in a series of focus groups. An inductive analysis
revealed how life skills are defined, which life skills British adolescent athletes need, and of these skills
which are the most important.
Results: Life skills were defined as ranges of transferable skills needed for everyday life, by everybody,
that help people thrive. Participants described the need for interpersonal skills including social skills,
respect, leadership, family interactions, and communication. Personal skills including self-organization,
discipline, self-reliance, goal setting, managing performance outcomes, and motivation, were also reported.
Social skills were identified as the most important life skills.
Conclusions: In conclusion, findings add support to existing positive youth development research while
adding an insight into which life skills should be built into youth sport programs in the United Kingdom.

The purposes of the current study were to identify mental toughness profiles in adolescent cricke... more The purposes of the current study were to identify mental toughness profiles in adolescent cricketers and examine differences between these profiles on developmental
assets and negative emotional states. A sample of 226 community cricketers (125
New Zealanders and 101 Australians; male n = 210) aged between 10 and 18 years (Mage = 14.41 years; SD = 2.11) completed a multisection, online survey containing
measures of mental toughness, developmental assets, and negative emotional states.
The results of hierarchical (Ward’s method) and nonhierarchical (k means) cluster analyses revealed three mental toughness profiles characterized by low, moderate,
and high levels of all five mental toughness assets (i.e., affective intelligence,
desire to achieve, self-belief, attentional control, resilience). Those cricketers with high levels of mental toughness reported possession of more developmental assets and lower levels of negative emotional states when compared with cricketers with
the moderate levels of mental toughness. No statistically significant differences
existed between the moderate and low levels of mental toughness profiles. These findings provided preliminary evidence to suggest that mental toughness might be viewed not only from the traditional view of optimal performance but also
from a stance that may represent a contextually salient representation of thriving in youth sport settings.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between athletes' (N=209) intrusive... more The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between athletes' (N=209) intrusive visual imagery and vividness of visual imagery ability. The study also examined athletes' differences in level of intrusive visual imagery according to competitive level (recreational, university, county, and national). A Pearson bivariate correlation indicated participants intrusive visual imagery and vividness of visual imagery ability self-report scores were not significantly correlated (r=.07, p=.32). Competitive level differences amongst participants did not factor in the level of intrusive visual imagery reported. The findings indicated that some athletes experience intrusive visual imagery but there is a requirement to progress research regarding involuntary imagery processes within athletic populations.

Organised sport provides favourable conditions for positive psychosocial development. However, fe... more Organised sport provides favourable conditions for positive psychosocial
development. However, few studies have examined how sport facilitates positive
development. The purpose of this study was to explore how perceived life skills
were developed. Five formal, semi-structured interviews and around 30 hours of
informal discussions were conducted with a single participant. Resultant
transcripts were subjected to Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Findings
reveal an integration of processes, which resulted in positive development.
Dispositions (e.g. hard work and self-awareness) facilitated the learning of life
skills. Experiential learning was described as the method in which the participant
learned new life skills. Specifically, the experience of playing tennis required the
participant to develop life skills. Findings provide a unique insight into the
development of life skills. Findings are discussed in relation to extant life skill
research and positive youth development research.

Coaches and practitioners recognize that talent identification and development have a crucial rol... more Coaches and practitioners recognize that talent identification and development have a crucial role in the pursuit of excellence. National governing bodies routinely allocate youth participants, irrespective of biological age, to chronological age categories in an effort to ensure developmentally fair competition and opportunity. However, differences in the timing and tempo of maturation provide evidence to exclude chronological age and can lead to the misclassification of children in relation to their biological maturity. The purpose of this study was to explore coaches' perceptions of how they use chronological age and biological age in coaching practice, and the importance they place on the measurement and utilization of biological age to develop young athletes. We conducted semi-structured interviews with six coaches and analyzed data using a qualitative description methodology. The results revealed three main themes relating to the delivery of the long-term athlete development model, the limited or lack of knowledge of all aspects of the long-term athlete development model, and a desire for a different model. Results provide scholars and practitioners with a greater understanding of coaches' perspectives of the use of chronological and biological age in the identification and development of talented athletes.

