Talent development environments within sports: a scoping review examining functional and dysfunctional environmental features

Hauser, Luca-Lars; Harwood, Chris; Höner, Oliver; O’Connor, Donna; Wachsmuth, Svenja

doi:10.1080/1750984x.2022.2129423

Cited by 15 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 86 publications

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“…As has also been revealed in previous research on positive talent development environments [11,40], good communication and a well-functioning infrastructure between school and sports, with an opportunity to individually adjust the workload and get recovery when needed, was greatly desired among the participants but seldom obtained. In addition, training and living together with other athletes in a boarding school increased the risk of maladaptive comparisons with peers regarding school, sports, and health-related factors.…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 83%

“…Regardless, almost all researchers recognize the importance of a holistic approach that allows young athletes to develop competencies, skills, and identities that extend beyond sports into other domains of life [4,10]. Positive talent development to pursue wellbeing, in addition to personal and athletic development, are characterized by a supportive, psychological safe and empowering environment with knowledgeable coaches and staff, as well as communication and good relationship between various stakeholders [11].…”

Section: Sports Schoolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Elite lean athletes at sports high schools face multiple risks for mental health concerns and are in need of psychosocial support

et al. 2023

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The combined demands on an adolescence in an elite sports high school can negatively affect mental health (eg, stress, burnout, depression, anxiety). Late adolescence is also when elite-striving athletes typically transition from junior-to-senior level programs. In addition, adolescent elite lean sports athletes have an increased risk of suffering from abnormal eating pathology. The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceived psychosocial needs that young, elite-striving lean sports athletes in sports high schools find essential for their sports careers and transition from junior-to-senior level sports. Eight Swedish elite-striving lean sports athletes (2 men and 6 women; median age 17.0 years, range: 16–18 years) participated in this study and sports represented were athletics (n = 1), gymnastics (n = 3), and wrestling (n = 4). Semi-structured interviews were performed, and data was analyzed by thematic analysis. Results showed integration, both in the present situation and for the future, as an overarching theme perceived as essential for a successful elite sports career over time. Three additional themes were also identified: (a) Psychosocial stress (combined performance demands, diminished social life, sports-related body weight demands, taboo talking about eating disorders, injuries), (b) Protective psychosocial factors (social support and psychological safety, communication and coordination school and sports, self-care/health behaviors), and (c) support needs junior-to-senior transition (career advice and mentorship, individualized support). As a result, elite-striving, lean sports athletes attending sports high schools need additional support to excel in their academic and athletic endeavors. Sports developmental programs continue to provide inadequate support before and during the junior-to-senior level transition. Similarly, despite the continued calls for reducing the stigma of mental health, athletes in sports schools still encounter barriers from coaches and peers, making the subject taboo, particularly surrounding eating pathologies.

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Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 83%

Section: Sports Schoolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elite lean athletes at sports high schools face multiple risks for mental health concerns and are in need of psychosocial support

et al. 2023

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“…In Scotland, Martindale and colleagues ( 7 ) developed a survey that could assess the quality of an athletic talent development environment (ATDE), and in Denmark, Henriksen and colleagues completed a series of innovative in-depth case studies of successful ATDEs in Scandinavia ( 8 , 9 , 10 ). Today, the ecology of talent development discourse has matured, as visible in two recent reviews summarising key findings of more than a decade of ecological talent development research and related practice ( 11 , 12 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Organisational culture is seen as an integrative factor of the ADTE's effectiveness in helping talented young athletes to develop into senior elite athletes ( 14 ). Broadly speaking, successful ATDEs are environments that promote athletes' wellbeing and long-term athletic and personal development ( 12 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To continue with shared features, a recent scoping review of ATDEs ( 12 ) covered 44 studies published mainly during the last decade. In the analysis of the studies, the authors focused on positive (wellbeing, long-term athletic and personal development) and less positive (illbeing, limited athletic and personal development) talent development outcomes and related functional and dysfunctional features of ATDEs .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The social environment of talent development in youth sport

