A significant proportion of participants experienced psychosocial distress in relation to their visible difference. Psychosocial needs were poorly met in current outpatient care provision, and a range of options could be considered to address these more effectively.

Individual differences in the growth and maturation have been shown to impact player performance and development in youth soccer. This study investigated Premier League academy players' experiences of participating in a tournament bio-banded for biological maturation. Players (N = 66) from four professional soccer clubs aged 11 and 14 years and between 85-90% of adult stature participated in a tournament. Players competed in three 11 vs 11 games on a full size pitch with 25-min halves. Sixteen players participated in four 15-min focus groups and were asked to describe their experiences of participating in the bio-banded tournament in comparison to age group competition. All players described their experience as positive and recommended the Premier League integrate bio-banding into the existing games programme. In comparison to age-group competitions, early maturing players described the bio-banded games more physically challenging, and found that they had to adapt their style of play placing a greater emphasis on technique and tactics. Late maturing players considered the games to be less physically challenging, yet appreciated the having more opportunity to use, develop and demonstrate their technical, physical, and psychological competencies. Bio-banding strategies appear to contribute positively towards the holistic development of young soccer players.

Competence-based stereotypes can negatively affect women's performance in math and science (referred to as stereotype threat), presumably leading to lower motivation. The authors examined the effects of stereotype threat on interest, a motivational path not necessarily mediated by performance. They predicted that working on a computer science task in the context of math-gender stereotypes would negatively affect undergraduate women's task interest, particularly for those higher in achievement motivation who were hypothesized to hold performance-avoidance goals in response to the threat. Compared with when the stereotype was nullified, while under stereotype threat an assigned performance-avoidance (vs. -approach) goal was associated with lower interest for women higher in achievement motivation (Study 1), and women higher (vs. lower) in achievement motivation were more likely to spontaneously adopt performance-avoidance goals (Study 2). The motivational influence of performance-avoidance goals under stereotype threat was primarily mediated by task absorption (Study 3). Implications for the stereotyped task engagement process (Smith, 2004) are discussed.Keywords: achievement motivation, achievement goals, motivation, stereotype threat, gender Women continue to be less likely to select and persist in science, mathematics, and related fields despite gains in preparation and increased requirements for both girls and boys prior to college. A number of hypotheses have been proposed as to why these gender differences occur, including both biological limitations and socialization pressures (e.g., Eccles, Adler, & Meece, 1984). The focus of our research is on the role competence-based stereotypes may play. Whether or not there are real intrinsic ability differences between men and women in math and science (e.g., Benbow & Stanley, 1980;Mullis et al., 1998;Spelke, 2005), stereotypes about these differences exist and are frequently made salient (e.g., comments by Summers, as cited in the Harvard Crimson, 2005). 1 The stereotype threat literature is centered on the finding that awareness of a competence-related stereotype can, in and of itself, lead to poorer task performance (e.g., Smith & White, 2002;Spencer, Steele, & Quinn, 1999;C. M. Steele & Aronson, 1995;Yopyk & Prentice, 2005; see also Wicherts, Dolan, & Hessen, 2005). Members of stereotyped groups feel threatened because their performance may confirm to themselves, other people, or both the negative performance expectations about the group. The resulting negative effects on performance can occur even when women report that they do not believe the stereotypes are true (cf. Schmader, Johns, & Barquissau, 2004).As illustrated on the left side of Figure 1, the stereotype-performance path suggests negative competence-based stereotypes associated with women in math and science lead directly to an impairment of their performance (e.g., Shih, Pittinsky, & Ambady, 1999;Smith & White, 2002;Spencer et al., 1999), which, in turn, negatively affect their likelihood of selecti...

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