Youth experiences are a core requirement for components of positive youth development and may be ... more Youth experiences are a core requirement for components of positive youth development and may be associated with an athlete’s mental toughness. The purposes of this study were to examine the relationship between mental toughness and youth experiences. Two hundred and ninety nine athletes (Mage
19.48 years, SD 1.30) completed the Sport Mental Toughness Questionnaire and Youth Experiences Survey. We then conducted a standard multiple regression on the data. R for regression was significantly different from zero, F(6, 292) = 8.106, p = .0001, with R2 at .14. Altogether, 14% (13% adjusted) of the variance
in mental toughness was accounted for by youth experiences. These results reveal that initiative experiences have the strongest relationship with mental toughness; however, youth experiences may not be as important as previous studies suggest.

In this chapter, I will examine the theor et ical and applied de velopments in the life skills li... more In this chapter, I will examine the theor et ical and applied de velopments in the life skills liter at ure. I will discuss the key issues related to the definition of life skills, theor et ical founda tions, and applied strat egies. The chapter will de scribe and examine models of life skills de velopment from sport psychology (i.e. the life de velopment inter ven tion; and de velop mental science (e.g. to provide practitioners with an understanding of how life skills may be de veloped through sport. The chapter provides scholars and practitioners with summary conclusions of the research, including the need to examine the trans ferabil ity of life skills across life domains and to understand that sport parti cipa tion correlates with several pos it ive (and negat ive) outcomes, but this relationship may not be causal. Furthermore, sport may not provide a homogenous ex peri ence or a panacea for life skills de velopment. Specifically, not all sports will de velop the same skills in the same way, and therefore researchers and practitioners need to ex plore the indi vidual nuances of ranges of sports, coaching styles, and de velop mental climates. Finally, scholars and practitioners can use different teaching strat egies, including direct sys tematic teaching strat egies and experiential learning strat egies, to de velop life skills.

Talent transfer (TT) is a recently formalised process used to identify and develop talented athle... more Talent transfer (TT) is a recently formalised process used to identify and develop talented athletes by selecting individuals who have already succeeded in one sport and transferring them to another. Despite the increasing popularity of TT amongst national organisations and sport governing body professionals, however, there is little empirical evidence as to its efficacy or how it may be most efficiently employed. Accordingly, this investigation was designed to gain a deeper understanding of the effectiveness and underlying mechanisms of TT, achieved through a two-part study. Stage 1 provided a quantitative analysis of the incidence and distribution or, in this respect, epidemiology of TT, finding the most popular transfer to be sprinting to bobsleigh, with an average transfer age of 19 years. Stage 2 scrutinised the TT process and explored the specific cases revealed in stage 1 by examining the perceptions of four sport science support specialists who had worked in TT settings, finding several emergent themes which, they felt, could explain the TT processes. The most prominent theme was the psychosocial mechanism of TT, an aspect currently missing from TT initiatives, suggesting that current TT systems are poorly structured and should redress their approach to develop a more integrated scheme that encompasses all potential mechanisms of transfer.

The emerging field of youth development has been associated with indicators of Positive Youth Dev... more The emerging field of youth development has been associated with indicators of Positive Youth Development (PYD) known as the 5Cs (competence, confidence, connection, character and caring). The 5Cs model (Lerner et al, 2005) describes PYD as the culmination of the Cs, whereby higher scores on each of the Cs contributes to a resultant higher score for PYD. Researchers have suggested sport is a salient context for developing the 5Cs. However, there is no specific evidence for the existence of the 5Cs among young people who play sport. The purpose of this study was to examine the latent dimensionality of PYD in sport. Two hundred andßfty eight youth sport participants (59 males, 199 females; M age= 13.77 years, SD = 1.23; range 12-16 years) attending summer sport camps at a Canadian university completed a 30-item instrument that was adapted from 78item measure of the 5Cs of PYD. Confirmatory factor analyses failed to provide support for the 5Cs model identified in previous research (i.e., Lerner et al. and Phelps et al.). Instead, exploratory factor analyses indicated that PYD in sport might be comprised of two factors that reflect pro-social values and confidence/competence. It is proposed that the 5Cs did not emerge in this study because (a) each C may not be uniquely identified by the current sample due to their stage of ontogeny, and (b) some of the Cs are so similar in nature (i. e., so highly correlated) that they are perceived as similar constructs. Implications of this study suggest that, in a sporting context, PYD might best be represented by pro-social values and confidence/competence rather than the 5Cs.