Henriksen

Stambulova

2023

Front. Sports Act. Living

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During the last decade, talent identification and development research that favours an individual perspective has been complemented by a focus on young athletes' social environments, termed “athletic talent development environments” (ATDEs). Two major lines of research have created a foundation for an ecological vision of talent development as the mutual accommodation between athletes and their ATDEs and of career development as an athlete's journey through various athletic and non-athletic environments. The Talent Development Environment Questionnaire allows the quantitative screening of athletes' environments, while the holistic ecological approach (HEA) promotes in-depth qualitative case studies of ATDEs. In this chapter, we focus mainly on the HEA, including: (a) two models that combine to illustrate an ATDE; (b) a summary of empirical case studies of successful environments in various sports and countries, culminating in a set of shared features of ATDEs that promote athletes' wellbeing and athletic and personal development; (c) an overview of recent trends within HEA (e.g. interorganisational collaboration in talent development) and (d) recommendations for coaches and sport psychology consultants, emphasising the importance of integrating efforts across the whole environment and building strong and coherent organisational cultures. In the discussion, we elaborate on developing the HEA discourse and point to future challenges for researchers and practitioners.

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Effects of Early Talent Promotion on Junior and Senior Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Güllich,

Barth

2023

Sports Med

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Background Does younger involvement in talent promotion programs (TPPs) facilitate the attainment of higher performance levels? This question is the subject of the present meta-analysis. Many national sport systems have established TPPs such as federations’ junior squads (including under-age selection teams) and youth sport academies, and many are making expanding investments in TPPs. TPPs seek to select the most advanced youth high performers at young ages, around puberty or younger, and then strive to further accelerate their performance development. However, studies show 25–55% annual athlete turnover within TPPs. In this context, accelerated biological maturation (puberty, growth spurt), high relative age within one’s birth year, and intensified sport-specific childhood/adolescent practice may boost rapid junior performance, but the effects diminish or are reversed by adulthood. Moreover, expanded opportunity costs and risks (time demands, injury, burnout) imposed on young TPP participants may impair their long-term development and even prematurely terminate their career. Objective We aimed to provide robust and generalizable evidence on the effects of early talent promotion on junior and senior performance through a systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods A systematic literature search was conducted 18/03–03/04/2023 in SPORTDiscus, ProQuest, PsycINFO, PubMed, Scopus, WorldCat, and Google Scholar. We searched for original studies that compared athletes across defined higher and lower performance levels within defined types of sports, age categories, and sexes, regarding their age at commencement of TPP involvement and reported effect sizes or data needed to compute effects sizes. Mean meta-analytic Cohen’s $$\overline{d }$$ d ¯ was computed separately for junior and senior athletes. Quality of evidence was evaluated using the mixed-methods appraisal tool. Results The search yielded k = 51 effect sizes from N = 6233 athletes from a wide range of countries and sports, 82% male and 18% female, from 2009 to 2022. The central finding is that effects on short-term junior performance versus long-term senior performance are opposite, whereby higher-performing junior athletes began TPP involvement at younger ages than lower-performing junior athletes, $$\overline{d }$$ d ¯ = − 0.53. In contrast, higher-performing senior athletes began TPP involvement at older ages than lower-performing senior athletes, $$\overline{d }$$ d ¯ = 0.56. The findings are robust across different TPPs (federation’s junior squad/selection team, youth academy), individual and team sports, and performance levels compared (international, national, regional). The quality of primary studies was high. Discussion The findings are consistent with recent meta-analytic evidence that participation patterns predicting early junior success versus long-term senior success are opposite (starting age, main-sport and other-sports practice amounts, age to reach performance ‘milestones’). We discuss theoretical and practical implications of potential selection and ‘treatment’ effects of TPPs. Conclusions Consistent across different populations, early TPP involvement is positively correlated with short-term junior performance but is negatively correlated with long-term senior performance.

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Talent development environments within sports: a scoping review examining functional and dysfunctional environmental features

Cited by 15 publications

References 86 publications

Elite lean athletes at sports high schools face multiple risks for mental health concerns and are in need of psychosocial support

Elite lean athletes at sports high schools face multiple risks for mental health concerns and are in need of psychosocial support

The social environment of talent development in youth sport

Effects of Early Talent Promotion on Junior and Senior Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

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