Gymnastik- och idrottshögskolan, GIH

Despite the intense and long-standing interest surrounding early sport specialisation, scholars still debate its nature and implications. Previous researchers have also identified the need for further research relating to the psychological aspects of early specialisation such as lower quality motivation, dropout and burnout. To help guide future research it is important to build upon the quantitative literature concerning such psychological aspects of early specialisation. The specific aims of this paper are to provide an overview of research results of quantitative studies that set out to explore relationships between early specialisation and psychological aspects, and to critically examine the designs of such studies. As such, study design characteristics including participant demographics, the psychological aspects represented, and the research questions and results are explored. Data searches were conducted in PubMed, SportDiscus, and PsychINFO using search terms such as "early sport speciali*". Twenty-one relevant papers met the inclusion criteria. The results highlight that the published papers in this area are broad in some respects (variety of sports, performance levels, and gender), but narrow in others (North American dominance, few psychological aspects explored, and few papers per psychological aspect). Many of the studies are based on cross-sectional and retrospective self-reports. Overall, this paper serves as a foundation on which to design future research studies in this area.

This doctoral research project is situated within the wider debate of talent development in so-called early sports, where early specialisation is often normalised. The overarching aim is to investigate early specialisation within the context of Swedish aesthetic activities. Two research questions guided this research: 1) what characterises early specialisation, and 2) in what ways are aspects of early specialisation related to motivation?

This doctoral research project includes four individual papers. The first paper is a systematic review that investigated the contextual underpinnings of recommendations regarding early specialisation and psychological aspects (e.g., motivation, burnout). The second paper outlines the development of a measurement tool for capturing degrees of early specialisation within the context of Swedish aesthetic activities. The third paper is a cross-sectional questionnaire-based study which used this measurement tool to explore the relationship between degrees of early specialisation and motivation (autonomous motivation, controlled motivation, and dropout intentions), and explored perceptions of parental influence as a moderator. The fourth paper is a qualitative interview-based study that investigated reflections on motivation throughout the training history of high-level gymnasts and figure skaters who specialised early. Additional data regarding perfectionism and parental participation in sport, collected in relation to this research but not included within the four papers, is also outlined and discussed in this thesis. 

Results highlight the complexity of early specialisation in terms of how it is defined, measured, and conceptualised, as well as the possible relationship to psychological aspects (e.g., motivation, perfectionism). Overall, the results do not align with the notion that early specialisation leads to lower quality motivation and an increased risk of dropout. 

While this research has made methodological, theoretical and empirical contributions to this research area, it is also clear that more research is needed to better understand and explain the possible outcomes often associated with early specialisation.

Using a case study design, we explored two ballet dancers' perfectionism experiences via interviews and questionnaires at two time points 5 years apart. They represented the two types of "pure perfectionism" in the 2 x 2 model of perfectionism: a female representing pure personal standards perfectionism (high perfectionistic strivings, low perfectionistic concerns) and a male representing pure evaluative concerns perfectionism (low perfectionistic strivings, high perfectionistic concerns). The pure personal standards perfectionism dancer reported stable perfectionism across time, seemingly resilient to any perfectionistic concerns developing. She attributed this to her stable, grounded personality, also reporting autonomous motivation and performance success. The dancer representing pure evaluative concerns perfectionism reported increased perfectionistic strivings and lowered perfectionistic concerns over time; concurrently, his motivation became less controlled and more autonomous. He described the reasons in terms of improved basic psychological needs satisfaction and personal growth. Overall, autonomy might be important in mitigating perfectionism.

Early specialisation is largely advised against, partly due to the postulated negative motivational implications. However, early specialisation is commonly considered necessary for high-level performance in aesthetic activities, such as gymnastics and dance. The present study, therefore, explores the relationship between motivation and early specialisation in a sample of Swedish aesthetic performers, from a self-determination theory perspective. The aims of this study were twofold: (1) to identify whether early specialisation is associated with motivation (autonomous motivation, controlled motivation, and dropout intentions) within a sample of aesthetic performers, and (2) to investigate if such relationships are moderated by perceptions of parental influence. Two hundred and ninety high-level aesthetic performers (M=15.88 years old, SD=2.34; 83% female) were recruited from Swedish clubs and schools to complete a questionnaire pack. The questionnaire pack included questions concerning demographic information, specialisation history, motivation, dropout intentions, and perceptions of parental influence. The results of our analyses do not support the claims that early specialisation is associated with negative motivational implications. In fact, the results show that those who reported a higher degree of specialisation ≤ 12 years old reported less controlled motivation than those who reported a lesser degree of early specialisation. Additionally, perceptions of parental influence were not found to moderate the relationship between early specialisation and motivation. These results are discussed in relation to the growing critique regarding the conceptualisation and measurement of early specialisation in sport literature.

Previous research largely advises against early specialisation, due to possible physical and psychological risks (Côté, Lidor, & Hackfort,2009). For this study, we are interested in exploring gymnasts’ reflections of early specialisation in relation to motivation and autonomy.Despite limited empirical evidence, early specialisation is commonly considered necessary for high-level performance in aestheticactivities, such as gymnastics (Kliethermes et al., 2021). This study is one of the first to present qualitative data concerning experiencesof early specialisation, and the first known study to collect such data within female gymnasts.The research questions for this study are, 1) What motivated female gymnasts to remain in early specialised training? 2) How do theyreflect upon key specialisation milestones in relation to motivation and autonomy? and 3) How do they reflect upon the necessity of earlyspecialisation? The study is underway, with semi-structured interviews being conducted with female gymnasts aged 15-24 who selfreported a high degree of early specialisation. Specifically, those who reported reaching specialisation milestones at the youngest ageswere recruited from a database of 115 high-level gymnasts. The data will be analysed using abductive thematic analysis, where selfdetermination theory provides a framework to explore the interplay between early specialisation and motivation towards continuedparticipation in gymnastics.It is anticipated that the results will contribute valuable data regarding experiences of early specialisation, and how these experiencesmight influence motivation towards continued training. Such data also has the potential to shed light on the often-inconsistent quantitativeresults exploring motivational correlates of early specialisation.

The methodological underpinnings of studies into early specialization have recently been critiqued. Previous researchers have commented on the variety of, and over-simplified, methods used to capture early specialization. This exploratory study, therefore, suggests a new direction for how early specialization can be conceptualized and measured. We aim to create an index approach whereby early specialization is measured as a continuous variable, in line with commonly used definitions. The continuous variable for degrees of early specialization is calculated from a questionnaire which captures the four key components of early specialization; (1) intensity, (2) year-round training, (3) single sport, and (4) commencing age 12 or younger. The proposed index approach is illustrated in a sample of 290 Swedish aesthetic performers aged 12-20 years (M = 15.88), whose descriptive statistics are used to discuss the suitability and usability of the measure. The proposed index approach functions as a guideline to future researchers. We hope that introducing a new index approach we will encourage further discussion around the measurement of early specialization. Additionally, we hope to pave the way for future research to explore more complex research questions.