Part II of a two-step mixed-methods approach in developing the Growth Talent Mindsets for Sports Coaches Intervention 2.0: The coaches’ perceptions of delivery and possible psychological processes of change

The current study follows up on the first-time implementation of the GrowTMindS Intervention described in Part I, with an overall aim of improving sports coaches’ beliefs in their talent as a coach (coach talent mindset, C-TM) and their athletes’ talent (athlete talent mindset, A-TM) as being malleable. By drawing on the user-centered design approach, we first refined the intervention using the insight provided by the coaches in Part I. A mixed-method approach then evaluated the second-time implementation, which included 33 participants (Mage = 38.76, SD = 16.55; 13 women, 20 men) in the quantitative strand and 11 informants (Mage = 39.09, SD = 14.10; 5 women, 6 men) in the sequential qualitative strand. The coaches represented the sports of swimming, bandy, ski sports, golf, and orienteering. The quantitative results indicate that the intervention targeted the coaches’ talent mindsets as their growth C-TM and A-TM scores increased from pre-test to post-test a year and a half after the intervention. The qualitative findings substantiate these results, showing how an increase at scale also appears meaningful concerning their belief in their own and their athletes’ developments. The findings also helped us to understand how the embracing, or possibly refuting, of intervention delivery may substantiate different trajectories of change, and thereby provided insight into the difficulty of targeting and the complexity of psychological processes and behavioral change. By considering the changes in coaches’ growth C-TM and A-TM, we assume that the GrowTMindS Intervention is ready for testing in a Phase III efficacy trial.publishedVersio

Part I of a two-step mixed-methods approach in developing the Growth Talent Mindsets for Sports Coaches Intervention: The design and targeting of the intervention

The overall aim of this two-part study was to develop an intervention targeting sports coaches’ mindsets about their talent as a coach (coach talent mindset, C-TM) and their athletes’ talent (athlete talent mindset, A-TM), called the GrowTMindS Intervention. In this Part I, the intervention was developed drawing on a user-centered design approach and implemented in a coach education program in Norway. The study involved 31 coaches (5 women, 26 men) from 22 to 69 years of age, representing the sports of bandy, golf, ski sports, swimming, and volleyball. Using a mixed-methods approach, the quantitative results showed that the coaches increased their A-TM from pretest to post-test, while their C-TM, which was high at baseline, remained more challenging to target. The qualitative findings helped us understand how most coaches, through reflective processes, perceived the delivery of the intervention as sense-making and substantiated their commitment to growth talent mindsets. The qualitative findings also highlighted areas for refinement and tailoring of the intervention to target all coaches’ talent mindsets. Overall, the study was considered a necessary first step in developing an intervention showing significant and meaningful changes in coaches’ self-reported talent mindsets, consistent with the guidelines of wise psychological intervention and behavior change.publishedVersio

A Scoping Review on the Theoretical and Methodological Advances in the Study of Retirement From Elite Sport

Objectives: Retirement from elite sport is a turning point in the life of athletes, and it has been the subject of intensive research in sports science for over 50 years. Around 10 years ago, a comprehensive review with 126 studies on the topic was published by Park et al. (2013), summarising the relevant factors and the available resources that influence the quality of the transition. Since then, there have been various specialised reviews (i.e., on facets of the topic or type of sport), but no overview of the entire research topic. Therefore, the aim of this scoping review was to summarise the theoretical and methodological advances in research on athlete retirement over the past 10 years.Methods: Following the JBI guidelines (Peters et al. (2020) and PRISMA-ScR (Tricco et al., 2018), six databases were systematically searched for peer-reviewed original research articles on the topic (since 2013), and 4469 articles were screened. Information on the topic, theory, methodology, and major findings was extracted from 101 articles. Results: The majority of the studies were qualitative in nature, utilizing a cross-sectional or retrospective design. These studies were focused on sport-specific transition models (such as the HAC model; Wylleman, 2019), and performed thematic analyses to examine “retirement experiences.” Other studies were conducted on body image/nutritional behaviour after retirement and a few studies dealt with more recent topics such as sporting behaviour after retirement and the role of social identity.Discussion: Overall, in the many and thematically diverse studies, there is a disconnect between theoretical assumptions, in particular with regard to multi-dimensionality, complexity, individual, and specificity, and the methodology used (e.g., correlation design, investigation of linear relationships). By better matching theory and methodology in addressing the still-existing research gaps, further insights into the transition out of elite sport could be gained

A Scoping Review on the Theoretical and Methodological Advances in the Study of Retirement From Elite Sport

Objectives: Retirement from elite sport is a turning point in the life of athletes, and it has been the subject of intensive research in sports science for over 50 years. Around 10 years ago, a comprehensive review with 126 studies on the topic was published by Park et al. (2013), summarising the relevant factors and the available resources that influence the quality of the transition. Since then, there have been various specialised reviews (i.e., on facets of the topic or type of sport), but no overview of the entire research topic. Therefore, the aim of this scoping review was to summarise the theoretical and methodological advances in research on athlete retirement over the past 10 years.Methods: Following the JBI guidelines (Peters et al. (2020) and PRISMA-ScR (Tricco et al., 2018), six databases were systematically searched for peer-reviewed original research articles on the topic (since 2013), and 4469 articles were screened. Information on the topic, theory, methodology, and major findings was extracted from 101 articles. Results: The majority of the studies were qualitative in nature, utilizing a cross-sectional or retrospective design. These studies were focused on sport-specific transition models (such as the HAC model; Wylleman, 2019), and performed thematic analyses to examine “retirement experiences.” Other studies were conducted on body image/nutritional behaviour after retirement and a few studies dealt with more recent topics such as sporting behaviour after retirement and the role of social identity.Discussion: Overall, in the many and thematically diverse studies, there is a disconnect between theoretical assumptions, in particular with regard to multi-dimensionality, complexity, individual, and specificity, and the methodology used (e.g., correlation design, investigation of linear relationships). By better matching theory and methodology in addressing the still-existing research gaps, further insights into the transition out of elite sport could be gained

A Scoping Review on the Theoretical and Methodological Advances in the Study of Retirement From Elite Sport

Objectives: Retirement from elite sport is a turning point in the life of athletes, and it has been the subject of intensive research in sports science for over 50 years. Around 10 years ago, a comprehensive review with 126 studies on the topic was published by Park et al. (2013), summarising the relevant factors and the available resources that influence the quality of the transition. Since then, there have been various specialised reviews (i.e., on facets of the topic or type of sport), but no overview of the entire research topic. Therefore, the aim of this scoping review was to summarise the theoretical and methodological advances in research on athlete retirement over the past 10 years.Methods: Following the JBI guidelines (Peters et al. (2020) and PRISMA-ScR (Tricco et al., 2018), six databases were systematically searched for peer-reviewed original research articles on the topic (since 2013), and 4469 articles were screened. Information on the topic, theory, methodology, and major findings was extracted from 101 articles. Results: The majority of the studies were qualitative in nature, utilizing a cross-sectional or retrospective design. These studies were focused on sport-specific transition models (such as the HAC model; Wylleman, 2019), and performed thematic analyses to examine “retirement experiences.” Other studies were conducted on body image/nutritional behaviour after retirement and a few studies dealt with more recent topics such as sporting behaviour after retirement and the role of social identity.Discussion: Overall, in the many and thematically diverse studies, there is a disconnect between theoretical assumptions, in particular with regard to multi-dimensionality, complexity, individual, and specificity, and the methodology used (e.g., correlation design, investigation of linear relationships). By better matching theory and methodology in addressing the still-existing research gaps, further insights into the transition out of elite sport could be gained