Thursday, June 23, 2016

Kinesiology's Blazo Blazing Trails Internationally


Dr. Jordan Blazo, pictured with his furry friends, in the Department of Kinesiology recently presented at the annual meeting of the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity (NASPSPA) in Montreal, Quebec. Dr. Blazo presented two projects focused on understanding sibling relationships in sport and how they may change as children approach and go through adolescence. The first project presented data regarding the adaptive function of making sport-based comparisons with an older sibling for developing perceptions of competence in youth sport. This project also highlighted the importance of the relationship quality of sibling interactions (i.e., warm and compassionate, or hostile and conflictual). Specifically, siblings that reported making more comparisons, perceiving more warmth, and higher levels of conflict, related to higher perceptions of sport competence. 

Dr. Blazo's second presentation shared information from a recent study regarding sibling relationship qualities, role modeling, and engaging in shared activities. The findings again suggested the importance of sibling relationship qualities.Sibling warmth was positively associated with using an older sibling as a role model, and leading to more shared activities in sport. Sibling conflict was negatively related to these same outcomes. Across both projects, specific attention was paid to the age of the participants (8-13 years old), as prior research in physical activity, and family studies areas has suggested that the importance of family relationships begins to wane compared to the broader peer group. In both studies, the influence of age was not supported, suggesting that having a sport involved older sibling may continue to hold value for youth sport experiences in the presence of other relationships. 
 
Thanks to Dr. Blazo for this amazing work and great story to share with our COE family! We are fortunate to have you with us, Dr. Blazo. Congratulations on your International Success!

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