This study examined recreational sports, with a focus on a comparative analysis of the overall, social, intellectual, and fitness perceived benefits associated with participation in three separate recreational program areas: group fitness, intramural sport, and sport clubs. A survey instrument, based upon the Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire (TEOSQ) and Quality and Importance of Recreational Services (QIRS) perceived benefit scale, was administered to 1,176 students at a postsecondary institution. Results revealed a significant difference in perceived benefits between recreational program areas, with sport clubs reporting the greatest mean in all four perceived benefit groups (overall, social, intellectual, fitness). The study also found a significant positive correlation between all perceived benefit groups. These findings have implications for practitioners in terms of perceived benefit differences, suggesting advantages of the sport club program structure and the potential multiple effects of enhancing a perceived benefit group.

Objective: This study examines the psychometric properties of the revised Perceived Social Competence Scale (PSCS), a brief, user-friendly tool used to assess social competence among youth. Method: Confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) examined the factor structure and invariance of an enhanced scale (PSCS-II), among a sample of 420 youth. Correlations between PSCS-II and self-reported social skill scores were examined. A longitudinal CFA tested the invariance of the factor structure over time with a different sample of 451 youth. Results: The revised 5-item PSCS-II demonstrated acceptable factorial validity, factorial invariance across time and gender as well as strong predictive validity. Conclusion: The PSCS-II was supported as a strengthened version of the PSCS to measure social competence in social work research and practice.

The teamwork life skill is a critical outcome desired in many positive youth development interventions; however, limited versatile, user-friendly measures of this construct exist. Purpose: This study examines the psychometric properties of the Teamwork Scale for Youth, an assessment designed to measure youths' perceptions of their teamwork competency. Methods: The Teamwork Scale for Youth was administered to a sample of 460 youths. Confirmatory factor analyses examined the factor structure and measurement invariance of the scale across time. Correlations between teamwork and perceived social competence and commitment scores were also examined. Results: The revised 8-item Teamwork Scale for Youth was found to demonstrate acceptable factorial validity and measurement invariance across time. Additionally, strong reliability and concurrent and predictive validity of the scale were established. Discussion: The Teamwork Scale for Youth is a brief, easily administered, psychometrically sound tool that can be used with confidence in social work research and practice.

Central to the ability of successfully facilitating sport participation toward positive developmental outcomes is the youth sport leader. Youth sport leaders are responsible for addressing the many stressors and risk factors that youth encounter in both sport and life. However, a majority of youth sport leaders do not receive coaching education or training, especially in regard to youth development. The purpose of this study was to gain a greater understanding of the various factors, which affect youth sport leaders, their team, and the community in which they coach. The four key areas of team building/teamwork, parental influence/involvement, sportsmanship, and teaching life skills emerged. By better understanding the issues within youth sport, researchers will be more aware of the most relevant issues to guide future research and to inform the development of coaching education. Moreover, youth sport leaders will be better equipped and prepared to maximize youth development through sport participation.

Sport is a central achievement context through which participants' direct competence-related behavior to achieve desired outcomes. Achievement goal theory provides a framework for understanding self-directed behavior in achievement contexts. Theorists postulate that achievement goals reflect one's purpose and anticipated outcomes which guide behavior. To assess this psychological construct, several achievement goal measures have been developed, from a dichotomous model (Nicholls, 1989) to the most recent 3x2 model (Elliot, Murayama, & Pekrun, 2011). In the present research, the 3x2 achievement goal model (i.e., task-approach, taskavoidance, self-approach, self-avoidance, other-approach, other-avoidance) was translated for the collegiate recreational sport domain and tested against alternative theoretical models. A questionnaire was developed and administered to recreational sport participants (N = 614) at a large, post-secondary institution in the United States. Using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), the researchers found the 3x2 model to provide a better fit than the alternative theoretical models. These findings support the most recent theoretical advancement of the achievement goal construct. Through use of multivariate analysis of variance, significant differences across the six achievement goals were found between intramural and sport club participants. These results have implications for researchers and recreational sport practitioners seeking to measure and understand the motivational differences across sport participants.central motivation construct prevalent in sports psychology literature is that of achievement goals, which are postulated to direct competence-related behavior (Conroy, Elliot, & Hofer, 2003), such as sport involvement. Within the broader context of sport, there are several distinct sport models that are characteristic of diverse motivations. The achievement goals of collegiate sport athletes are likely to differ from that of collegiate recreational sport participants, which are subsequently likely to differ from that of youth sport participants. Collegiate recreation is a unique context in which to study achievement goals due to the diverse program offerings, including intramural sports, sport clubs, group fitness, aquatics, outdoor adventure, among other programs (Blumenthal, 2009). Through a greater understanding of the motivations of diverse recreation participants, practitioners will be more equipped to effectively design sport programming and influence participant behaviors. Several theoretical models have been developed during the past three decades to conceptualize the achievement goal construct. More specifically, the literature highlights four primary models, including the dichotomous (Nicholls & Dweck, 1979), trichotomous (Elliot & Harackiewicz, 1996), 2x2 (Elliot & McGregor, 2001), and 3x2 (Elliot et al., 2011) models. With the recent development of the 3x2 achievement goal framework, there is opportunity to study the achievement goals of recreational sport participants wi...