Between experience and measurement: masters athletes’ perceptions of the 5Cs and a proposed measure

IntroductionThis study aimed to evaluate Masters athletes’ perceptions of the Cs of Positive Youth Development (competence, confidence, connection, care, character, contribution, and risk behavior) and to develop a measure to assess these dimensions in the context of Masters sport.MethodsThe first stage included 25 Masters athletes from different sports, aged between 30 and 74 years, who completed a semi-structured interview and a sociodemographic questionnaire. Data were analyzed using the Requalify. AI platform to identify the main categories emerging from the interviews and to conduct a similarity network analysis. In the second stage, items corresponding to the emergent categories were developed and submitted to expert judges for content validation, yielding high content validity coefficients (CVC ≥ 0.90) for most items.ResultsInitial findings suggest that masters sport is perceived as a context for social, emotional, physical, cognitive, and relational development, that is, articulating with Cs. However, some conceptual differences were observed between adolescents/young adults and Masters athletes, particularly regarding the notions of care and risk behavior. The results demonstrate theoretical and semantic coherence between the qualitative perceptions and the constructed items, providing evidence for the applicability of the 5Cs model to adult life.DiscussionThe findings suggest that masters sport constitutes a favorable context for positive development, with the 5Cs remaining active and interdependent.