Co-creating injury prevention training for youth handball players targeting end-users at the individual, team and organizational levels

A process that engaged end-users and researchers/experts to develop injury prevention training specifically for youth handball, generated a comprehensive intervention targeting end-users at the individual, team, and organizational levels. The intervention included information and physical and sport psychology training, that was made available in an interactive mobile application with modules for players, coaches, club administrators, and caregivers

Social support for physical activity among adolescents

The aim of the present thesis was to enhance our understanding of social support for physical activity among adolescents. Earlier findings show inconsistent results with regard to the importance of social support. The present thesis includes three empirical studies examining adolescents (16-18 years) during their years in high-school. Study I was a cross-sectional quantitative study that concluded that social support from several contexts was strongly related to current and intended physical activity. Social support in a sport club context provided the strongest unique contribution to the relation with physical activity and social support from an outside perspective (e.g., suggestions, help in planning and positive discourse about physical activity) had multifaceted effects on physical activity. An important finding was that social support could exist in tandem with experiences of negative social influences (e.g., complaints, critique, teasing). Study II was based on a longitudinal quantitative design and revealed that social support experienced by high school students at 16-17 years of age had a direct suppressing effect and an indirect positive effect on their current and intended physical activity two years later. The results implied that social support to adolescents should be offered over an extended period of time, with increased focus on its significance as a link from an initially external regulation to a more internal regulation of physical activity as students get older. Study III used a prospective qualitative methodological approach and results showed that positive experiences, health, appearance, performance enhancement, social support, mainly companionship support, and accessibility were important facilitators for adolescents´ involvement in physical activity. Periodic activity, negative social influence and lack of time were the most frequently cited reasons for a decrease in physical activity. Periodic activity highlighted the importance of social support including self-regulatory skills for adoption and maintenance of physical activity. The conclusion drawn from the three studies is to acknowledge the recipients´ appraisals of the support provided in conjunction with an awareness of possible negative social influences. Social support for physical activity per se and theory based social support could be viewed as possible links from external to more internal regulation of physical activity

Behavior change - a key aspect of injury preventive training in youth sport

Injury preventive exercise programs in community sport are of great importance to increase the well-being and engagement of youth in regular physical activity, exercise and sport from a lifespan perspective. In addition, effective Injury preventive exercise programs will indirectly contribute to enhanced sports performance; however research is needed to better understand the strategies to successfully implement injury prevention training routines for young athletes within the real-world sport club environment. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses which focus sport injury prevention studies underline the inadequate use of theory-based methods to increase the effectiveness of such behavior change interventions. To bridge the “intention-behavior gap”, there has been a call for applying theories that include strategies to maintain behavior change. The theoretical framework “Health Action Process Approach” is an example of a theory which focuses on initiation and maintenance of behaviour change. The HAPA framework has been used in various focus areas with different methodological approaches and age groups. Also, one exploratory study has examined the first part of the HAPA model (motivational stage) in relation to an injury preventive exercise program (FIFA 11+) in female youth soccer. In general, the results of these studies support the application of HAPA-informed psychological processes.We, as a research group (I-PROTECT), have established collaboration with two handball clubs. This collaborative approach is required to combine valuable research and practice knowledge. One of our goals is to develop a sport-specific Health Action Process Approach-informed behavior change model for youth handball injury prevention training routines. Applied knowledge of theory-based behavior change processes in relation to injury preventive exercise programs within a sport club setting is highly warranted