Integrating Life Skills into a Volleyball-Based Positive Youth Development Program for School Students: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Ever Sovensi, Muhammad Suhdy, Uray Gustian

Abstract


This study examined whether a volleyball-based Positive Youth Development (PYD) program with explicit life skills integration produces greater improvements in transferable life skills than regular volleyball activities. A quantitative quasi-experimental pretest–posttest control-group design was employed with 86 students, comprising 44 students in the experimental group and 42 in the control group. The experimental group participated in a 12-session, eight-week volleyball-based life skills program, whereas the control group participated in regular volleyball activities. Life skills were assessed using the Life Skills Scale for Sport-Transfer. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, mixed-design repeated-measures ANOVA, partial eta squared, and Cohen’s d. Both groups showed improvements from pretest to posttest; however, the experimental group demonstrated a greater increase in life skills scores, from M = 3.209 to 4.246, compared with the control group, which increased from M = 3.447 to 4.138, despite having a higher baseline score. The time × group interaction was statistically significant, F(1, 84) = 25.918, p < .001, partial η² = .236, with a large effect for the gain-score difference (d = 1.10). These findings suggest that volleyball can contribute to the development of transferable life skills when embedded within an intentional PYD framework. The results highlight the importance of explicit pedagogical integration of life skills rather than relying on sports participation alone.

Keywords


life skills transfer, Positive Youth Development, school students, sport-based youth development, volleyball.

References


Arantes, D., Gonçalves, C., Rodrigues, M., Correa, J., Milistetd, M., & Costa, G. D. (2025). Life Skills and Volleyball Teaching: Comparison Between TGfU and Direct Instruction Model. In Education Sciences (Vol. 15, Issue 3, p. 305). https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15030305

Bean, C., & Forneris, T. (2019). Examining the role of needs support in mediating the relationship between programme quality and developmental outcomes in youth sport†. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 17(4), 350–366. https://doi.org/10.1080/1612197X.2017.1350825

Cain, M. K., Zhang, Z., & Yuan, K.-H. (2017). Univariate and multivariate skewness and kurtosis for measuring nonnormality: Prevalence, influence and estimation. Behavior Research Methods, 49(5), 1716–1735. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-016-0814-1

Camiré, M., Newman, T. J., Bean, C., & Strachan, L. (2022). Reimagining positive youth development and life skills in sport through a social justice lens. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 34(6), 1058–1076. https://doi.org/10.1080/10413200.2021.1958954

Chinkov, A. E., & Holt, N. L. (2016). Implicit Transfer of Life Skills Through Participation in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 28(2), 139–153. https://doi.org/10.1080/10413200.2015.1086447

Coakley, J. (2016). Positive youth development through sport: Myths, beliefs, and realities. In Positive Youth Development through Sport: second edition (pp. 21–33). Taylor and Francis. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315709499-3

Cronin, L. D., & Allen, J. (2018). Examining the relationships among the coaching climate, life skills development and well-being in sport. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SPORTS SCIENCE & COACHING, 13(6), 815–827. https://doi.org/10.1177/1747954118787949

Cronin, L. D., Allen, J., Mulvenna, C., & Russell, P. (2018). An investigation of the relationships between the teaching climate, students’ perceived life skills development and well-being within physical education. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 23(2), 181–196. https://doi.org/10.1080/17408989.2017.1371684

Hemphill, M. A., Gordon, B., & Wright, P. M. (2019). Sports as a passport to success: life skill integration in a positive youth development program. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 24(4), 390–401. https://doi.org/10.1080/17408989.2019.1606901

Holt, N. L., Neely, K. C., Slater, L. G., Camiré, M., Côté, J., Fraser-Thomas, J., MacDonald, D., Strachan, L., & Tamminen, K. A. (2017). A grounded theory of positive youth development through sport based on results from a qualitative meta-study. International Review of Sport And Exercise Psychology, 10(1), 1–49. https://doi.org/10.1080/1750984X.2016.1180704 WE - Social Science Citation Index (SSCI)

Jacobs, J. M., Wright, P. M., & Richards, K. A. R. (2022). Students’ Perceptions of Learning Life Skills Through the Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility Model: An Exploratory Study. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 4. https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2022.898738

Kendellen, K., Camiré, M., Bean, C. N., Forneris, T., & Thompson, J. (2017). Integrating life skills into Golf Canada’s youth programs: Insights into a successful research to practice partnership. Journal of Sport Psychology in Action, 8(1), 34–46. https://doi.org/10.1080/21520704.2016.1205699

Kochanek, J., & Erickson, K. (2020). Interrogating Positive Youth Development Through Sport Using Critical Race Theory. Quest, 72(2), 224–240. https://doi.org/10.1080/00336297.2019.1641728

Lerner, R. M., Almerigi, J. B., Theokas, C., & Lerner, J. V. (2005). Positive youth development: A view of the issues. In Journal of Early Adolescence (Vol. 25, Issue 1, pp. 10–16). https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431604273211

McKinnon, A., Bassett-Gunter, R. L., Fraser-Thomas, J., & Arbour-Nicitopoulos, K. P. (2022). Understanding sport as a vehicle to promote positive development among youth with physical disabilities. Journal of Sport for Development, 10(2 WE-Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI)).

Muñoz-Llerena, A., Caballero-Blanco, P., & Hernández-Hernández, E. (2022). Fostering Youth Female Athletes’ Decision-Making Skills through Competitive Volleyball: A Mixed Methods Design. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(20). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192013261

Muñoz-Llerena, A., Hernández-Hernández, E., García-de-Alcaraz, A., & Caballero-Blanco, P. (2021). Personal and Social Responsibility Development in a Volleyball Hybrid Positive Youth Development Program: A Mixed Methods Approach. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.675532

Newman, T. J., Santos, F., Pierce, S., Collins, K., Barcelona, B., & Mercier, V. (2024). Scholars’ perspectives of positive youth development in coach education for high school sports. PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND SPORT PEDAGOGY, 29(2), 206–220. https://doi.org/10.1080/17408989.2022.2039616

Piggott, C. L., Spray, C. M., Mason, C., & Rhind, D. (2024). Using sport and physical activity interventions to develop life skills and reduce delinquency in youth: a systematic review. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1080/1750984X.2024.2349994

Rossi, T., & Jeanes, R. (2016). Education, pedagogy and sport for development: addressing seldom asked questions. Sport, Education and Society, 21(4), 483–494. https://doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2016.1160373

Simon Rofe, J. (2021). Sport Diplomacy and Sport for Development SfD: A Discourse of Challenges and Opportunity. Journal of Global Sport Management, 9(4), 688–703. https://doi.org/10.1080/24704067.2021.2010024

Weiss, M. R., Kipp, L. E., Reichter, A. P., & Bolter, N. D. (2020). Evaluating girls on the run in promoting positive youth development: Group comparisons on life skills transfer and social processes. Pediatric Exercise Science, 32(3), 172–182. https://doi.org/10.1123/pes.2019-0252

Wiium, N., & Dimitrova, R. (2019). Positive Youth Development Across Cultures : Introduction to the Special Issue. Child & Youth Care Forum, 48(2), 147–153. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-019-09488-7




DOI: https://doi.org/10.17509/jpjo.v11i2.105300

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2026 Ever Sovensi, Muhammad Suhdy, Uray Gustian

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

web statistics

View My Stats