Jordan T. Sutcliffe

Youth sport participation can lead to stressful experiences for athletes and parents, and the manner in which negative emotions are regulated impacts their experiences and continued involvement. As primary socialization agents, parents and family members uniquely influence young athletes’ emotional regulation within youth sport contexts. The purpose of this study was to examine emotion regulation dynamics within competitive youth sport families. Employing a multiple case study methodology, semistructured interviews were conducted with five distinct family units, comprising competitive youth athletes aged 11–12 years, their parents, siblings, and grandparents to understand the developmental implications of familial emotion regulation practices in youth sport. Findings indicated that transitions into competitive sport altered family identities and roles in emotional support, while a focus on effort sometimes overshadowed athletes’ emotional needs. These results align with existing models of emotion regulation and highlight the importance of equipping parents with adaptive coregulation strategies.

The purpose of this research was to gain a better understanding of coach-parent relationships in organized competitive youth team sports. Two qualitative studies were conducted with distinct samples from youth sports teams (U10-U15) within a large urban center in Ontario, Canada. Study 1 explored perceptions of key relationship-shaping factors among coaches ( n = 21; 5 females, 16 males; age range: 22–64 years) and parents ( n = 20; 6 females, 14 males; age range: 40–63 years). Identified factors included behavioural expectations, communication practices, trust, and pressures associated with professionalization. Study 2 ( n = 20; 10 parents [9 females, 1 male] and 10 coaches [2 females, 8 males]) utilized grounded theory to propose a three-stage developmental model: (a) Introduction and discovery, (b) Curiosity, doubt, or stability, and (c) Engagement or separation. This model provides a clear framework illustrating how coach-parent interactions evolve, stabilize, or deteriorate, influenced by broader sociocultural and structural factors such as generational differences, organizational policies, and sport professionalization. Results emphasize the strategic importance for coaches and sport organizations in managing parent relationships and outline practical implications for enhancing these interactions. This research addresses an important gap by offering a theoretically grounded, developmental perspective on coach-parent dynamics in youth sport.

Sport has been recognized globally as a powerful vehicle for uniting countries and hold a unique ability to reach, inspire, and promote youth development. A considerable body of empirical evidence demonstrates the relationships between sport participation and a number of positive developmental outcomes in youth including psychosocial and mental health benefits (Eime et al., 2013; Holt et al., 2017; Whitely et al., 2019). Given these promising findings, government bodies (e.g., United Nations General Assembly, 2018), and researchers have invested substantial time and resources to develop sport-based interventions to positively influence youth. Despite these investments, there have been minimal efforts to empirically evaluate the efficacy and effectiveness of the programs. In the present chapter, we critically examine the effectiveness of sport-based interventions on positive youth development (PYD) with the subsequent aim to offer evidence-informed recommendations for researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers.

Among other responsibilities, youth sport coaches are positioned to monitor and address the mental health needs of their athletes. Despite this, there are limited interventions aimed at improving coaches’ mental health literacy. Using a mixed-methods design, the aim of this pilot study was to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and mental health literacy outcomes associated with a brief (75 min) workshop for youth sport coaches. Fourteen coaches (13 males, one female) completed pre- and postworkshop surveys measuring indices of mental health literacy, and 10 of these same participants engaged in a semistructured interview 1-month later. Overall, coaches who participated in the pilot workshop reported significant improvements in depression literacy, intentions to seek self-help for oneself and their athletes, and knowledge and confidence to provide help. In addition, coaches reported positive impressions of the workshop during the follow-up interviews and provided concrete examples of program content application. An important suggestion made by coaches was the need to align the workshop content to governing policy. Taken together, this pilot mental health literacy workshop for youth sport coaches shows strong promise and is ready for large-scale dissemination.

The focus on mental health outcomes in sport, including the ways in which mental health can be protected and promoted, has become a major international priority for all sports, including the recreational sports system. The aim of this paper is to outline a systems theory of mental health care and promotion that is specific to needs of the recreational sport system so that context-specific, effective policies, interventions, and models of care can be articulated and tested. Based on general systems theory, we offer a preliminary theory and accompanying postulates that outline the general principles that explain mental health in recreational sports. Namely: one of the purposes of the recreational sport system is to protect and promote the mental health of all involved; the recreational sport system is comprised of components (individuals, groups, organisations, communities, society); the role and function of those components vary by context; the purpose of the system is achieved through coordinated and reciprocal relationships between its components; and, the system should be regulated from within to ensure that mental health is protected and promoted. We have also outlined the ways in which the subcomponents of the system interact, their potential influence on mental health in recreational sports, and the ways in which they may be regulated. This information provides a theoretical foundation upon which research, programming, and policy can be based to protect and promote the mental health of all involved in recreational sports.

Drawing from theory of the multidimensional nature of social identity, the purpose of this study was to assess an adapted measure of social identity in sport that captures the extent to which parents identify with their child’s team. Using the Social Identity Questionnaire for Sport (SIQS) with items specifically modified for parents, we assessed competitive youth sport parents’ perceptions of ingroup ties, cognitive centrality, and ingroup affect. Using an exploratory and confirmatory analysis process, a conceptually grounded three-factor structure was supported in a sample of 788 ice hockey parents. Measurement invariance testing found strong invariance for the measurement tool based on participants’ biological sex, previous sport experience, and proximal competition outcome. Finally, differences emerged when comparing latent means across their child’s most recent game outcome. Taken together, this study offers a novel tool to better understand and measure perceptions of social identity among sport parents.

There has been a rapid proliferation of empirical research on the relationship between sport participation and mental health. As a result of this movement, there has been an increased focus on the constructs that can predict or explain mental health outcomes in sport. Psychological safety in sport is among the constructs surfaced in the movement. Despite this, there is a considerable lack of conceptual clarity regarding how to define psychological safety and how it can be fostered in sport. As such, the aim of this study was to provide conceptual clarity of the term psychological safety in the context of sport. To achieve this aim, we first systematically searched for all currently available studies that have discussed psychological safety in a sport context. Then, a concept analysis approach was applied wherein the definitions, attributes, antecedents, and consequences were thematically analysed across 67 studies. As a result of this synthesis, psychological safety in sport was conceptualised as a continuous, group level construct that is perceived (and reported) at an individual level. We also provide a descriptive model of psychological safety in sport that we hope lends clarity and debate to the field moving forward.

Organised sport is a widely accessible context that can promote health and health behaviours among participants. For that reason, recent decades have brought forth a number of sport-based interventions aimed at improving mental health literacy and symptoms. Despite this trend, there has yet to be a systematic review and meta-analysis to synthesise and estimate the efficacy of published sport-based intervention studies in non-elite sport. Following a systematic search of the literature, we conducted seven independent meta-analyses to test the effect of sport-based interventions on mental health outcomes (depression, anxiety, psychological distress, and wellbeing) and mental health literacy (stigmatising attitudes, knowledge of mental health, and help-provision). A total of 19 articles reporting 47 distinct effect sizes revealed moderate to strong favourable effects of interventions on stigmatising attitudes, knowledge of mental health, and help-provision. Small favourable effects were detected for anxiety, psychological distress, and wellbeing. Finally, sport-based interventions had no significant synthesised effect on depressive symptoms. Although we comment on the need for stronger intervention designs, the field can be optimistic with respect to the mental health literacy findings from the current study and their potential downstream effects on mental health symptoms.