Personal and social responsibility development in volleyball players through a hybrid Positive Youth Development program: A mixed methods approach

Abstract

Positive Youth Development (PYD) programs are being utilized to foster a holistic growth in children and adolescents. Special relevance has acquired in the last few years the hybridized application of two or more of this type of programs. Although their application is common in the school context, there are few research studies that attempt their implementation in an extracurricular context. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of an intervention, based on a hybrid PYD program, on personal and social responsibility in youth volleyball players in an extracurricular context. A hybrid program was applied during the competitive season, with a total of 37 sessions to 30 female students (15 experimental, 15 control) between 8 and 10 years old (M = 8.87, SD = 0.82). A convergent mixed methods design was applied to integrate: a) semi-structured interviews and field notes, and b) Personal and Social Responsibility Questionnaires. The results showed that the implementation of the hybrid program seems to present a positive perception of learning in both participants and coach. Although there were no statistical significant differences neither intergroup nor intragroup, the findings suggest that the hybrid program seems to be effective to foster personal and social responsibility in youth female volleyball players.