title: Youth sport participation--a view of the issues: introduction to the special section.
abstract: Sport participation among children and youth is ubiquitous in U.S. society. As such, it is imperative to understand how and under what conditions youth engagement in organized sport promotes or interferes with development. Each article in this special section has a unique lens on sport programs and advances our understanding about the contributions of individual characteristics, features of the context, and the process between the two that leads to different developmental trajectories for youth. In combination, the perspectives and findings provided in these articles can help guide future research and the development of programs and interventions.
authors.affiliation: The Education Trust, Washington DC 20005, USA. ctheokas@edtrust.org
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Theokas
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D002666:Psychology, Child; D013177:Sports / Q000523:psychology*