A look at positive youth development through the sport

Abstract

article is based on the recognition of the importance of Positive Youth Development (PYD) as a concept, while also highlighting its still relatively scarce dissemination and application in sporting contexts, particularly in Portuguese-speaking countries. In this sense, seeking to promote its dissemination and to suggest possible research and intervention in this field, an analysis was conducted of what has been published on the subject in major international sporting science and social psychology journals, in relation to four key issues: i ) how the DPJ movement began ii) the PYD movement in Sport iii) major PYD programmes in Sport, and iv) how to evaluate the impact of PYD programmes in Sport. Basically, what emerges from this analysis is the fact that while PYD shares some principles and objectives in common with Positive Psychology, it is an independent movement that is potentially very useful in the development of young people, particularly in sporting contexts. Moreover, over the past years, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of programmes in this field that have achieved promising results, although more robust sophisticated methodologies and instru- ments must be developed to assess its real impact on the development of young people as well as helping to offer a better insight into the mechanisms through which PYD is processed.