Lindsay Kipp, lecturer at University of Kentucky (Ph.D., 2012, Univeristy of Minnesota), and Maureen Weiss, professor of Kinesiology, published two papers on sport and physical activity as a context for promoting psychological well-being among youth. The refereed article, “Social influences, psychological need satisfaction, and well-being among female adolescent gymnasts,” describes a theory-driven study in which girls’ perceptions of their relationships with coaches and teammates were strongly associated with self-esteem, positive affect, and disordered eating. Perceptions of competence, autonomy, and relatedness served as mediators of this relationship.

The full reference is, Kipp, L.E., & Weiss, M.R. (2013). Social influences, psychological need satisfaction, and well-being among female adolescent gymnasts. Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology, 2, 62-75.
The book chapter, “Physical activity and self-perceptions among children and adolescents,” was published in, The Routledge Handbook of Physical Activity and Mental Health. The authors review theoretical approaches for understanding the significance of self-perceptions among youth, synthesize robust research findings on the linkage between physical activity and self-perceptions, integrate empirical findings to provide recommendations for educators, and propose ideas for future studies on the self-
perception-physical activity link among youth.
The full reference is Kipp, L.E., & Weiss, M.R. (2013). Physical activity and self-perceptions among children and adolescents. In P. Ekkekakis (Ed.), Routledge handbook of physical activity and mental health (pp. 187-199). New York: Routledge.