Conference Posters by Martin Jones

A growing body of literature suggests that purpose plays a significant role in the development of... more A growing body of literature suggests that purpose plays a significant role in the development of positive young people. Damon, Menon, and Bronk (2003) defined purpose as a stable and generalized intention to accomplish something that is at once meaningful to the self and of consequence to the world beyond the self. Despite this growth in research, scholars and practitioners know little about young people with purpose, particularly young people who spend significant time in a sporting context. Young people spend large amounts of leisure time participating in sports activities, and sport provides a salient context for positive youth development (Larson, 2000). Therefore, study of purpose in sport is warranted.

Coaches and practitioners recognize that talent identification and development have a crucial rol... more Coaches and practitioners recognize that talent identification and development have a crucial role in the pursuit of excellence. National governing bodies routinely allocate youth participants, irrespective of biological age, to chronological age categories in an effort to ensure developmentally fair competition and opportunity. However, differences in the timing and tempo of maturation provide evidence to exclude chronological age and can lead to the misclassification of children in relation to their biological maturity. The purpose of this study was to explore coaches' perceptions of how they use chronological age and biological age in coaching practice, and the importance they place on the measurement and utilization of biological age to develop young athletes. We conducted semi-structured interviews with six coaches and analyzed data using a qualitative description methodology. The results revealed three main themes relating to the delivery of the long-term athlete development model, the limited or lack of knowledge of all aspects of the long-term athlete development model, and a desire for a different model. Results provide scholars and practitioners with a greater understanding of coaches' perspectives of the use of chronological and biological age in the identification and development of talented athletes.

found that completing exercise in a preferred exercise condition is associated with feeling bette... more found that completing exercise in a preferred exercise condition is associated with feeling better when compared with participating in a least preferred exercise condition. Furthermore, Parfitt and Gledhill (2004) showed that following acute exercise in highpreference conditions, a more positive state is achieved and fatigue levels are much lower when compared to participation in a low-preference condition. Duncan et al. (2011)explored exercise participation and exercise motivation but did not explore into the individual's choice and compare it to exercise motivation scales. To this end,

There is evidence that, when faced with stress, hardy individuals are mentally and physically hea... more There is evidence that, when faced with stress, hardy individuals are mentally and physically healthier than non-hardy individuals, (Westman, 1990). This may explain why hardy athletes are less likely to become injured (Williams & Andersen, 1998). Other psychological variables may also predict athletic injuries. For example, Stephan, Pensgaard and Bahr (2009) found that neuroticism is a positive predictor of perceived susceptibility of injury. Additionally, Holmes and Rahe (1967) found that stressful life events can harmfully affect an individual's health, leading to an increased vulnerability to injury. Rouveix et al. (2007) suggested that perfectionism is linked to physiological and psychological disorders such as eating disorders in judo athletes, but perfectionism has yet to be explored in relation to athletic injury. In order to support existing research and to develop research on psychological predictors of sport injuries, the purpose of the current study was to examine differences in hardiness and perfectionism in a sample of injured and non-injured athletes

Previous researchers have stated that imagery perspective preference (IPP) can be assessed using ... more Previous researchers have stated that imagery perspective preference (IPP) can be assessed using scores from imagery ability questionnaires. Alternatively, scales designed to measure this related yet different construct to imagery ability have been proposed. This has led to no scale deployed often, resulting in a paucity of IPP data amongst athlete samples. The purpose of this study sought to explore further the IPP scale used by Callow and Roberts (2010) and investigate whether gender differences in scale use exist.

The aim of this study was to explore shot-type and imagery characteristics used amongst a sample ... more The aim of this study was to explore shot-type and imagery characteristics used amongst a sample of expert golfers. Design A qualitative descriptive approach using semi-structured interviews was adopted.